Earnings are out from MON (Materials/Agriculture) , WWW (Textiles/Apparel), COST (Retail), FDO (Retail) and AYI (Home Furnishings).
Based solely on the pre-market reaction, the reports look good and all of these stocks are headed higher (except WWW which is not yet trading). While none of these names carry the weight of a GE or Fedex in terms of what they mean for the broader economy, companies such as MON and COST do carry a lot of weight and give us an initial look how the economy is holding up.
From a trading perspective, unless something very negative comes out on a conference call, it doesn’t look like any of these names will provide a downside catalyst to throw fear into the market today. AA reports after the bell today but everybody expects them to report lousy numbers. They always do.
Generally, the pre-market activity is quiet. I’ll be watching for a break in the overnight range on ES. The high is at 1054 and the low is at 1047.
UPDATE (8:54 AM EST): ES is right at 1047 right now. The dollar is rising and leading the market lower. As I have been saying, if you want to know where the equity market is going, figure out the direction of the dollar.
UPDATE (9:37 AM EST): Overnight range is 1045-1054.