It has to count as a sign of progress that the drawn out Greek
negotiations have been unable to spook the markets yet, as would
have been the case last year. Investors appear to be pricing in
that the country will be able to clinch a fresh bailout from the
IMF/ECB/EU troika and be able to 'convince' its private creditors
to 'voluntarily' take losses on their Greek holdings. Only time
will tell if this view represents pragmatism or wishful thinking
deal, but suffice it to say that investors aren't overly
concerned.
We have nothing major on the domestic economic calendar, except
for Bernanke's testimony to the Senate Budget committee on the
economy later this morning. In his testimony to the corresponding
House committee last week, the chairman had characterized the pace
of economic growth to be frustratingly modest. But we got the
blockbuster January jobs report the day after his testimony, making
many wonder if he will change his tune to the Senate committee this
morning.
The odds are low that we will see a material shift in the tone
of Bernanke's comments, but it will nevertheless be useful to pay
close attention to what he will be saying today. After all, the
tone of Wall Street commentary on the U.S. economy has started
shifting following the January jobs report, with many raising their
estimates for first quarter GDP growth.
On the earnings front, we got an EPS and revenue beat from
Coca Cola
(
KO
), with the help of volume and pricing gains.
Yum Brands
(
YUM
) posted better than expected EPS and revenue numbers after the
close on Monday.
Anadarko Petroleum
(
APC
) also came out with a positive surprise, though the company's
reported earnings were weighed down by a $4 billion payment to
BP
(
BP
) in lieu of its share of the Macondo well disaster. The British
oil giant also had positive quarterly results this morning and
announced its first dividend hike following the 2010 accident.
Consumer Credit
figures are to be released today at 3:00 PM EST and are expected to
increase by $6.0 billion after increasing by $20.4 billion in
November.
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