Wall Street Greek: Before the Bell: Jobless Claims & Alcoa's EPS Results

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Weekly initial jobless claims and Alcoa's lead-off earnings report key the wire this morning. However, the day's schedule is full of market-moving news potential.

Before the Bell

Weekly Initial Jobless Claims

New benefits filers amounted to 565K in the week ending July 4, comparing favorably against consensus expectations for 610K, based on economists surveyed by Bloomberg. We remind you though that the forecast for this regular count never varies far from the prior week result, which makes perfect sense. Even so, the dip below 600K is welcomed. It marked a 57,000 decrease from the prior week's revised count of 617K. The four-week moving average moved 10K lower, to 606K.

Now the bad news... Continuing claims filers stuck, piling on the insured unemployment pool and taking that rate to 5.1%, from 5.0% (+159K continuing claims filers). The total count of unemployment claims beneficiaries amounts now to 6,883,000, which is nothing to get excited about.

The highest insured unemployment rates in the week ending June 20 were in Michigan (6.8 percent), Puerto Rico (6.8), Oregon (6.7), Pennsylvania (6.4), Nevada (6.2), Wisconsin (5.7), California (5.3), Illinois (5.3), North Carolina (5.3), and South Carolina (5.3).

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending June 27 were in New Jersey (+7,876), Massachusetts (+4,730), Kansas (+4,469), Kentucky (+3,614), and New York (+3,019), while the largest decreases were in Florida (-12,493), Illinois (-5,321), Pennsylvania (-3,949), California (-2,919), and Tennessee (-2,743).

Alcoa's EPS Results

Alcoa (NYSE: AA) reported quarterly results last evening, formally kicking off the second quarter earnings season. However, earnings do not get into full swing for a couple weeks yet.

Alcoa noted a narrower loss than was anticipated by Wall Street, giving enthusiasm to futures in the early going. Much of the surprise came due to Alcoa's cost cutting efforts, but the cyclical barometer noted some aluminum markets have begun stabilizing. Still, the company kept with its forecast that the aluminum market will contract by 7% this year due to the global recession.

Alcoa lost $0.32 per share from continuing operations, and after restructuring charges, the bellwether lost only $0.26 (analysts usually exclude these charges). This compared against analysts' consensus expectations for a loss of $0.38. Revenue, perhaps a better barometer of the environment in times of chaos, dropped 41% versus the prior year count. The decline in year-over-year revenue was driven by a 49% drop in the price of the metal relative to Alcoa's dealings. Compared to the quarter just prior, sales rose 2%, lending to market enthusiasm.

To see the entire schedule for Thursday, including the yet to be reported data, please see our "Week Ahead" copy.

Other Corporate EPS Today

The corporate earnings slate includes news from 3Com (Nasdaq: COMS), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Adams Express (NYSE: ADX), CalAmp (Nasdaq: CAMP), Chattem (Nasdaq: CHTT), FCStone Group (Nasdaq: FCSX), Franklin Covey (NYSE: FC), Helen of Troy (Nasdaq: HELE), Lawson Software (Nasdaq: LWSN), Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (Nasdaq: RMCF), Shaw Group (NYSE: SGR), Tortoise Capital Resources (NYSE: TTO) and Value Line (Nasdaq: VALU).