(The Weekly Digest reproduces the morning capsules made available every morning before the market open in the Real Time Feeds to the paying subscribers. )
STOCK FUTURES ERRASE OVERNIGHT LOSSES ON GOOD EARNINGS, EXPECT POSITION SQUARING
After the recent bull run, stock futures dropped overnight on less than expected earnings from the likes of GOOG and IBM. This morning the earnings from the likes of GE and MS are better than expectations and stock futures have recovered.
Expect position squaring ahead of the long weekend.
Gold, silver, and oil are range bound.
Interest rates are falling.
Gold futures are at $1300, silver futures are at $1965, and oil futures are $103.97.
S&P 500 resistance levels are 1875, 1900, and 1925; support levels are 1837, 1825, and 1800.
DJIA futures are up 10 points.
BULLS TEMPORARILY WIN THE CLASSIC BATTLE
Overnight, first quarter GDP number was released in China. It shows that the growth is slowing. The market is taking it as bullish as the number may force Chinese government’s hand to do more for the economy.
In the U. S. housing starts were below expectations.
Interest rates and gold are range bound.
Oil is spiking.
Gold futures are at $1303, silver futures are at $19.63, and oil futures are $104.71.
S&P 500 resistance levels are 1850, 1875, and 1900; support levels are 1837, 1825, and 1800.
DJIA futures are up 77 points.
STOCKS HOLDING GAINS BUT GOLD FALLS
Oil is slightly lower.
Interest rates are mostly unchanged.
Obama and Putin talked but unable to agree on Ukraine.
China’s new credit declines by 19% year over year. It is not clear how markets will react to this news, so far the reaction is muted.
Gold futures are at $1305, silver futures are at $19.75, and oil futures are $103.18.
S&P 500 resistance levels are 1837, 1850, and 1875; support levels are 1825, 1800, and 1790.
DJIA futures are up 15 points.
OVERSOLD BOUNCE ON LOTS OF GOOD NEWS
April 14, 2014
Stock futures have bounced strongly from overnight lows on lots of good news.
In the U. S. Retail Sales for March came at 1.1% vs. 1.0% consensus. February Retail Sales are revised upwards to 0.7% from 0.3%.
March Retail Sales ex-auto are 0.7% vs. 0.5%.
The foregoing indicates that the American consumer is well and spending.
This morning, earnings from Citi Bank ( C) are much better than expectations. This is lifting the sentiment.
Copper is often called Dr. Copper because historically its usage has indicated the amount of economic activity. Lately copper has been falling because the concern has been that due to slowing growth in China, there are big stock piles of copper in China and demand will fall.
MMG, a subsidiary of Chinese government-owned Minmetals, is paying $5.85 billion to buy Las Bambas in Peru. Las Bambas is a very large copper mine under construction that will supply about 450,000 tons of copper yearly.
Market is encouraged that Chinese government sees continued demand for copper which translates to growth.
Gold is attempting to move higher.
Oil is volatile but on the low side.
Interest rates are ticking slightly higher.
Undoubtedly, some sellers will emerge to sell into the bounce in the stock market. How institutional buyers respond will determine the short-term direction.
Gold futures are at $1325, silver futures are at $20.01, and oil futures are $103.49.
S&P 500 resistance levels are 1837, 1850, and 1875; support levels are 1800, 1775, and 1766.
DJIA futures are up 74 points.
