Market Alert - Pre-Market

Futures vs FV: SP +1.88; DJ +23.54; NASDAQ +12.14

There is still talk of a healthcare bill vote, but the President just tweeted about the Senate being an issue, cannot get 60 votes in Senate, need to go to 51 vote option. Of course the financial station anchors thought this abhorrent. Funny. They love the disruptors in business and industry, but hate them in politics even when it is needed. Part of the public's disdain for DC is the entrenched class and rules that make it hard to accomplish anything. The Senate 60 vote rule is not in the Constitution; it is made up. The Constitution says you can filibuster all you want but does not require 60 votes to pass legislation, just a majority. Scrap the rule, MAKE someone filibuster, then when that inevitably ends, vote up or down.

But, I digress.

The political and geopolitical intrigue is taking a momentary back seat to earnings and sales.

F: sales -7.2% versus -5.8% expected. Worse than the fall that was expected.


Earnings are not that bad though companies are noting the US is weaker than Asia, Europe.

Beats: BP, MRK, AET, HLT, DVS, TXRH

Misses: PFE (TL); COH (TL); MOS (TL, BL); THC (BL)

CMI: In line but it is the discussion. It sees sales really ramping this year as Asia, Europe grow. The US is not so great. Hello? Congress? Things are not good here. We need to make the environment one people want to put there money here.


Jobs: Infosys (India) vows 10K jobs for the US. That is great, but the robots are coming. A Chinese sweat shop worker told CMBC that there is no way the US workers can compete with Chinese workers at the modest pay and insane hours they are worked. That robots are coming anyway to ALL of those lower skilled low wage jobs.

That makes sense. That should not be our focus. We should, again, make America the place everyone wants to invest for innovation and those next level technologies that create those next level jobs. THAT is how you recover jobs and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, lift the standard of living. The US isn't a place you just survive, the US is a place you come to thrive.


OTHER MARKETS
Bonds: 2.336% versus 2.322%. Bonds continue the selling and threaten a break down from the upside breakout.

EUR/USD: 1.0906 vs 1.09094

USD/JPY: 112.246 vs 111.793. Dollar getting some wheels on the yen.

Oil: 48.83, -0.01

Gold: 1252.50, -2.00


Stocks are holding gains and indeed rising into the bell. NASDAQ is ready to open higher again as AAPL readies its earnings release. Too much upside for NASDAQ of late? Likely. We will see how the stocks handle this open and decide how much we want to keep through the AAPL earnings. Inclined to let our positions in general run as the moves are good and DJ30, SP500, RUTX, SP400 still to break higher from there consolidations of the new upside.

Jon Johnson, Chief Market Strategist
InvestmentHouse.com
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