The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is on pace to tackle the
13,000 mark in today's session, after
pulling back
from the psychologically significant level in the final hour of
Monday's trading. Sentiment was lifted after the lower house of
Germany's parliament approved a second tranche of aid for Greece,
and a downturn in oil prices is also stoking a bullish mood. On the
economic front, today's agenda features durable goods orders, as
well as the Conference Board's consumer confidence index. With
yesterday's
pending home sales
providing a promising start to a week's worth of data, futures on
all three major market indexes are pointed well north of
breakeven.
In earnings news, Priceline.com (PCLN - 591.54) banked a
fourth-quarter profit of $225.7 million, or $4.41 per share,
marking a 66% improvement from last year's earnings of $135.7
million, or $2.66 per share. Excluding items, the online travel
site earned $5.37 per share, as revenue ramped up 35% to $990.8
million. The results came as a pleasant surprise, with Wall Street
anticipating earnings of just $5.05 per share on $967.9 million in
revenue. For the current quarter, PCLN is expecting to earn $3.80
to $3.90 per share on revenue growth of 22% to 27%. Analysts,
meanwhile, are looking for first-quarter earnings of $3.72 per
share on 25% revenue growth. PCLN is trading 7.3% higher ahead of
the bell.
Elsewhere, Zagg Inc. (ZAGG - 10.06) reported a fourth-quarter
profit of $9.9 million, or 32 cents per share, up from $3.4
million, or 13 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding
items, earnings came in at 27 cents per share, while revenue rose
by 131% to $67.5 million. These record results surpassed analysts'
expectations for a profit of 20 cents per share on sales of $64
million. Looking ahead, the company is forecasting its fiscal 2012
revenue to exceed $250 million, while Wall Street is predicting
$240.7 million in sales. ZAGG is set to tack on 8.5% right out of
the gate.
Finally, AutoZone, Inc. (AZO - 366.09) this morning reported a
fiscal second-quarter profit of $166.9 million, or $4.15 per share,
a 13% improvement over last year's profit of $148.1 million, or
$3.34 per share. Overall revenue rose 8.6% to $1.8 billion, thanks
to a 5.9% jump in domestic same-store sales. Both figures beat
analysts' expectations for earnings of $4.04 per share on $1.78
billion in sales. During the quarter, AZO repurchased approximately
501,000 shares worth $173 million under its current stock buyback
program. AZO is up 2% in pre-market trading.
Earnings Preview
Today's earnings docket will also feature reports from
Cablevision Systems (
CVC
), Domino's Pizza (
DPZ
), DreamWorks Animation (
DWA
), FirstEnergy (
FE
), Kodiak Oil & Gas (
KOG
), Office Depot (ODP), Sanderson Farms (SAFM), STEC Inc. (STEC),
Universal Display (PANL), and Vitamin Shoppe (VSI). Keep your
browser at
SchaeffersResearch.com
for more news as it breaks.
Economic Calendar
Today's docket features durable goods data, the
S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, and the Conference Board's
latest consumer confidence reading. On Wednesday, the revised
fourth-quarter GDP estimate will hit the Street, along with the
Chicago purchasing managers index (PMI), the regularly scheduled
crude inventories report, and the Fed's Beige Book. Thursday's
round-up will include weekly jobless claims, personal income and
spending data, the ISM manufacturing index, and construction
spending. There are no major economic reports scheduled to be
released on Friday.
Market Statistics
Equity option activity on the Chicago Board Options Exchange
(CBOE) saw 1,153,945 call contracts traded on Monday, compared to
744,300 put contracts. The resultant single-session put/call ratio
arrived at 0.65, while the 21-day moving average was 0.61.
Overseas Trading
Asian markets ended higher today, as a pullback in oil prices
relieved some anxiety for traders. Crude's retreat offered a lift
for beaten-down airlines, including Cathay Pacific and All Nippon
Airways. Retail stocks helped pace the rally in Japan, thanks to a
report showing a 1.9% increase in sales last month. This
outperformance offset some spotty weakness in tech issues, which
was prompted by Elpida Memory's bankruptcy filing. By the close,
Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.7%, Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.9%,
South Korea's Kospi climbed 0.6%, and China's Shanghai Composite
tacked on 0.2%.
The major European indexes are also pointed north, with traders
feeling upbeat as the European Central Bank (ECB) prepares to
launch another three-year long-term refinance operation (LTRO) on
Wednesday. The bulls have also been encouraged by data showing that
German consumer confidence improved for the sixth consecutive
month. However, equities have pulled back from their session highs
after Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term rating on Greece
to "selective default," prompting the ECB to suspend the use of
Greek sovereign debt as collateral in its lending operations. At
last check, the German DAX and French CAC 40 are each 0.5% higher,
while London's FTSE 100 has edged up 0.1%.
Currencies and Commodities
The greenback is trading 0.3% lower this morning, with the U.S.
dollar index last seen at $78.33. Oil futures continue to
pull back from multi-month highs
, with the front-month contract down 0.3% at $108.24 per barrel.
Gold futures, meanwhile, are up 0.3% at $1,780.20 an ounce.
Unusual Put and Call Activity:
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