All eyes this morning are fixated on the payroll data. Consensus expectations is for a gain of 120,000 jobs. Turns out the real number blew expectations out of the water. 243,000 jobs were added last month with a drop in the unemployment rate. The Dow futures are currently up 94 points to 12,760. Nasdaq 100 futures are tacking on 23 to 2,515. The S&P 500 futures are rounding out the gains, up 11.50 to 1,334.25.
The jobs data out today sent the unemployment lower to 8.3%. If the trend continues the rate will tack below 8% before the election cycle gets in full swing. This should act as a boon for Obama’s reelection chances.
Outside of the jobs data, the Institute for Supply Management will release its non-manufacturing on business for January at 10am EST.
On the earnings front, several companies are slated to report today. These include the beauty giant Estee Lauder (NYSE:EL) and cleaning-products company Clorox (NYSE:CLX).
Europe is edging higher ahead of the jobs data with the Stoxx 600 Index up .83% in trading. Investors are expected to turn their eyes back towards Greece again this weekend and debt talks resume. One wonders when the next unfounded rumor of a deal will be released? Who knows, maybe rumor # 155 will be the charms and there will be a deal.
In commodities oil is jumping with the rest of the market. Nymex futures are up 62 cents to $97 per barrel.
Stocks to watch today include Threshold Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:THLD), Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ:ZNGA), Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ:DNDN), Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN), Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ:APKT)
Threshold Phamaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:THLD) is up 64.34% in pre market trading at $2.13. THLD shares are up this morning after Threshold and Merck KGaA announced global agreement to co-develop and commercialize hypoxia-targeted drug TH-302. THLD trades 136 thousand shares a day on average. The company has a market cap of 63.38 million.
Zynga Inc. (NASDAQ:ZNGA) is up 3.75% in pre market trading at $12.85. ZNGA shares continue to rally following the filing of Facebook’s IPO. Zynga and Facebook are very closely tied together with Zynga’s success dependent on Facebook’s success. ZNGA trades 11.5 million shares a day on average, but has been trading many times that over the past few days. The company has a market cap of 8.66 billion.
Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ:DNDN) is up 1.22% in pre market trading at $14.11. DNDN shares saw a jump at the beginning of January from $8 to $14, but since then has been trading flat. DNDN trades 9.1 million shares a day on average and has a market cap of 2.08 billion.
Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN) is down 3.46% in pre market trading at $116.60. WYNN shares are down after the company released quarterly results yesterday. Profits came in at $1.55, beating estimates of $1.29. Investors are still worried about a possible slowdown in the growth of the company’s Macua operations. The company has a market cap of 15 billion.
Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) is up 2.82% in pre market trading at $7.66. BAC has traded 501 thousand shares this morning and trades 268 million shares a day on average. BAC shares are up along with the overall market following a good jobs report. The company has a market cap of 78.49 billion.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is up 1.04% in pre market trading at $125.29. NFLX trades 8.6 million shares a day on average. Look for an across the board rally in stocks today as jobs numbers blew by expectations. So far this year, NFLX shares are up more than $50 a share. The company has a market cap of 6.87 billion.
Acme Packet, Inc. (NASDAQ:APKT) is down 9.58% in pre market trading at $27.93. APKT has traded 338 thousand shares already this morning and trades 2.7 million shares a day on average. APKT shares are lower today after posting fourth quarter results. EPS came in at $0.26 per share, analysts were expecting $0.28 per share. The company has a market cap of 2.07 billion.
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