EmailThanks to Friday's low-volume gain, the market hasn't had a losing week in six weeks. The bid for seven straight begins today, and if the current futures indication holds, the cash market will start today's trading on a relatively flattish note.
The prospect of this being a fairly uneventful day of trading seems pretty good right now.
There isn't much corporate or economic news of note to move the dial in the early-going here. Press reports are focused primarily on the aftermath of the blizzard in the Northeast, news that Pope Benedict will resign at the end of February due to age and health (the first pope to resign in 600 years), and China ushering in the Year of the Snake.
Most Asian markets were closed in observance of the Lunar New Year. Chinese markets will be closed through Thursday.
European markets are mixed leading up to the start of trading in the US.
There is some early selling pressure in the Treasury market, but losses are modest in scope. The 10-year note is down three ticks with its yield at 1.96%.
Today hasn't produced any market-moving headlines so far, yet a speech on the economy from Fed Governor Yellen at 1:00 p.m. ET could help given her dovish leaning. On a related note, Kansas City Fed President George, who has a hawkish leaning and who dissented at the January FOMC meeting, will speak on Tuesday about the economy.
The president's State of the Union Address will take place Tuesday night. Early reports suggest it will focus on the president's economic agenda.
The economy is on everyone's mind for obvious reasons, but with the March 1 sequestration deadline approaching, it is a frequent and contentious topic of conversation.
The same can be said for currency values around the world, particularly the yen, the euro, and the dollar, which are expected to be a topic of conversation at the G20 finance ministers meeting scheduled to start on Thursday in Russia.
Shifting gears, another 55 members of the S&P 500 are slated to report their earnings results for the December quarter this week. Thus far, we have heard from 336 S&P 500 companies. The results, in aggregate, have been better than expected.
According to FactSet, the blended fourth quarter earnings growth rate, which includes reported actuals and estimates for companies that have not yet reported, is 3.0% versus 2.4% at the start of the reporting period. Reported earnings, however, are up 5.0%.
For what it's worth -- and it doesn't seem to be worth much to a market focused on the second half of the year already -- the consensus estimate for first quarter earnings growth has been slashed to 0.1% from 2.4% on December 31.
