Definitively Good Economic News Drives Stocks Thursday

A definitive message from a slew of economic reports gave stocks broad reason to rise today, and so each of the broad indices are higher and by about the same amount. Previously throughout the earnings season, we have seen divergences in the indexes due to big wins and losses of the individual stocks within them. Reassurances from the ECB and BOE also helped stocks in Europe rise convincingly Thursday. Cyclical commodities are benefiting from all the good news as well, while alternative investments like gold and silver are shaving capital. For more in-depth analysis and research visit our stock market blog.

Good News Rules

Market ETF	August 1, 2013	Year-to-Date
SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)	+0.9%	+19.5%
SPDR Dow Jones (DIA)	+0.7%	+19.3%
PowerShares (QQQ)	+0.7%	+17.1%

Economic Events

ECONOMIC REPORT SCHEDULE
Economic Data Point	Prior Period	Expected	Actual
THURSDAY
Challenger Monthly Job-Cuts	39,372		37,701
PMI Manufacturing Index	51.9	53.1	53.7
ISM Manufacturing Index	50.9	53.1	55.4
Construction Spending	+1.3%	+0.4%	-0.6%
Bloomberg Consumer Comfort	-27.3		-27.0
Weekly Jobless Claims	345K	345K	326K
EIA Natural Gas Report	41 Bcf		59 Bcf
Motor Vehicle Sales (Total)	16 M	15.8 M

Very supportive economic data offered broad macroeconomic support to investors today. The two big manufacturing indexes each showed improvement in the latest measurement. The two employment data points of the day, including jobless claims and monthly layoffs, each showed improvement. The consumer mood was reported improved as well through the week. Only construction spending slowed, offering some concern for real estate sector investors.

Overseas Markets

EUROPE	11:05 AM	ASIA/PACIFIC	CLOSE
EURO STOXX 50	+1.2%	NIKKEI 225	+2.5%
German DAX	+1.5%	Hang Seng	+0.9%
CAC 40	+1.1%	S&P/ASX 200	+0.2%
FTSE 100	+0.7%	Korean KOSPI	+0.4%
Egyptian EGX 30	+1.0%	BSE India SENSEX	-0.2%

The European Central Bank (ECB) reiterated its low rate policy and reassured investors of accommodative banking and financing in the euro-zone area. The Bank of England did the same in its policy statement. As a result, stocks rallied across Europe today through the close.

Commodity Markets (10:44 AM ET)

WTI Crude	+2.5%
Brent Crude	+1.3%
NYMEX Natural Gas	-1.6%
RBOB Gasoline	+1.3%
Gold Spot	-0.7%
Silver Spot	-0.5%
COMEX Copper	+2.1%
CBOT Corn	-2.4%
CBOT Wheat	-1.8%
CBOT Soybeans	-0.9%
ICE Cocoa	+0.1%
ICE Sugar	-0.5%
ICE Orange Juice Conc.	-0.3%
CME Live Cattle	-0.1%
CME Lumber	+0.1%

The day’s swarm of positive economic data allowed cyclically sensitive issues including crude oil and copper to soar today. Moderated temperatures in the Northeast and a strong addition to natural gas supply allowed easing of natural gas pricing. Why buy gold and silver if the economy has the all-clear, and that is why each of the precious metals was lower Thursday. Basically, unless you are buying Orthodox incense, you're probably making money today.

Corporate Events

There are some major earnings reports due today, including Exxon Mobil, Procter & Gamble and others.

REPORTING EARNINGS
Company	Ticker
THURSDAY
ITT Corp.	NYSE: ITT
Marathon Petroleum	NYSE: MPC
Steven Madden	Nasdaq: SHOO
Walter Energy	NYSE: WLT
Kellogg	NYSE: K
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals	Nasdaq: KERX
Investment Technology Group	NYSE: ITG
Time Warner Cable	NYSE: TWC
Harvard Biosciences	Nasdaq: HBIO
Cigna	NYSE: CI
Mylan	NYSE: MYL
DirecTV	NYSE: DTV
Cardinal Health	NYSE: CAH
Arena Pharmaceuticals	Nasdaq: ARNA
Acorda Therapeutics	Nasdaq: ACOR
Dentsply International	Nasdaq: XRAY
Vulcan Materials	NYSE: VMC
ConocoPhillips	NYSE: COP
Procter & Gamble	NYSE: PG
The Clorox Co.	NYSE: CLX
Invesco Mortgage	NYSE: IVR
Chesapeake Energy	NYSE: CHK
CenterPoint Energy	NYSE: CNP
New York Times	NYSE: NYT
Fluor	NYSE: FLR
Parker Drilling	NYSE: PKD
Blue Nile	Nasdaq: NILE
Gentiva Health	Nasdaq: GTIV
Apache	NYSE: APA
Iron Mountain	NYSE: IRM
Exxon Mobil	NYSE: XOM
Consolidated Edison	NYSE: ED
Kona Grill	Nasdaq: KONA
Public Storage	NYSE: PSA
American Int’l Group	NYSE: AIG
ZAGG	Nasdaq: ZAGG
Kraft Foods	Nasdaq: KRFT
LinkedIn	Nasdaq: LNKD
Autobytel	Nasdaq: ABTL
Apartment Investment & Management	NYSE: AIV
Kodiak Oil & Gas	NYSE: KOG

Earnings drivers are behind many of the moves in the most active list today and throughout earnings season.

MOST ACTIVE STOCKS
BIGGEST GAINERS	% Gain
Standard Register (NYSE: SR)	+144%
QKL Stores (Nasdaq: QKLS)	+28%
Anika Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ANIK)	+25%
Desarolladora Homex (NYSE: HXM)	+25%
BancFirst (Nasdaq: BANFP)	Halted
Yelp (Nasdaq: YELP)	+23%
Trulia (Nasdaq: TRLA)	+22%
Ctrip.com (Nasdaq: CTRP)	+19%
Support.com (Nasdaq: SPRT)	+20%
Modine Manufacturing (NYSE: MOD)	+18%
BIGGEST LOSERS	% Drop
Hydrogenics (Nasdaq: HYGS)	-19%
Iridium Communications (Nasdaq: IRDM)	-17%
Hanger, Inc. (NYSE: HGR)	-17%
Halozyme Therapeutics (Nasdaq: HALO)	-16%
Stereotaxis (Nasdaq: STXS)	-12%
Cbeyond (Nasdaq: CBEY)	-12%
Integrated Silicon Solution (Nasdaq: ISSI)	-12%
Medical Action Industries (Nasdaq: MDCI)	-14%
Entropic Communications (Nasdaq: ENTR)	-13%
Spherix (Nasdaq: SPEX)	-9%

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