Cheers to Europe & Technology!

The market is lower today, but the NASDAQ (Nasdaq: NDAQ) is all caught up thanks to Apple’s (Nasdaq: AAPL) big gains on the recently declared Carl Icahn interest. As you can see below in the ETF comparisons year-to-date, technology is back. It’s evident in the latest gains of Facebook (NYSE: FB) and Apple (AAPL). Today Europe celebrated as well, as euro-zone area GDP was reported higher by 0.3% for Q2. Stocks are still lower on the summer lull, which we warned about over a week ago. After big wins on my Apple and Facebook picks, wait until you hear my latest favorite idea. Stay tuned to our stock market blog for more.

Cheers!

Market ETF	August 14, 2013	Year-to-Date
SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY)	-0.3%	+18.8%
SPDR Dow Jones (NYSE: DIA)	-0.5%	+17.8%
PowerShares (Nasdaq: QQQ)	-0.3%	+18.1%

Stocks are lower today, but the news is all good so I would not read too much into the move. That said, we warned over a week ago that after the year-to-date gains, it was finally feeling like summer and time to sell. That call proved prescient and should hold for most stocks here, but there are still some names to buy for stock-pickers.

Economic Events

ECONOMIC REPORT SCHEDULE
Economic Data Point	Prior Period	Expected	Actual
WEDNESDAY
Euro-Zone Q2 GDP Report			+0.3%
Producer Price Index	+0.8%	+0.3%	+0.0%
-Core PPI	+0.2%	+0.2%	+0.1%
Mortgage Activity	+0.2%		-4.7%
EIA Petroleum Status
-Crude Oil Inventory	-1.3 M		-2.8 M
-Gasoline Inventory	+0.1 M		-1.2 M
Atlanta Fed Business Inflation Expectations	+1.8%		+2.0%
TUESDAY
Small Business Optimism	93.5	94.5	94.1
Retail Sales	+0.6% (R)	+0.3%	+0.2%
-Sales Less Autos & Gasoline	-0.1%	+0.4%	+0.4%
ICSC Store Sales	+0.3%		-0.2%
Import/Export Prices
-Export Prices	-0.1%	+0.2%	-0.1%
-Import Prices	-0.2%	+0.9%	+0.2%
Business Inventories	-0.1% (R)	+0.2%	0.0%
Atlanta Fed’s Lockhart Speaks
BOJ Meeting Minutes

The economic factor today is clear and it is euro-zone GDP growth of 0.3%. Europe means so much to the rest of the world, buying 20% of our exports and sending orders to China for goods. Now that it’s recovering, the global economy can start to stabilize.

Here in the States, producer prices were reported stable, and that followed yesterday’s report showing import and export prices only modestly altered. Since we would like to see the Fed move at its leisure rather than on the impetus of inflation, news of price stability is well received.

Mortgage activity was down this past week by 4.7%, despite mortgage rates easing. Do not fret though, dear real estate enthusiast friends, because it’s just another sign of summer. For real estate, though, it’s a sign that the selling season is over and those seeking to settle into homes before back-to-school have mostly done so by now.

Overseas Markets

EUROPE	11:35 AM	ASIA/PACIFIC	CLOSE
EURO STOXX 50	+0.3%	NIKKEI 225	+1.3%
German DAX	+0.3%	Hang Seng	+1.2%
CAC 40	+0.5%	S&P/ASX 200	-0.0%
FTSE 100	-0.2%	Korean KOSPI	+0.6%
Egyptian EGX 30	-1.7%	BSE India SENSEX	+0.7%

Europe hardly celebrated the good news about GDP today, but it’s been celebrating since Mario Draghi got behind the market and economies over a year ago today. The iShares Europe ETF (NYSE: IEV) is about at its top today.

Commodity Markets (11:22 AM ET)

WTI Crude	-0.7%
Brent Crude	-0.4%
NYMEX Natural Gas	+2.5%
RBOB Gasoline	+0.2%
Gold Spot	+0.8%
Silver Spot	+1.0%
COMEX Copper	+0.3%
CBOT Corn	+0.9%
CBOT Wheat	-0.4%
CBOT Soybeans	+0.5%
ICE Cocoa	+1.9%
ICE Sugar	+0.0%
ICE Orange Juice Conc.	+1.1%
CME Live Cattle	-0.1%

Crude oil and gasoline inventory saw draws this week and 100 Egyptians were murdered in internal feuding. Yet, crude oil prices moderated. I suppose it’s yet another sign of summer coming to an end, and along with it the end of the summer driving season (read: less use of gasoline).

Corporate Events

REPORTING EARNINGS
Company	Ticker
WEDNESDAY
Cisco Systems	Nasdaq: CSCO
Blonder Tongue Laboratories	NYSE: BDR
Chimera Investment	NYSE: CIM
Deere	NYSE: DE
Global Ship Lease	NYSE: GSL
JinkoSolar	NYSE: JKS
Macy’s	NYSE: M
Pinnacle Foods	NYSE: PF
Sorl Auto Parts	Nasdaq: SORL
Spanish Broadcasting	Nasdaq: SBSA
YOU on Demand	NYSE: YOD
Savient Pharmaceuticals	Nasdaq: SVNT
Towers Watson	NYSE: TW
EntreMed	Nasdaq: ENMD
Crown Crafts	Nasdaq: CRWS
Progressive Corp.	NYSE: PGR
Constellation Energy Partners	NYSE: CEP
Great American Group	Nasdaq: GAMR
Summer Infant	Nasdaq: SUMR
NTN Buzztime	NYSE: NTN
Agilent Technologies	NYSE: A
CACI International	Nasdaq: CACI
Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals	Nasdaq: CYCC
Ambac Financial	Nasdaq: AMBC
Flexsteel Industries	Nasdaq: FLXS
Market Leader	Nasdaq: LEDR
NetApp	Nasdaq: NTAP
NetEase	Nasdaq: NTES

The names of the reporting companies are getting less notable as earnings season fades, but Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) is among the group reporting today. The Cisco report and the discussion of its CEO always gets the attention of the market, so stay tuned for the report, which is coming at the close of trading today.

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS
BIGGEST GAINERS	% Gain
Intelligent Systems (NYSE: INS)	+16%
China Commercial Credit (Nasdaq: CCCR)	+20%
MannKind (Nasdaq: MNKD)	+18%
Cyclacel Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq: CYCCP)	+18%
Tiptree Financial (Nasdaq: TIPT)	+18%
Tree.com (Nasdaq: TREE)	+18%
Ampio Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: AMPE)	+17%
Century Casinos (Nasdaq: CNTY)	+14%
Cleantech Solutions (Nasdaq: CLNT)	+15%
Stereotaxis (Nasdaq: STXS)	+12%
BIGGEST LOSERS	% Drop
Mecox Lane (Nasdaq: MCOX)	-31%
ZaZa Energy (Nasdaq: ZAZA)	-27%
Goldfield Corporation (NYSE: GV)	-26%
China Auto Logistics (Nasdaq: CALI)	-23%
Silver Spring Networks (Nasdaq: SSNI)	-23%
Cree (Nasdaq: CREE)	-20%
China Automotive Systems (Nasdaq: CAAS)	-19%
Biolase (Nasdaq: BIOL)	-27%
QKL Stores (Nasdaq: QKLS)	-30%
Millennial Media (NYSE: MM)	-16%

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