The labor market continues to show signs of strengthening. Weekly jobless claims dropped 14k to 351k. This matches a four year low. Last week’s numbers were revised upwards to 365k, accounting for the sizable drop in the number. Still a ways to go, but at the very least the trajectory will make the election cycle very interesting.
Traders are beginning to wonder how much steam the market has left. Most of the major indexes have notched multi-year highs, with no discernible pull-backs. The dollar has started to strengthen again on the back of recent Fed comments about the prospect of QE3 in the near-term. The statement earlier this week pretty much killed expectations that it was around the corner.
After sharp losses, commodities are rebounding slightly this morning. Nymex crude futures are up 15 cents to $105.58. After the horrific day for gold yesterday, the metal has recovered somewhat. Gold futures are up 70 cents to $1643 per ounce.
Stocks to watch today include Coffee Holding Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:JVA), Radvision Ltd. (NASDAQ:RVSN), Frontline Ltd. (NYSE:FRO), STMicroelectronics N.V. (NYSE:STM), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD).
Coffee Holding Co., Inc. (NASDAQ:JVA) is up 9.06% in pre market trading at $13.00. JVA shares are bouncing back in pre market after the stock fell about 10% yesterday. JVA trades about 1.6 million shares a day on average. Coffee Holding stock jumped earlier this week from $8 to $14 on positive earnings report. The company has a market cap of 75.95 million.
Radvision Ltd. (NASDAQ:RVSN) is up 5.10% in pre market trading at $11.75. RVSN has traded 138 thousand shares already today, well above its daily average of 91 thousand shares. RVSN shares are climbing this morning on news that Avaya to buy Radvision for $230 million. RVSN shares are up nearly $4 this week. The company has a market cap of 206.25 million.
Frontline Ltd. (NYSE:FRO) is up 3.83% in pre market trading at $5.70. Frontline shares have been trending slightly higher this week and are up about $0.70 since Monday. FRO trades 1.7 million shares a day on average. The company has a market cap of 427.44 million.
STMicroelectronics N.V. (NYSE:STM) is up 3.68% in pre market trading at $8.16. STM has traded 246 thousand shares so far this morning and trades 1.8 million shares a day on average. STM shares have jumped more than $1 a share since last Thursday. The company has a market cap of 6.97 billion.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is up slightly in pre market trading at $182.27. AMZN trades 5.8 million shares a day on average. Amazon.com stock is close to where it started trading at the first of the year after hitting a high of around $195 in late January. The company has a market cap of 82.94 million.
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) is up 0.24% in pre market trading at $105.50. NFLX trades on average 8.2 million shares a day. NFLX shares have been in a slight downtrend this week and have fallen about $4.50 a share since Monday. The company has a market cap of 5.83 billion.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) is up 2.58% in pre market trading at $7.96. AMD has traded nearly 61 thousand shares already this morning and trades 15.6 million shares a day on average. AMD shares are trading higher today after Jefferies upgrades the stock to buy and sees big upside. The company has a market cap of 5.42 billion.