Pre-opening Comments for Thursday February 7th
U.S. equity index futures are mixed this morning. S&P 500 futures are unchanged in pre-opening trade.
Index futures weakened slightly following release of economic news at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus for weekly initial jobless claims was 360,000 versus 368,000 last week. Actual was 366,000. Consensus for fourth quarter productivity was a decline of 1.5%. Actual was a decline of 2.0%.
The Bank of England maintained its overnight lending rate at 0.5% and the European Central Bank maintained its overnight lending rate at 0.75%.
U.S. retailers are expected to open higher following release of higher than expected same store sales in January.
Johnson & Johnson fell $0.39 to $75.00 after Credit Suisse downgraded the stock from Neutral to Underperform
Akamai Technology plunged $7.23 to $34.35 after Janney Capital downgraded the stock from Buy to Neutral. The company also reported lower than consensus fourth quarter revenues.
Blackberry gained $0.47 to $16.52 after Wells Fargo updated the stock from Market Perform to Outperform.
Visa fell $2.04 to $158.78 after Wells Fargo downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform.
Technical Watch
Akamai Technolgies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) – $34.35 plunged 17.4% after the company reported less than consensus fourth quarter revenues. The stock has a negative technical profile at the opening. Intermediate trend changed from up to down on a break below support at $39.00. The stock will break below its 20, 50 and 200 day moving averages at the opening. Strength relative to the S&P 500 Index has been negative since mid-December. Better opportunities exist elsewhere.
![clip_image001[1]](http://www.timingthemarket.ca/techtalk/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/clip_image00111.png "clip_image001[1]")
Interesting Charts
Nice breakout by Platinum yesterday above resistance at $1,734.50 per ounce. Strength relative to the S&P 500 Index remains positive. ‘Tis the season!
Encouraging break by XOP above resistance at $59.34! Outperformance continues. ‘Tis the season!
Weekly Select Sector SPDRs Review
Technology
· Intermediate trend is up.
· Units remain above their 20, 50 and 200 day moving averages.
· Strength relative to the S&P 500 Index remains negative.
· Short term momentum indicators are neutral.
Materials
· Intermediate trend is up. Resistance has formed at $39.87.
· Units remain above their 20, 50 and 200 day moving averages.
· Strength relative to the S&P 500 Index has turned from neutral to negative
· Short term momentum indicators are trending down.
