Overnight, Fitch downgraded Greece from C to CCC. This signaled that they expect an imminent default. Even with the debt swaps, the country will be in the technical definition of a restricted default. Once the swaps are complete, Fitch will re-rate the country based on its creditworthiness post-default.
The rally on Wall Street seems to be losing forward momentum after the Dow failed to crack 13k with any real conviction. Most analysts think market participants are fully invested now, and that the street needs a new economic catalyst to keep the rally sustained.
High fuel prices are also weighing on market participants. Any sustained pain at the pump will crimp consumer spending. Some are calling for $5 gas by summer. Currently the average price has shattered the record for this time of year.
The economic data calendar remains light today, with only US housing data for January slated to be released at 10am EST.
Oil prices are easing off their recent gains. Nymex crude futures are down 26 cents to $105.99 per barrel.
Stocks to watch today include Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN), Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ:YNDX), Complete Genomics, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNOM), Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ), Urban Outfitteres, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN), Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC).
Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN) is up 13.09% in pre market trading at $50.54. GRMN shares are rallying in early trading following fourth quarter results. Net income for the company rose to $165.5 million or $0.85 per share, up from $132.9 million or $0.68 per share a year ago. If you exclude certain items, Garmin earned $0.96 a share with revenue rising 9% to $910 million. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.66 per share and revenue of $769.9 million. The company has a market cap of 8.68 billion.
Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ:YNDX) is up 0.72% in pre market trading at $23.74. YNDX announced fourth quarter results earlier this morning. The company’s profits rouse 50% in the fourth quarter. Adjusted net income was 2.2 billion rubles (around $75 million) from 1.47 billion rubles a year ago. Revenue jumped 56% to 6.6 million rubles. The company has a market cap of 7.61 billion.
Complete Genomics, Inc. (NASDAQ:GNOM) is up 4.22% in pre market trading at $4.20. GNOM shares are up more than $1.50 a share since late January. The stock has seen a lot of intraday action lately as it releases news at a steady clip. On Feb 13, the company won an outsourcing deal which caused its shares to jump to about $4.60 before coming back down some. The company has a market cap of 133.72 million.
Canadian Solar Inc. (NASDAQ:CSIQ) is up 6.22% in pre market trading at $4.44. CSIQ shares jumped in after hours yesterday following the company raising its fourth quarter shipping guidance. This morning, Canadian Solar announced sponsorship of NHL’s Los Angeles Kings. The company has a market cap of 180.32 million.
Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ:URBN) is up 1.58% in pre market trading at $28.94. URBN shares are up slightly this morning after being upgraded to outperfrom from market perform by BMO Capital. URBN is up about $1.50 in the past week. The company has a market cap of 4.11 billion.
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) is down 6.75% in pre market trading at $16.98. DELL shares are taking a hit today following yesterday’s fourth quarter results. Dell reported earnings of $0.51 per share for the fourth quarter on revenue of $16.01 billion. This was below analysts expectations of $0.52 per hare on $15.96 in revenue. DELL is also expecting first quarter revenue to drop 7% year over year. to $14.9 billion. The company has a market cap of 32.71 billion.
Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) is down 0.86% in pre market trading at $8.04. BAC shares are down some as the overall market is set to open lower. Fitch said this morning that a Greece default was “high likely.” BAC has enjoyed rallying alongside the stock market for two months now and jumped from $5 to $8 in that time. BAC has traded over 600 thousand shares so far this morning and trades 286 million shares a day on average. The company has a market cap of 85.45 billion.
About Danny Fisher
