The Greek's Stock Market Summary

Stocks are higher this morning, despite some bad news from the small business community. The NFIB’s monthly index showed deterioration in sentiment. Given that these are the people who do the majority of the hiring and firing in this country, it matters. It’s the start of earnings season, so perhaps the investor base is enthused about that, but the number of companies reducing earnings estimates is a bit ominous so far. Do not forget though that companies are more likely to pre-report a cut to numbers than to report an upside surprise; this is due to legal reasons. For more in-depth analysis and research visit our stock market blog.

Stock Market Summary

Market ETF	July 9, 2013	Year-to-Date
SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)	+0.5%	+15.7%
SPDR Dow Jones (DIA)	+0.5%	+17.0%
PowerShares (QQQ)	+0.3%	+11.9%

Economic Events

ECONOMIC REPORT SCHEDULE
Economic Data Point	Prior Period	Expected	Actual
TUESDAY
NFIB Small Business Optimism Index	94.4	94.7	93.5
ICSC Store Sales	+0.6%	NA	3.0%

The NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index declined in its latest reading, indicating small businessmen have lost some faith in the economy. Six of the ten survey components fell, while just two rose, so the drivers of decline were overwhelming. The index was not in great territory to begin with, some 8 points short of pre-recession average levels. Still it was up substantially from its lowest reading at the height of panic. Where we go from here certainly seems uncertain today, at least as far as small businessmen see it. Unfortunately, these are the people who do most of the hiring and firing in America.

The ICSC Weekly Same-Store Sales Report showed a sharp upturn in week-to-week growth through July 6, but this is definitely holiday inspired. The July 4th holiday gets people on the move, buying gasoline for trips and other items for their picnics and cookouts. Still, the figure was also significantly higher on a year-over-year basis, up 2.9%, versus the prior year increase of 1.9%. This reflects a better economy versus last year.

The FDIC is holding its final vote on Basel III rules changes that would raise the standards for America’s largest banks including J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Citigroup (NYSE: C) and others to levels making them less competitive globally. It is the result of the banks’ own failures, lest we forget.

Overseas Markets

EUROPE	8:33 AM ET	ASIA/PACIFIC	CLOSE
EURO STOXX 50	+0.5%	NIKKEI 225	+2.6%
German DAX	+1.0%	Hang Seng	+0.5%
CAC 40	+0.6%	S&P/ASX 200	+1.5%
FTSE 100	+0.8%	Korean KOSPI	+0.7%
Greek ASE	+0.1%	BSE India SENSEX	+0.6%

NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) is taking over the management of the Libor benchmark interest rate from the British Banking Authority, a necessary action after confidence was damaged by the Libor rigging scandal.

European shares are higher today after Greece won its latest tranche ($3.9 billion) from its European masters. With more money coming from the IMF, Greek financial sector stability is achieved, though at the cost of Greeks and a severely shrunken economy.

Commodity Markets (8:20 AM ET)

WTI Crude	-0.5%
Brent Crude	-0.4%
NYMEX Natural Gas	-1.0%
RBOB Gasoline	-0.3%
Gold Spot	+1.1%
Silver Spot	+0.6%
COMEX Copper	-1.6%
CBOT Corn	+1.9%
CBOT Wheat	+2.0%
CBOT Soybeans	+1.9%
ICE Cocoa	+0.5%
ICE Sugar	+0.2%
ICE Orange Juice Conc.	+1.0%
CME Live Cattle	+0.1%

Corporate Events

REPORTING EARNINGS
Company	Ticker
TUESDAY
Tuesday Morning	Nasdaq: TUES
Hi-Tech Pharmacal	Nasdaq: HITK
Magnum Hunter Resources	NYSE: MHR
Wolverine World Wide	NYSE: WWW
Penford	Nasdaq: PENX
Franklin Covey	NYSE: FC

Tesla (Nasdaq: TSLA) is being added to the Nasdaq 100 today, replacing Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) there. The stock was up 3.0% in the premarket as a result. This is probably the reason the stock has been gaining since the start of the third quarter. When stocks are added into major indices, they are then bought by all the passive mutual funds that must own the same names. The PowerShares QQQ (Nasdaq: QQQ) mimics the Nasdaq 100, and is a big part of that process. Capital flows are driving the stock higher due to the increased demand for the shares. Eventually, this activity settles, and so the stock should as well. However, for growing companies, there are several indexes to join.

Sirius XM (Nasdaq: SIRI) passed the 25 million subscriber mark in the second quarter, raising 2013 expectations by 1.5 million on strong auto demand. The stock is up 1.7% this morning as a result of the news.

Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) is higher by 0.9% this morning as its CEO announced he is leaving. The company also stated it is in the process of reviewing its current strategic plan, so a breakup of the company into two entities could be coming.

Kroger (NYSE: KR), the nation’s largest grocer, is buying Harris Teeter Supermarkets (Nasdaq: HTSI) for $2.5 billion. KR is up by 1.3%, while HTSI is up about 1%.

Ford’s (NYSE: F) F-250 was declared the most stolen vehicle today.

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS
BIGGEST GAINERS	% Gain
Radio One (Nasdaq: ROIA)	+NA%
CytRx (Nasdaq: CYTR)	+30%
Clean Diesel Technologies (Nasdaq: CDTI)	+21%
Redhill Biopharma (Nasdaq: RDHL)	+NA%
Xoom (Nasdaq: XOOM)	+4%
WD-40 (Nasdaq: WDFC)	+10%
Prestige Brand (NYSE: PBH)	+9%
iPath Global Carbon ETN (NYSE: GRN)	+9%
Ambient (Nasdaq: AMBT)	+13%
USA Truck (Nasdaq: USAK)	+7%
BIGGEST LOSERS	% Drop
Ixia (Nasdaq: XXIA)	-23%
Intuitive Surgical (Nasdaq: ISRG)	-16%
FX Energy (Nasdaq: FXEN)	-12%
Synchronoss (Nasdaq: SNCR)	-7%
Arrhthmia Research (NYSE: HRT)	-10%
Canadian Solar (Nasdaq: CSIQ)	-10%
Novadaq (Nasdaq: NVDQ)	-6%
Amarin (Nasdaq: AMRN)	-7%
Luna Innovations (Nasdaq: LUNA)	-8%
Oramed Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ORMP)	-2%

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