U.S. stocks are set to
continue their upward momentum
today, with a bottom-line earnings beat from Goldman Sachs (
GS
) fueling pre-market optimism. Furthermore, an unexpected -- yet
seemingly celebrated -- departure at Yahoo (
YHOO
) has the tech sector in the spotlight, while unconfirmed reports
of a potentially boosted bailout fund are keeping Europe in the
foreground. Meanwhile, a solid debt auction in Germany has tipped
the scales in the bulls' favor, helping to negate a bit of anxiety
ahead of Greece's latest meeting with creditors. In pre-market
action, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is trading about 29
points north of fair value, while the broader S&P 500 Index
(SPX) is set to open about 3.5 points in the black.
In equities news, Yahoo (YHOO - 15.43) last night announced that
co-founder and former CEO Jerry Yang has resigned from its board of
directors. Furthermore, Yang also stepped down as board member at
Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan. "My time at Yahoo, from its founding
to the present, has encompassed some of the most exciting and
rewarding experiences of my life," said Yang. "However, the time
has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo." At
last look, the shares of YHOO are pointed 3.6% higher.
In earnings news, Goldman Sachs (GS - 97.68) was the
latest banking bigwig
to step into the earnings confessional. The company this morning
said fourth-quarter profit fell to $1.01 billion, or $1.84 per
share, from $2.39 billion, or $3.79 per share, a year earlier.
Revenue fell to $6.05 billion from $8.64 billion. The bottom-line
results exceeded expectations, as analysts were calling for a
per-share profit of $1.28. Sales, however, fell short of the
consensus estimate of $6.73 billion. Looking ahead, the firm said
it sees "encouraging signs" of economic and market improvement, and
deemed itself "very well positioned." Ahead of the bell, GS is up
1.8%.
U.S. Bancorp (USB - 28.77) reported a fourth-quarter income of
$1.35 billion, or 69 cents per share -- up 39% from its year-ago
earnings of $974 million, or 49 cents per share. Revenue,
meanwhile, climbed 8.1% to $5.1 billion. The results exceeded
expectations, with analysts calling for a per-share profit of 63
cents on sales of $4.76 billion. In pre-market action, USB is
lingering about 0.5% north of breakeven.
Cree (CREE - 23.33) reported a fiscal second-quarter profit of
$12.1 million, or 10 cents per share, down 76% from $49.8 million,
or 45 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding items,
earnings came in at 25 cents per share, compared to 55 cents per
share in the previous year. Meanwhile, revenue rose 18% to $304.1
million. Analysts, on average, were expecting an adjusted profit of
26 cents per share on revenue of $309.9 million. Looking ahead, the
company is predicting an adjusted third-quarter profit ranging from
18 cents to 25 cents per share on revenue between $290 million and
$310 million. However, analysts are predicting earnings of 30 cents
per share on revenue of $321.4 million. Ahead of the bell, CREE is
bracing for a 7.8% drop.
Finally, BancorpSouth, Inc. (BXS - 12.19) recorded a
fourth-quarter profit of $13.3 million, or 16 cents per share, a
year-over-year increase from $15.8 million, or 19 cents per share.
As a point of comparison, analysts were calling for a
fourth-quarter profit of 14 cents per share. Revenue, meanwhile,
fell 2.5% to $107.5 million. For fiscal 2011, BXS said earnings
arrived at $37.6 million, or 45 cents per share, compared to its
year-ago profit of $22.9 million, or 27 cents per share. BXS also
announced it will continue with a $100 million stock offering. At
last check, BXS is set to open 3.9% lower.
Earnings Preview
Today's earnings docket will also feature reports from Bank of
New York Mellon (
BK
), State Street (
STT
), PNC Financial (
PNC
), eBay (EBAY), F5 Networks (FFIV), and Fastenal (FAST). Keep your
browser at
SchaeffersResearch.com
for more news as it breaks.
Economic Calendar
Wall Street will see the Labor Department's producer price index
(PPI) and core PPI today, as well as the Fed's monthly report on
industrial production and capacity utilization. The regularly
scheduled report on weekly jobless claims will hit the Street on
Thursday, as well as the holiday-delayed crude inventories data,
the Philly Fed manufacturing index, monthly housing starts and
building permits, and December's consumer price index (CPI) and
core CPI. Finally, Friday wraps up with the latest data on existing
home sales.
Market Statistics
Equity option activity on the Chicago Board Options Exchange
(CBOE) saw 1,389,107 call contracts traded on Tuesday, compared to
819,312 put contracts. The resultant single-session put/call ratio
arrived at 0.59, while the 21-day moving average was 0.66.
Overseas Trading
Asian markets ended mixed today, with tech stocks helping to
lead Tokyo's benchmark index into the black. Yahoo Japan gained
ground on news of co-founder Jerry Yang's departure from Yahoo's
board, while Elpida Memory rallied after a newspaper report raised
the prospect of a partnership with Micron Technology. Elsewhere in
the region, Shanghai-listed stocks retreated from Tuesday's sharp
gains, as anxious investors took some profits off the table ahead
of the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday. By the close, Japan's
Nikkei added roughly 1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up 0.3%, South
Korea's Kospi shed 0.02%, and China's Shanghai Composite declined
1.4%.
Meanwhile, European stocks are cautiously higher at midday.
Anxiety regarding the Greek government's meeting with bondholders
prompted early jitters, but the bulls were encouraged by a
successful auction of German debt. Buyers have also been lured off
the sidelines by an unconfirmed Bloomberg report that the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) is looking to boost the size of
its lending facility to $1 trillion. At last look, France's CAC 40
has tacked on nearly 0.1%, the German DAX is 0.2% higher, and
London's FTSE has shed about 0.1%.
Currencies and Commodities
The greenback has softened even more this morning, with the U.S.
dollar index down about 0.5%. Meanwhile, crude futures have
extended their trek
north of the century mark
, with the front-month contract up 0.6% at $101.51 per barrel. Gold
futures, on the other hand, have pulled back from
one-month highs
, with the malleable metal last seen fractionally lower at $1,655
an ounce.
Unusual Put and Call Activity:
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topics on
Option Volume
and
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.
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