TODAY’S MARKET – Aliens, Robots and Conspiracy Theory

Overseas markets greeted us today with a smile, but will we return the favor? China cut taxes on resources and energy to spur its economy and Japan kept to its extreme easing measures. Alexis Tsipras left his meeting with Vladimir Putin and appears to be intact, though we’re still watching him for signs of being a robot or an undercover alien. I’m not sure if this kind of thing only happens on Air Force 1 flights or if the Kremlin is capable too; after all, Ohio Senator Dennis Kucinich was never the same pesky politician after his perhaps life altering flight with President Obama, a.k.a. Orpheus Magnum. Just kidding… or am I?

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.

Today’s Stock Market

Global Markets

At the open of U.S. trading, European ETFs were trading sharply higher, I suppose on the fact that the Greek PM didn’t break out of Moscow with a groundbreaking announcement. Japan was up after the BOJ kept to its QQE plan. China is soaring today after it announced it would cut resources tax and power prices to boost its economy.

EUROPE	%	ASIA/PACIFIC	%
Vanguard FTSE Europe (NYSE: VGK)	+1.0%	Precidian MAXIS Nikkei (NYSE: NKY)	+0.7%
iShares MSCI UK (NYSE: EWU)	+1.7%	SPDR S&P China (NYSE: GXC)	+5.6%
iShares MSCI France (NYSE: EWQ)	+0.6%	iShares Asia 50 (NYSE: AIA)	+2.2%
iShares MSCI Germany (NYSE: EWG)	+0.4%	iShares MSCI S. Korea (NYSE: EWY)	+1.4%
Global X FTSE Greece (NYSE: GREK)	+0.1%	iPath MSCI India (NYSE: INP)	+1.0%

There’s a lot going on. The Bank of Japan (BOJ) issued monetary policy and the Greek Prime Minister is in Moscow exploring alternatives while his Finance Minister is in the United States doing the same. It’s smart play by the Greeks and fits the FM’s game theory expertise. The Europeans are probably shaking in their boots right now and readying to give in just enough to keep the Greeks in tow.

The BOJ stuck to its plan of QQE or Quantitative and Qualitative Easing, which includes purchases of J-REITs and Japan relative ETFs, but inflation was stagnant thanks to lower energy prices. This was as expected. The BOE today said Europe needs to prepare for a Greece exit; the BOE issues monetary policy on Thursday.

U.S. Stock Market

Sector Security	04-08-15 Open
Vanguard S&P 500 (NYSE: VOO)	+0.4%
iShares Dow Jones (NYSE: IYY)	+0.3%
Fidelity NASDAQ  ETF (Nasdaq: ONEQ)	+0.1%
ProShares Ultra Gold (NYSE: UGL)	-0.4%
ProShares Ultra Real Estate (NYSE: URE)	+0.2%
ProShares Ultra Oil (NYSE: UCO)	-3.5%
WisdomTree US$  Bullish (NYSE: USDU)	-0.7%
iShares 20+ Yr. Treasury (NYSE: TLT)	-0.2%

Stocks opened higher in the U.S. despite Tuesday’s late day decline. The SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY) was up fractionally. There’s nothing much new to report about Yemen, save for the fact that Iranian ships are reportedly heading there. We do not want to see Iranian forces engage Saudi Arabian forces, which is the reason why oil prices spiked yesterday. The market is in wait-and-see mode on that factor, but we have the Fed meeting minutes later today, and they are more likely to hurt us than help us. Put on some volatility hedges using the iPath S&P 500 VIX (NYSE: VXX) or similar instruments, as volatility is cheap now and there are many mines we might step on.

Economic Reports

TODAY’S ECONOMIC REPORT SCHEDULE
Economic Data Point	Prior	Expect	Actual
WEDNESDAY
Mortgage Activity	4.6%		+0.4%
EIA Petroleum Status
-Crude Oil Inventory	4.8MB
-Gasoline Inventory	-4.3MB
FOMC Minutes
BOJ Monetary Policy
Greek PM Meets Putin

The Federal Reserve’s FOMC Meeting Minutes steal the show today, given all the Fed betting going on these past two years. Even while the Fed comes up with reasons to avoid raising rates, the minutes of the meeting allow all voices to be heard. Oftentimes, this sharing of information causes a stir in the market, because it always reflects a spectrum of views, including the scariest (usually from Jeff Lacker). Today could thus spread the volatility we saw toward the close yesterday.

The EIA Petroleum Status Report will one day soon share different information. Eventually, it will show draws from inventory as we approach the summer driving season. This time around forecasters expect another build, which should measure about 4.8 million barrels according to the consensus. Oil prices have been rising, mostly because of the chaotic situation in Yemen. If not for Yemen, oil prices would likely be falling on the Iran deal, or prospect of an Iran deal since there really is not a deal yet.

The weekly mortgage application data should be ignored this week given the MBA’s issues in accurately adjusting for three-day weekends and around holidays.

EPS Reports

Earnings season starts today, informally, with the report of Alcoa (NYSE: AA). Otherwise, the list of reporters today is short. Earnings start next week in earnest. Today’s reports include Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR), which back in the day was a barometer of housing; at least it was Peter Lynch’s barometer and that’s good enough for me. Similarly, Bed Bath & Beyond (Nasdaq: BBBY) reports today. Expect the retailers of goods to do great generally now; I’ll have more to say about why later either here or one of my other columns, which you can follow via my Twitter or Facebook or one of my other distribution methods (visit the blog).

HIGHLIGHTED EPS REPORTS
Company	Ticker
WEDNESDAY
Alcoa	NYSE: AA
Alcobra	Nasdaq: ADHD
API Technologies	Nasdaq: ATNY
Apogee Enterprises	Nasdaq: APOG
Bed Bath & Beyond	Nasdaq: BBBY
Family Dollar Stores	NYSE: FDO
Global Payments	NYSE: GPN
Mistras Group	NYSE: MG
MSC Industrial Direct	NYSE: MSM
Northern Technologies Int’l	Nasdaq: NTIC
OMNOVA Solutions	NYSE: OMN
Pier 1 Imports	NYSE: PIR
Resources Connection	Nasdaq: RECN
Richardson Electronics	Nasdaq: RELL
Rite Aid	NYSE: RAD
RPM International	NYSE: RPM
WD-40	Nasdaq: WDFC

TODAY’S MOST ACTIVE STOCKS
BIGGEST GAINERS	% Gain
AMCN AirMedia Group (Nasdaq: AMCN)	+78%
Kingtone Wirelessinfo (Nasdaq: KONE)	+54%
China Natural Resources (Nasdaq: CHNR)	+37%
Yanzhou Coal Mining (NYSE: YZC)	+24%
Second Sight Medical (Nasdaq: EYES)	+19%
EnerJex Resources (Nasdaq: ENRJ)	+14%
Zep (NYSE: ZEP)	+17%
Taomee Holdings (Nasdaq: TAOM)	+15%
Regulus Therapeutics (Nasdaq: RGLS)	+14%
American Electric Tec (Nasdaq: AETI)	+8%
BIGGEST LOSERS	% Drop
QAD (Nasdaq: QADB)	-12%
Data I/O (Nasdaq: DAIO)	-10%
Flamel Technologies (Nasdaq: FLML)	-15%
Cinedigm (Nasdaq: CIDM)	-6%
MYOS Corp. (Nasdaq: MYOS)	-9%
Cellular Biomedicine (Nasdaq: CBMG)	-5%
Yuma Energy (Nasdaq: YUMA)	-5%
Sysorex Global (Nasdaq: SYRX)	-8%
Swisher Hygiene (Nasdaq: SWSH)	-7%
Video Display (Nasdaq: VIDE)	-7%

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