An overnight downgrade of Japanese sovereign bond rating by Fitch is tempering futures action domestically. The broad based rally yesterday was a welcome respite after 12 losing sessions out of 13. The lack of any bad news out of Europe is also helping bolster markets both overseas and domestically. Dow futures are currently up 27 points, Nasdaq futures 10 and the S&P nearly 4 points.
The hope among market watchers is that EU leaders will move swiftly to shore up confidence in the European markets. Probably a misguided hope – when do politicians ever do anything swiftly except raise money? Regardless it is giving markets the opportunity to take a breather after getting pummeled in recent weeks.
Domestically, the big economic data point will be existing home sales at 10am EST. Analysts are expecting a rise from 4.48 million in March to 4.6 million. Obviously a miss here would weigh on the market as a whole due to the housing market’s lack of overall recovery.
Commodities are mostly negative with both gold and oil turning south. Oil prices are down slightly with Nymex crude futures down 24 cents to $92.33. Gold futures are also giving up ground, with prices down $8.30 to $1580.50 per ounce.
In forex, the dollar continues to trade higher against the Euro with the DXY at 81.25. The Euro is slipping this morning, down to 1.2759.
Stocks to Watch
Vodafone Group plc (NASDAQ:VOD) is up 3.08% in pre market trading at $27.10. VOD has traded 261 thousand shares so far today and trades 7.4 million shares a day on average. VOD shares are up today after sales beat expectations thanks to a jump in data revenue. The company has a market cap of 134.43 billion.
Sirius XM Radio INc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) is up 1.52% in pre market trading at $2.01. SIRI has traded 37 thousand shares so far today and trades 60.3 million shares a day on average. SIRI shares have rallied $0.20 a share over the past two days after hitting $1.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of 7.53 billion.
DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS) is up 2.22% in pre market trading at $2.30. DRYS has traded 11 thousand shares this morning and trades 5.86 million shares a day on average. DRYS shares went up $0.10 yesterday as it looks to turn around after falling $1 a share over the past month. The company has a market cap of 953.46 million.
Zynga, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZNGA) is down 0.42% in pre market trading at $7.06. ZNGA has traded 30 thousand shares this morning and trades 20.65 million shares a day on average. ZNGA shares have dropped 45% over the past 3 months and have been taking a hit in recent days due to Facebook’s poor IPO launch. The company has a market cap of 5.22 billion.
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) is up 4.73% in pre market trading at $6.20. ARNA has traded 70 thousand shares this morning and trades 17.8 million shares a day on average. ARNA jumped about $0.40 a share yesterday as the stock looks to bounce following a sell off after hitting a high of $7.02 following an FDA panel recommendation. The company has a market cap of 1.08 billion.
Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE:BBY) is up 1.93% in pre market trading at $18.42. BBY has traded 707 thousand shares in pre market trading and trades 7.9 million shares a day on average. BBY shares are higher this morning after the company reported better than expected quarterly results. Best Buy also maintained its outlook for the rest of the year. Sales rose 2.1% to $11.61 billion, better than estimates of $11.52 billion. Excluding items, Best Buy earned $0.72 a share, beating estimates of $0.59 a share. The company has a market cap of 6.22 billion.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) is down 3.97% in pre market trading at $2.90. NOK has traded 83 thousand shares so far today and trades 39.1 million shares a day on average. NOK shares are selling off some this morning following a jump from $2.85 to over $3 yesterday. The company has a market cap of 11.21 billion.
About Danny Fisher
