The market received a stick save in the form of an earnings beat by Alcoa. After yesterday’s route, Alcoa’s news brought a sense of calm to the market. Not to say the anxiety won’t return, but it was a good start to earnings season. Dow futures are currently up 73 points. Nasdaq futures are adding 16.25 points and the S&P 500 futures are up nearly 10 points.
Sentiment across the globe seems to be stabilizing thanks to the news. European markets are up today after a week of losses. Spanish and Italian bond yields are stable for the moment so it gives investors a chance to catch their breath and see which way the market is really heading. Asian stocks fell across the board over concern over Europe, but their reaction was coming after yesterday’s route of the EU and US markets.
On the economic data calendar, the Fed Beige Book is slated for release at 2pm EST. Import prices are also due out this morning.
In commodities, gold prices were retreating a bit in the face of the pre market rally. Gold is currently down nearly $3 to $1,658 per ounce. Oil prices are enjoying a snap back rally after getting hammered yesterday. Nymex crude futures are up 27 cents to $101.29.
Outside of the markets, a major earthquake just occurred in Indonesia, off the northern coast of Sumatra. An 8.6 struck followed by an 8.8. Both quakes prompted a tsunami warning throughout the region.
Stocks to watch today include Travelzoo Inc. (NASDAQ:TZOO), Titan Machinery Inc. (NASDAQ:TITN), Frontline Ltd. (NYSE:FRO), Renren Inc. (NYSE:RENN), Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK), Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).
Travelzoo Inc. (NASDAQ:TZOO) is up 29.44% this morning at $27.26. TZOO has traded 14 thousand shares this morning and trades 450 thousand shares a day on average. TZOO shares are rallying this morning on takeover reports. The company has a market cap of 336.14 million.
Titan Machinery, Inc. (NASDAQ:TITN) is up 20.09% in pre market trading at $32.99. TITN has traded about 4 thousand shares this morning and trades 208 thousand shares a day on average. TITN shares are rallying today after the company posted strong fourth quarter results. Titan Machinery reported EPS of $0.84, $0.31 higher than estimates of $0.53. Revenue increased nearly 65% from the year before to $607 million. The company has a market cap of 565.11 million.
Frontline Ltd. (NYSE:FRO) is up 4.65% today at $6.75. FRO has traded 3 thousand shares this morning and trades 2.8 million shares a day on average. FRO shares have been in a bit of a downtrend over the past week, falling about $1 a share. The company has a market cap of 502.18 million.
Renren Inc. (NYSE:RENN) is up 5.01% in pre market trading at $6.08. RENN has traded 63 thousand shares so far this morning and trades 9.7 million shares a day on average. Renren announced today it is in a partnership with Intel and Feitian to become the first internet company in China to adopt INTC IPT solutions. The company has a market cap of 2.28 billion.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) is down 12.33% this morning at $4.41. NOK has traded 3 million shares in pre market trading so far and trades 31.6 million shares a day on average. Customers of Nokia’s new Lumia 900 started reporting a glitch in the phone shortly after it went on sale on Sunday. Nokia has responded to these reports and is now offering the phone for free and promises to fix the glitch on or around April 16. The company has a market cap of 18.66 billion.
Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) is up 1.35% today at $2.25. SIRI has traded 106 thousand shares this morning and trades 56.6 million shares a day on average. SIRI shares have fallen more than $0.10 a share in recent days. The company has a market cap of 8.34 billion.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is up 0.10% in pre market trading at $30.50. MSFT has traded 90 thousand shares this morning and trades 50.3 million shares a day on average. MSFT shares have fallen about $1.50 a share since last Tuesday. The company has a market cap of 255.67 billion.
About Danny Fisher
