It's been one step forward, two steps back for the Dow Jones
Industrial Average (
DJIA
) lately. The blue-chip barometer received a surge of buying
pressure on Friday, after being bombarded by selling pressure
earlier in the week. However, Dow futures are indicating that Wall
Street is set for a sell-off on the open later this morning, with
the DJIA trading about 94 points below fair value. Look for
technical support near 10,100 and 10,000 for the Dow. As for the
S&P 500 Index (
SPX
), futures on the broad-market indicator are pointing toward an
opening dip of 12.4 points. The SPX should find support near 1,065
(the site of its May 6 "flash crash" lows), while resistance looms
overhead near 1,095 and 1,100. Finally, the CBOE Market Volatility
Index (
VIX
) spiked to a high of 48.20 on Friday, nearing its 1997 and 1998
peaks, as well as its two crests in the first bear market of the
new millennium. According to Todd Salamone, Senior Vice President
of Research, in this week's edition of
Monday Morning Outlook
, "If the 'European Contagion' does not have the negative systemic
risk brought on by the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and our own
credit crisis in late 2008 and early 2009, the bulls may find the
VIX high on Friday as an extremely encouraging development."
In earnings news, Campbell Soup Co. (
CPB
) said that it earned $168 million, or 49 cents per share, in the
third quarter. On an adjusted basis, the company said it earned 54
cents per share, topping analyst expectations for 51 cents per
share. Sales rose 7% to $1.8 billion. For the fiscal year, Campbell
Soup expects adjusted earnings-per-share growth in the range of 9%
to 11%.
Finally, Sprint Nextel Corp. (
S
) was upgraded to "buy" from "neutral" at Goldman Sachs. The
brokerage firm also lifted its price target to $6 per share from
$3.50 per share. According to Goldman, Sprint is about to "move the
needle on churn." With fewer subscribers up for grabs, the
brokerage firm believes that Sprint has done a better job of
retention. S shares were up more than 4% in pre-market trading.
Earnings Preview
On the earnings front, Yingli Green Energy Hold. Co. Ltd. (
YGE
), and Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. (
PVH
) are slated to release their quarterly earnings reports. Keep your
browser at
SchaeffersResearch.com
for more news as it breaks.
Economic Calendar
GDP
Market Statistics
Equity option activity on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (
CBOE
) saw 2,120,716 call contracts traded on Friday, compared to
1,863,997 put contracts. The resultant single-session put/call
ratio arrived at 0.88, while the 21-day moving average rose to
0.65.
**The volume data shown above is from the Nasdaq and NYSE
exchanges only. It does not include regional volume activity,
which means that other daily volume quotes you see may be
higher.**
Every morning, our research staff analyzes the prior day and
the overnight markets, and monitors the morning wires to give you
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Overseas Trading
Overseas trading is mixed this morning, as only four of the 10
foreign indexes that we track are in positive territory. The
cumulative average return on the collective stands at a loss of
0.08%. In Asia, most indexes rose, with the Chinese market's strong
performance offering support to its peers in the region but
investors continued to keep a wary eye on the debt problems in the
euro zone. Over the weekend in Europe, the Bank of Spain said it
was taking over the running of Spanish savings bank CajaSur after
its planned merger with another of the country's small lenders
failed. That weighed on the euro already hurt by worries about the
impact of deep public spending cuts in Greece, Spain and Portugal.
European shares were mixed on Monday, with gains capped as
investors remained concerned the euro zone crisis could hurt global
growth. Overseas market information comes to you courtesy of
Schaeffer's Daily Bulletin
.
Currencies and Commodities
The U.S. Dollar Index is marching higher again this morning,
rising 1.19% to trade at 86.39. The dollar's renewed strength is
applying pressure to crude prices, with the front-month contract
down 23 cents at $69.81 per barrel. Finally, gold futures are
trading higher in London this morning, rising $9 to $1,185.10 an
ounce after plunging more than 4% last week.
Unusual Put and Call Activity:
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topics on
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