Subscribe to our newsletter

Wall Street Preview

XLE, AAPL, IBM, VIX

Thursday after the close these companies reported earnings: CBK, CWTR, FTK, HOTT, MW, PRSC, SIGM, VRA.

Futures are after higher hours: S&P 500 futures are +1.78 from fair value of 1549.02 and NAS 100 futures are +1.38 from fair value of 2793.87.

Watching the VIX; the CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX 11.29, -0.54) fell to multi-year lows. Including Thursday’s decline, the short-term volatility measure is now back a levels last seen in March 2007.

Economist Shayne Heffernan said this morning “sell the Wall St futures, buy the VIX.”

Friday morning before the open 3 economic reports are scheduled to be released: 1) Initial Claims (Consensus 350-K) and Continuing Claims (Consensus 3103-K), 2) PPI (Consensus 0.6%) and Core PPI (Consensus 0.2%), and 3) Current Account Balance (Consensus -$112.3-B).

Friday before the open these companies are scheduled to report earnings: AAON, ADES, ARQL, BKE, CATO, CORE, DSX, EBIX, GLP, KIRK, SOL, TA.
US Major Market Indexes Technical Analysis
Date Symbol Price Technical Analysis Support Resistance
15 Mar 2013 QQQ 68.86 Neutral (0.20) 68.79 69.74
15 Mar 2013 DIA 145.33 Bullish (0.43) 125.25
15 Mar 2013 SPY 156.73 Bullish (0.38) 155.78 156.78

Thursday’s Recap

DJIA +83.86 at 14539.14, NAS +13.81 at 3258.93, S&P 500 +8.71 at 1563.23

The US major market averages finished Thursday’s session higher. The S&P 500 advanced 0.6%, and settled within 2 pts of a record close. The DJIA registered its 10th consecutive gainer.

After the prior 3 sessions adhered to the script of early weakness resulting in steady dip buying, Thursday’s trade began on the opposite note. The S&P 500 opened higher, and remained in the Green for the duration of the day.

While Thursay’s start was opposite of that observed in recent days, the result was not. The benchmark index notched session highs shortly before the close, and settled at the highs.

The gains were paced by 2cyclical sectors; Energy and Technology were the top 2 performers at the start and the finish.

The Energy sector saw broad strength and the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF (NYSEArca: XLE 80.02, +1.08 rose1.4% to end at its best level since July 2011, it outperformed even as Crude Oil registered lesser gains. The energy component ended higher by 0.6%, at 93.08 bbl.

The Tech sector was the other driver of today’s action. Major sector components contributed to the outperformance as Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL 432.50), +4.15 and International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM 215.80, +3.740 finished with respective gains of 1.0% and 1.8%.

The chipmakers, which comprise a significant portion of the Tech sector, traded ahead of the broader market. The PHLX Semiconductor Index settled higher by 0.5%.