EmailThe winning streak for the S&P 500 was halted at eight sessions yesterday on some modest profit taking. Apple (AAPL), which has been trading in a world of its own, continued to trade in a world of its own, only this time it traded higher (+2.3%) and provided support for the broader market.
Overall, though, there wasn't much conviction on either the sell side or the buy side in yesterday's action.
That might have been a pre-meditated pause in front of the FOMC announcement on Wednesday or it might have simply been the vestiges of a consolidation trade following a remarkable start to the year.
Today's news flow is flush with earnings results that include headline beats from a number of companies, as well as warnings from many of those same companies.
VMware (VMW), Yahoo! (YHOO), Seagate Technology (STX), Polaris Industries (PII), EMC Corp. (EMC), Tupperware (TUP), and Peabody Energy (BTU) are among the companies that fit the beat-warn bill.
Danaher (DHR) met the S&P Capital IQ consensus estimate, but warned for the first quarter and full year; meanwhile, Illinois Tool Works (ITW), Lexmark (LXK), Sanmina (SANM), and BMC Software (BMC) all missed expectations and also warned for the March quarter and/or full year.
Pfizer (PFE) and Eli Lilly (LLY) both beat and issued in-line guidance for the full year. Ford (F) topped expectations by five cents and provided mixed guidance, saying some encouraging things about its North American business and some discouraging things about its European business.
It is clear that the earnings news has not awakened the market's bullish spirit. The S&P futures are down four points and are trading about 0.2% below fair value.
The opening indication won't have anyone overly worried about the bears taking ownership of the market.
The Case-Shiller Home Price Index report for November (Briefing.com consensus +5.2%; prior +4.3%) will hit the wires at 9:00 a.m. ET. The Consumer Confidence report for January (Briefing.com consensus 65.1; prior 65.1) will follow at 10:00 a.m. ET.
The latter report has market-moving potential since it will convey the state of consumer sentiment in the aftermath of the fiscal cliff compromise that made low tax rates permanent for most taxpayers, but raised the payroll tax for all workers.
