It's not just Bob Geldof and the Boomtown Rats who don't like
Mondays. (Geez, how old
am
I, anyway?) Following Friday's strong gains which pushed the Dow
past 1400 for the first time in 5 years -- even though there was
a weaker-than-expected non-farm payroll number Friday morning --
futures have fallen below the 1400 level in the pre-market this
morning.
Friday's jobs report did show some market-pleasing upward
revisions from previous months, which helped boost the market
during the last trading session. And Eurozone issues have lain
fairly dormant as of late, removing a resistance barrier that has
been rather persistent over the past few years. But with the FTSE
dipping a bit in Europe today and some psychological resistance
to maintaining the 1400 Dow level, futures have slipped in this
morning's pre-market.
There doesn't seem to be much weighing on sentiment either way
ahead of normal Monday trading. OK, there's a report of political
corruption in Spain ("What?!") and a promise from Italy's
Berlusconi to cut taxes if re-elected ("No way!"). But this is
small potatoes relative to news we've gotten from Europe in the
past.
Oracle
(
ORCL
) is expanding through the acquisition of
Acme Packet
(
APKT
) for $1.7 billion, or a 22% increase over Friday's share price.
So you're loving this Monday if you owned the small-cap gear
maker.
Also, some select Super Bowl ad buyers made the most of the
Big Game's technical malfunction last night (not to be confused
with a "wardrobe malfunction;" it was Beyonce who provided
halftime entertainment, not Janet Jackson) by utilizing Twitter
during the game's lights-out downtime to win themselves millions
of dollars in free advertising. Tweets from Oreo (
MDLZ
), Tide (
PG
), Audi (
VLKAY
) and other companies showed their social media savvy by pumping
the "Twittersphere" with ads while football fans -- heck,
everybody -- awaited the return of the hotly contested
matchup.
Earnings season begins to enter its back-stretch this week.
We've seen relatively strong results, although massive downward
revisions earlier in Q4 have a lot to do with this. That said,
there is little resistance to a bullish market in a general
sense, although investors may need to weather some near-term
bearishness today. Ah, Mondays.
ACME PACKET INC (APKT): Free Stock Analysis
Report
MONDELEZ INTL (MDLZ): Free Stock Analysis
Report
ORACLE CORP (ORCL): Free Stock Analysis
Report
PROCTER & GAMBL (PG): Free Stock Analysis
Report
(VLKAY): ETF Research Reports
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