Wall Street Greek: Friday: Where’s the Beef in EPS Girls?

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With no macroeconomic data to report, the day’s action is completely definable by corporate specific events. Notably so, major technology names have reported disappointing earnings, and several other names in the NASDAQ have likewise disappointed investors. Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is down sharply today (-8%) in what one analyst reported as the sloppiest quarter in memory. Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG) is a non-tech name in the NASDAQ that is likewise weighing on it today, down 13%. So for those of you were expecting corporate earnings to lift stocks further despite economic warning signals, where’s the beef? For more in-depth analysis and research visit our stock market blog.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Where’s the Beef?

Market ETF	July 19, 2013	Year-to-Date
SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY)	-0.2%	+18.3%
SPDR Dow Jones (NYSE: DIA)	-0.3%	+18.6%
PowerShares (Nasdaq: QQQ)	-1.0%	+14.5%

The most notable information here is the severe detachment of the NASDAQ from the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrials today, though all are lower on poor company specific data. This might mark a seminal change in investor sentiment, and so I would lighten the portfolio and seek other beaten down assets like gold here. For now, you can still buy the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD), but physical gold is my preference, however hard it may be to come by.

Economic Events

ECONOMIC REPORT SCHEDULE
Economic Data Point	Prior Period	Expected
FRIDAY
G-20 Central Bankers & Finance Ministers Meet in Moscow

In what should be embarrassing to automakers Ford (NYSE: F) and GM (NYSE: GM), the city of Detroit declared bankruptcy today. The city has basically shrunk in terms of population, but still has to maintain the largest geographical territory of any major U.S. city. The math just does not add up, and so the city is insolvent. Detroit owes $11.8 billion in unsecured debt, $6.4 billion in secured and 0.6 billion in other obligations. Given its population issues, the company is having an increasingly difficult time meeting obligations, including pension obligations. That issue could go to the Supreme Court. The city has offered $0.17 on the dollar to creditors. This is a must for Detroit, however disappointing. We hope it will somehow fulfill its pension obligations.

G-20 central bankers and finance ministers are meeting in Moscow, Russia today. Treasury Secretary Lew is there, reportedly pleading with the Europeans to ease on austerity in support of growth. The OECD has one solution for Europe today; it has issued a report guiding nations on how to crack down on tax arbitragers. The recent Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) hearing comes to mind. In other news, China lowered its rate limits on bank lending. Every little bit helps, but it’s another sign of issue in China that may be understated by the government publicly.

Overseas Markets

EUROPE	10:12 AM	ASIA/PACIFIC	CLOSE
EURO STOXX 50	-0.2%	NIKKEI 225	-1.5%
German DAX	-0.2%	Hang Seng	+0.1%
CAC 40	-0.2%	S&P/ASX 200	-0.4%
FTSE 100	-0.3%	Korean KOSPI	-0.2%
Egyptian EGX 30	-1.2%	BSE India SENSEX	+0.1%

Commodity Markets (9:57 AM ET)

WTI Crude	+0.1%
Brent Crude	-0.0%
NYMEX Natural Gas	-0.5%
RBOB Gasoline	+1.2%
Gold Spot	+0.6%
Silver Spot	+0.3%
COMEX Copper	+0.3%
CBOT Corn	-1.0%
CBOT Wheat	+0.5%
CBOT Soybeans	+0.1%
ICE Cocoa	+1.0%
ICE Sugar	+0.6%
ICE Orange Juice Conc.	+0.2%
CME Live Cattle	-0.2%

Corporate Events

REPORTING EARNINGS
Company	Ticker
FRIDAY
General Electric	NYSE: GE
Honeywell	NYSE: HON
Schlumberger	NYSE: SLB
Whirlpool	NYSE: WHR
VF Corp.	NYSE: VFC
Akers Biosciences	NYSE: AKR
First Horizon National	NYSE: FHN
Badger Meter	NYSE: BMI
First Niagara Financial	Nasdaq: FNFG
SunTrust Banks	NYSE: STI
Laboratory Corp.	NYSE: LH
Interpublic Group	NYSE: IPG
MoSys	Nasdaq: MOSY
State Street	NYSE: STT
Baker Hughes	NYSE: BHI
Rockwell Collins	NYSE: COL
Acme United	NYSE: ACU
Tompkins Financial	NYSE: TMP
Reinsurance Group of America	NYSE: RGA
Metrocorp Bancshares	Nasdaq: MCBI
La Jolla Pharmaceutical	Nasdaq: LJPC

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS
BIGGEST GAINERS	% Gain
OXiGENE (Nasdaq: OXGN)	+37%
China HGS Real Estate (Nasdaq: HGSH)	+23%
Celsion (Nasdaq: CLSN)	+20%
Zhone Technologies (Nasdaq: ZHNE)	+17%
Daegis (Nasdaq: DAEG)	+15%
InfuSystems (Nasdaq: INFU)	+13%
Globus Maritime (Nasdaq: GLBS)	+NA%
Washington Federal (Nasdaq: WAFD)	+7%
Cubist Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CBST)	+9%
Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME)	+9%
BIGGEST LOSERS	% Drop
XG Technology (Nasdaq: XGTI)	-NA%
Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD)	-14%
Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG)	-13%
Reinsurance Group of America (NYSE: RGA)	-9%
Acadia Research (Nasdaq: ACTG)	-10%
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT)	-8%
Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH)	-8%
Ocera Therapeutics (Nasdaq: OCRX)	-10%
Telik (Nasdaq: TELK)	-7%
ICU Medical (Nasdaq: ICUI)	-7%

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