9:00am (EST)
Futures are trading in a narrow range this morning as we get ready for the upcoming week. There is little economic data due out during the first half of this week and earnings are coming to a crawl so Wall Street will be looking for other cues to give the market direction.
Asian markets surged last night in their first trading session following the upbeat U.S. jobs report but the European markets fell slightly.
The good news, if you are bullish, is that there are a lot of upgrades on stocks this morning that could get the bulls in a buying mood.
Research In Motion (RIMM, $69.50, down $0.48), Yahoo (YHOO, $16.06, up $0.25) and U.S Steel (X, $58.90, up $2.26) all got upgrades and are showing higher bids in pre-market trading.


M&A (mergers and acquisitions) activity continues to pick up… American International Group (AIG, $28.08, up $1.37) is selling one of its major foreign subsidiaries (Alico) to MetLife (MET, $38.92, up $0.81) for $15.5 billion. It is the second major sale for AIG this month as the company tries to get leaner and meaner.

The Entertainment stocks could get a pop after seeing “Alice in Wonderland ” bring in a whopping $116 million in its opening weekend – a record for a 3-D film. We knew Alice would be a hit and the total easily surpassed all other films in release and gave Walt Disney (DIS, $33.22, up $0.65) an even bigger opening than “Avatar.” Imax (IMAX, $13.72, up $0.40) also benefitted as their theaters were packed all weekend long.
Earnings:
Monday: Casey’s General Stores (CASY, $31.86, up $0.21), Kronos Worldwide (KRO, $15.69, down $0.27), ResCare (RSCR, $9.53, up $0.34), TiVo (TIVO, $17.50, up $0.97) and Value Line (VALU, $25.42, up $0.45).
Tuesday: Boston Beer Company (SAM, $50.54, up $0.74), Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS, $25.19, up $0.83), J. Crew Group (JCG, $45.61, up $1.55), Kroger (KR, $22.74, up $0.05), Overstock.com (OSTK, $13.43, up $0.35) and Tootsie Roll (TR, $28.17, up $0.87).
Wednesday: American Eagle Outfitters (AEO, $16.74, up $0.01), Bon-Ton Stores (BONT, $11.78, up $0.68), Elbit Systems (ESLT, $60.58, up $0.09), Gymboree (GYMB, $45.15, up $0.40), Hot Topic (HOTT, $6.71, up $0.08), Men’s Wearhouse (MW, $25.17, up $0.74) and Vail Resorts VPFG, $15.48, up $0.18).
Thursday: Aeropostale (ARO, $25.56, up $0.56), Goldcorp (GG, $40.37, up $0.80), National Semiconductor (NSM, $14.67, up $0.04), Pall Corp (PLL, $41.32, up $0.68), Piedmont Natural Gas (PNY, $26.74, up $0.35) and Smithfield Foods (SFD, $19.09, down $0.36),
Friday: AnnTaylor Stores (ANN, $18.50, up $0.53), Citi Trends (CTRN, $29.50, up $0.13) and Kirkland’s (KIRK, $18.81, up $0.81),
As we head to press, Dow futures are up 7 points, S&P 500 futures are up a point while the Nasdaq 100 futures are up 2. Current subscribers, check the Members Area for the updates.












Futures Pointing Towards Slightly Higher Open
Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
9:05am (EST)
The market acted “shitty” yesterday if you were a bull.
Excuse our French this morning but if Senator Carl Levin can use that word over and over again on basic cable then we can use it to describe the bulls frustrations yesterday.
The market got absolutely crushed following the debt downgrades for Greece and Portugal and, perhaps, the negative picture Washington is trying to paint of Goldman Sachs (GS, $153.04, up $1.01).
The bulls started off in the hole but were making a push to greener pastures before news hit a little after 11am (EST) that Standard & Poor had slashed its rating on Greek’s government debt to junk status.
The downgrades didn’t stop there though.
Portugal’s debt was also lowered by a couple of notches, with Standard & Poor maintaining a negative outlook on both countries.
As a result, the Dow suffered its fourth largest drop of the year, 213 points or 1.9%, and fell below the 11,000 level at 10,991. The S&P 500 plunged 2.3%, or 28 points, and closed below the 1,200 level in the process. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq plummeted 52 points, or 2%, to settle at 2,471 and drifted below the 2,500 level.
While most Financial stocks plunged on Tuesday, Goldman actually traded higher after starting the session in negative territory. The firm’s “star” trader, Fabrice Tourre, “categorically” denied any involvement in securities fraud before the panel and looks forward to defending himself in court.
We aren’t sure if there was a clear winner or loser in the grilling Goldman got but like the company’s CEO said, they will not survive without their clients trust. Shares of Goldman ended higher on the day when other “shaky” stocks tanked.
American International Group (AIG, $37.37, down $7.14) tanked 16% as over 33 million shares traded hands.
Despite yesterday’s sell-off, futures are pointing towards a slightly higher open this morning. Dow futures are up 33 points to 10,988 while the S&P 500 futures are higher by 4 to 1,185. The Nasdaq 100 futures are 10 to 2,019.
We have a lot to cover in our Members Area this morning so let’s get to it.
Tags: AIG, GS, option picks, option signals, options alerts, stock options trading
Posted in Company Commentary, Financial Stocks, Market Analysis | Comments Off