After last week's exciting
foray into multi-year highs
, U.S. stock futures are pointed modestly lower this morning, with
investors digesting the latest from a meeting of the Group of 20
(G-20). After a weekend summit, G-20 finance leaders opted to delay
a decision to expand the International Monetary Fund's (
IMF
) lending power, with world leaders waiting on Europe to make the
first move in bolstering its bailout reserves. Ahead of the bell,
the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is trading just below
breakeven, while the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) is staring at
7-point drop.
In earnings news, AES Corporation (AES - 13.80) swallowed a
fourth-quarter loss of $209 million, slimmed down from its year-ago
deficit of $436 million. Earnings from continuing operations
retreated to 12 cents per share from 16 cents per share; on an
adjusted basis, AES earned 23 cents per share. Revenue for the
quarter ticked up 0.9% to $4.27 billion. Analysts, on average, were
looking for a profit of 22 cents per share on $3.46 billion in
revenue. Additionally, the electric utility said it has agreed to
sell its AES Ironwood LLC and AES Prescott LLC natural gas assets
to PPL Corp. (
PPL
) for roughly $304 million, with the transaction expected to close
during the second quarter.
Elsewhere, Lowe's Companies, Inc. (LOW - 27.16) said its
fourth-quarter profit arrived at $322 million, or 26 cents per
share, a 13% year-over-year improvement from $285 million, or 21
cents per share. Same-store sales rose 3.4%, while overall revenue
jumped 11% to $11.63 billion. The results came in better than
expected, with analysts calling for a per-share profit of 24 cents
on $11.34 billion in sales. Looking ahead, LOW is projecting
full-year earnings of $1.75 to $1.85 per share on a 1% to 2%
increase in sales. Wall Street, meanwhile, had forecast earnings of
$1.79 per share on flat sales. LOW is up 0.7% in pre-market
trading.
Finally, Transocean Ltd. (RIG - 50.73) reported a fourth-quarter
loss of $6.12 billion, or $18.62 per share, compared to last year's
loss of $799 million, or $2.51 per share. Excluding approximately
$6.17 billion in charges -- including roughly $1 billion in
estimated loss contingencies linked to the catastrophic Macondo
well incident of 2010 -- earnings landed at 24 cents per share.
Revenue enjoyed a 14% bump to $2.4 billion. The results beat Wall
Street's forecast for adjusted earnings of 20 cents per share on
$2.32 billion in revenue. RIG is trading 2.7% higher ahead of the
bell.
Earnings Preview
Today's earnings docket will also feature reports from Career
Education Corporation (
CECO
), Cooper Tire & Rubber (
CTB
), Dendreon (
DNDN
), Human Genome Sciences (HGSI), Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ),
Quicksilver Resources (KWK), Priceline.com (PCLN), Savient
Pharmaceuticals (SVNT), Salix Pharmaceuticals (SLXP), SINA Corp.
(SINA), Southwestern Energy (SWN), Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX),
and Zagg (ZAGG). Keep your browser at
SchaeffersResearch.com
for more news as it breaks.
Economic Calendar
The economic calendar kicks off today with the pending home
sales report. Tuesday 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 1,277,828 call contracts traded on Friday, compared to
887,567 put contracts. The resultant single-session put/call ratio
arrived at 0.69, while the 21-day moving average was 0.61.
Overseas Trading
Asian markets ended mostly lower today, as climbing oil prices
kept a lid on investor sentiment. However, automakers were a pocket
of strength in mainland China, after the government announced plans
to procure only domestic vehicles in 2012. A still-surging yen
helped Japanese rivals like Honda close higher, but auto stocks Kia
and Hyundai both tumbled in Seoul. By the close, South Korea's
Kospi declined 1.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.9%, Japan's
Nikkei lost 0.1%, and China's Shanghai Composite advanced 0.3%.
European stocks are also sitting south of breakeven at midday,
with lofty gas prices threatening to crimp both corporate earnings
and consumer spending. Traders also cast a wary eye on an
anti-climactic meeting of G-20 finance ministers over the weekend,
with the group deferring a decision on additional aid for Europe
until their planned April meeting. At last check, London's FTSE 100
has lost 0.9%, the German DAX is down 1.1%, and the French CAC 40
is 1.2% lower.
Currencies and Commodities
The U.S. dollar index is up 0.3% ahead of the bell at $78.56.
Conversely, after setting a string of
nine-month highs
during last week's trading, crude oil is lower, with the
front-month contract 1.1% lower at $108.58. Gold futures are headed
south, as well, with the malleable metal down 0.4% at $1,768.70 per
barrel.
Unusual Put and Call Activity:
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