WEDNESDAY'S MARKET: Whether it's the Weather or Not

It seems there’s a debate now echoing across financial markets, and it’s about whether the weather is really the culprit behind bad housing and other data. I think it’s obvious, but some curious nuances found in a few reports are confusing matters. For instance, the fact that while Housing Starts fell precipitously in January, they rose in the weather beaten Northeast for some reason. The last thing the market wants is to lose its ability to blame the weather, because then we must face perhaps a sadder reality.

U.S. Markets

Market ETF	February 19	YTD	Last 12 Mos.
SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY)	-0.3%	-0.6%	+19.8%
SPDR Dow Jones (NYSE: DIA)	-0.3%	-2.8%	+14.9%
PowerShares (Nasdaq: QQQ)	-0.7%	+1.9%	+31.3%
SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD)	-0.7%	+8.9%	-18.6%
iShares US Real Estate (NYSE: IYR)	+0.0%	+7.2%	-1.5%
United States Oil (NYSE: USO)	+0.8%	+4.7%	+5.7%
PowerShares DB US$  Bullish (NYSE: UUP)	+0.3%	+0.0%	-2.1%
PIMCO Total Return ETF (NYSE: BOND)	-0.2%	+1.6%	-2.5%

Stocks were defiant to start the day, despite miserable housing news in a weak January Starts Report. Later, the FOMC meeting minutes release was not necessarily damaging, but stocks had been digesting the mellow news of the morning all day long and giving back gains throughout the day.

International Markets

EUROPE	CLOSE	ASIA/PACIFIC	CLOSE
EURO STOXX 50	+0.1%	NIKKEI 225	-0.5%
FTSE 100	+0.0%	Hang Seng	+0.3%
CAC 40	+0.2%	S&P/ASX 200	+0.3%
German DAX	+0.3%	Korean KOSPI	-0.2%
Athens ASE	-1.4%	BSE India SENSEX	+0.4%

Chaos in the Ukraine, Thailand and the Central African Republic has the world uneasy about the stability of the civilized world. It’s the Ukraine that is especially concerning, given that it puts Russia and the E.U. and U.S. at odds.

Economic Data

TODAY’S ECONOMIC REPORT SCHEDULE
Economic Data Point	Prior	Expected	Actual
WEDNESDAY
ICSC Weekly Store Sales	-0.3%		+2.5%
-Year-to-Year Pace	+2.3%		+2.1%
Redbook Store Sales	+2.8%		+3.2%
Mortgage Activity	-2.0%		-4.1%
Housing Starts (Jan.)	0.999 M	0.950 M	0.880 M
-Permits	0.986 M	0.975 M	0.937 M
FOMC Meeting Minutes
Producer Price Index	+0.1%	+0.2%	+0.2%
-Core PPI	+0.3%	+0.2%	+0.1%
St. Louis Fed Bullard Speaks
SF Fed Williams Speaks

Economic data today was disheartening, as predicted in my earlier market preview published at Seeking Alpha. Housing Starts data showed more softening in January, likely due to weather. Some are questioning whether weather is really at play, given that the Northeast saw an increase in starts.

Producer Prices rose as expected, but inflation signs did not show up. The FOMC meeting minutes were thought here to possibly show unneeded inflation concerns, but the contrary seems to have proven true, if CNBC reporting is to be believed. You may review the release via the link above.

Commodity Markets (13:35 ET)

WTI Crude	+0.5%
Brent Crude	-0.1%
NYMEX Natural Gas	+11.5%
RBOB Gasoline	+0.1%
Gold Spot	-0.2%
COMEX Silver	-0.2%
COMEX Copper	-0.0%
CBOT Corn	+0.8%
CBOT Wheat	+0.6%
CBOT Soybeans	-0.6%
ICE Cocoa	-0.8%
ICE Sugar	+2.1%
ICE Orange Juice Conc.	-0.1%
CME Lumber	+0.2%
CME Live Cattle	-0.3%

Natural gas prices soared today as Winter Storm Seneca targets the Midwest with blizzard conditions, and temperatures look set to return to below freezing through the 10-day forecast for the Northeastern U.S. Due to the cold, natural gas stores are being depleted and so prices are running.

Stock Activity

The daily leaders list includes a couple of jewelers while the losers list includes a shipping company. What’s the common theme? Hopefully not signs of inflation against the dollar and weakening global trade.

EPS REPORTS
Company	Ticker
WEDNESDAY
Acadia Healthcare	Nasdaq: ACHC
Allegion	Nasdaq: ALLE
Altra industrial Motion	Nasdaq: AIMC
American Railcar	Nasdaq: ARII
Apollo Residential	Nasdaq: AMTG
Arris Group	Nasdaq: ARRS
AVG Technologies	NYSE: AVG
Avis Budget	NYSE: CAR
Axiall	Nasdaq: AXLL
Basic Energy	NYSE: BAS
BJ’s Restaurants	Nasdaq: BJRI
Blackhawk Network	Nasdaq: HAWK
Box Ships	NYSE: TEU
Brixmor Property	NYSE: BRX
Calgon Carbon	NYSE: CCC
Calumet Specialty	Nasdaq: CLMT
Carlyle Group	NYSE: CG
China Distance Education	NYSE: DL
Cimarex Energy	NYSE: XEC
Cinemark	NYSE: CNK
Cleco	NYSE: CNL
Coeur Mining	NYSE: CDE
Concho Resources	NYSE: CXO
CoStar Group	Nasdaq: CSGP
Crocs	Nasdaq: CROX
Curtiss-Wright	NYSE: CW
Dealertrack	Nasdaq: TRAK
Denny’s	Nasdaq: DENN
Devon Energy	NYSE: DVN
Diamond Resorts Int’l	Nasdaq: DRII
Dorman Products	Nasdaq: DORM
Dynex Capital	NYSE: DX
Eaton Vance	NYSE: EV
Employers Holdings	NYSE: EIG
Encore Wire	Nasdaq: WIRE
Energy Transfer Equity	NYSE: ETE
Energy Transfer Partners	NYSE: ETP
EPAM Systems	Nasdaq: EPAM
Equinix	Nasdaq: EQIX
Equity one	NYSE: EQY
Essent Group	Nasdaq: ESNT
Exactech	Nasdaq: EXAC
Franklin Electric	Nasdaq: FELE
Garmin	Nasdaq: GRMN
GEO Group	NYSE: GEO
Goodrich Petroleum	NYSE: GDP
Health Care REIT	NYSE: HCN
Healthcare Realty Trust	NYSE: HR
HealthSouth	NYSE: HLS
Hecla Mining	NYSE: HL
Helix Energy	NYSE: HLX
HomeAway	Nasdaq: AWAY
Hornbeck Offshore	NYSE: HOS
Host Hotels & Resorts	NYSE: HST
HudBay Minerals	NYSE: HBM
Hyster-Yale Materials	NYSE: HY
Innodata	Nasdaq: INOD
Interface	Nasdaq: TILE
Jack in the Box	Nasdaq: JACK
Kadant	NYSE: KAI
KNOT Offshore Partners	Nasdaq: KNOP
LaSalle Hotel Properties	NYSE: LHO
Legacy Reserves	Nasdaq: LGCY
LiefLock	Nasdaq: LOCK
Lithia Motors	NYSE: LAD
Lumber Liquidators	NYSE: LL
Macquarie Infrastructure	NYSE: MIC
Maiden	Nasdaq: MHLD
ManTech	Nasdaq: MANT
Marchex	Nasdaq: MCHX
Marriott Int’l	NYSE: MAR
MGM Resorts	NYSE: MGM
Millenial Media	NYSE: MM
Navios Maritime	NYSE: NM
Neogenomics	NYSE: NEO
Noranda Aluminum	NYSE: NOR
NorthWestern	NYSE: NEW
Oil States International	NYSE: OIS
Omnicare	NYSE: OCR
On Assignment	Nasdaq: ASGN
Penn Virginia	NYSE: PVA
PGT	Nasdaq: PGTI
QTS Realty Trust	NYSE: QTS
Questar	NYSE: STR
Regency Energy Partners	NYSE: RGP
Rex Energy	Nasdaq: REXX
Rubicon Technology	Nasdaq: RBCN
Safeway	NYSE: SWY
Six Flags Entertainment	NYSE: SIX
Sonic Automotive	NYSE: SAH
Spirit Airlines	Nasdaq: SAVE
StealthGas	Nasdaq: GASS
Steiner Leisure	Nasdaq: STNR
Sunedison	Nasdaq: SUNE
Sunoco Logistics	NYSE: SXL
Synopsis	Nasdaq: SNPS
Ternium	NYSE: TX
Tesaro	Nasdaq: TSRO
Tesla Motors	Nasdaq: TSLA
Town Sports	Nasdaq: CLUB
Trinity Industries	NYSE: TRN
United Online	Nasdaq: UNTD
Vectren	NYSE: VVC
Veeco Instruments	Nasdaq: VECO
Westinghouse Air Brake	NYSE: WAB
Williams Cos.	NYSE: WMB
Williams Partners	NYSE: WPZ
Zebra Technologies	Nasdaq: ZBRA

TODAY’S MOST ACTIVE STOCKS
BIGGEST GAINERS	% Gain
Zale (NYSE: ZLC)	+40%
Supertel Hospitality (Nasdaq: SPPR)	+34%
Chelsea Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CHTP)	+27%
Dehaier Medical (Nasdaq: DHRM)	+29%
ChinaCache International (Nasdaq: CCIH)	+21%
Oculus Innovative Sciences (Nasdaq: OCLS)	+21%
Signet Jewelers (NYSE: SIG)	+18%
American Superconductor (Nasdaq: AMSC)	+17%
Seanergy Maritime (Nasdaq: SHIP)	+17%
China Biologic (Nasdaq: CBPO)	+16%
BIGGEST LOSERS	% Drop
The Andersons (Nasdaq: ANDE)	-34%
Genco Shipping (NYSE: GNK)	-26%
CombiMatrix (Nasdaq: CBMXW)	-22%
SM Energy Co. (NYSE: SM)	-16%
Hollywood Media (Nasdaq: HOLL)	-16%
Neogenomics (NYSE: NEO)	-12%
USEC (NYSE: USU)	-11%
EnviroStar (NYSE: EVI)	-12%
Prana Biotechnology (Nasdaq: PRAN)	-11%
Mines Management (NYSE: MGN)	-11%

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.