13 Mar 2013 AMC

13 Mar 2013

Market Summary 

 Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Woburn, Mass., has been awarded a firm-fixed-price contract modification to exercise an option to the, under contract # HQ0147-12-C-0006 (P00010).  The value of this contract modification is $8,252,145, increasing the total contract value from $571,946,872 to $580,199,017.  Under this modification, the contractor will manufacture and deliver one AN/TPY-2 prime power unit (PPU).  The work will be performed in Woburn, Mass.  The performance period is from March 25, 2013 through June 30, 2015.  Fiscal 2013 Procurement funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.  The Missile Defense Agency, Huntsville, Ala., is the contracting activity. 

Market Internals

Leaders and Laggards

Technical Updates

Briefing's Commentaries 

Stock Market Update 16:15 ET Dow +5.22 at 14455.28, Nasdaq +2.80 at 3245.12, S&P +2.04 at 1554.52 :[BRIEFING.COM] Equities ended the day with slim gains and the S&P 500 settled higher by 0.1%. Like the previous two sessions, today's action got off to a lower start before bargain hunters stepped in and helped the major averages climb to fresh highs. After turning positive in early afternoon trade, equities stumbled briefly before ending near their highs. As the broader market climbed off its early lows, industrials and discretionary stocks paced the rebound. The industrial sector outperformed as transportation-related stocks saw broad strength. The Dow Jones Transportation Average climbed 1.6% with 19 of 20 components registering gains. Airlines and truckers were among the index leaders as Alaska Air (ALK 59.46, +2.43) and JB Hunt (JBHT 74.44, +3.94) settled with respective gains of 4.3% and 5.6%. Including today's advance, the transportation average has added more than 17.0% since the start of the year. In addition to transports, defense stocks also supported the industrial sector. The PHLX Defense Index gained 1.1%. Elsewhere, discretionary shares garnered buying interest after the February retail sales report exceeded expectations. As a result, retailers received a day-long bid, and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 70.19, +0.92) advanced 1.3%. Though most retail stocks benefitted from today's economic data, Express (EXPR 18.25, -0.60) did not partake in the rally. The apparel retailer slid 3.2% after its cautious first quarter and full-year earnings guidance provided some worry to investors. While cyclical industrials and consumer stocks fueled the morning rebound, the defensively-oriented utilities also finished among the leaders. This suggests some indecision was present as the market struggled to find direction. The SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF (XLU 38.13, +0.17) rose 0.5%. On the downside, the materials sector ended with a slim loss as steelmakers weighed. The Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 44.81, -0.91) lost 2.0%. Today's trading volume was well below average as 585 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Notably, today's tally was the second lowest total observed this year, taking the back seat only to the February 11 session. Reviewing today's economic data, retail sales increased a solid 1.1% in February after rising an upwardly revised 0.2% (from 0.1%) in January. The Briefing.com consensus expected retail sales to increase 0.5%. Notably, the report suggests the effect of the tax increases following the fiscal cliff deal has not stunted overall demand. The strong gains in wages that were detailed in the February employment report also played an important part in keeping consumption levels higher than expected. Those gains allowed consumers to spend more while also adding to their savings. Export prices, excluding agriculture, increased by 0.6% in February after they had increased 0.5% during the prior month. Excluding oil, import prices were unchanged, which follows the 0.2% increase experienced in the prior month. Total business inventories increased 1.0% in January after increasing an upwardly revised 0.3% (from 0.1%) in December. The Briefing.com consensus expected business inventories to increase 0.3%. The February Treasury Budget showed a deficit of $203.50 billion, ahead of the deficit of $205 billion expected by the Briefing.com consensus. In tomorrow's economic data, weekly initial and continuing claims, February PPI, core PPI, as well as the fourth quarter current account balance will all be reported at 8:30 ET. ..NYSE Adv/Dec 1689/1300. ..NASDAQ Adv/Dec 1384/1046.

After Hours

18:20 ET MW +12.4%, SIGM +6.3%, DCTH -8.3%, VRA -5.7% following earnings/guidance :

Equities ended the day with slim gains and the S&P 500 settled higher by 0.1%.

Other notable after hours movers on earnings: MW +12.4%, SIGM +6.3%, SCMP +6.1%, MTDR +4.7%, CBK +3.5%, CBPO +2.7%, PIP +2.2%, DCTH -8.3%, VRA -5.7%, FTK -2.9%, NTI -1.6%, HOTT -0.2%

Today after the close the following companies reported earnings: CBK, CWTR, FTK, HOTT, MW, PRSC, SIGM, VRA

Futures are after higher hours: S&P 500 futures are +1.78  from fair value of 1549.02 and Nasdaq100 futures are +1.38 from fair value of 2793.87.

Tomorrow morning before the open three economic reports are scheduled to be released: 1) Initial Claims (Consensus 350k) and Continuing Claims (Consensus 3103k), 2) PPI (Consensus 0.6%) and Core PPI (Consensus 0.2%), and 3) Current Account Balance (Consensus -$112.3B).

Tomorrow before the open the following companies are scheduled to report earnings: AAON, ADES, ARQL, BKE, CATO, CORE, DSX, EBIX, GLP, KIRK, SOL, TA

Commodities

Treasuries

Next Day In View 

Jason's Commentaries

It seems that the retail sales report did scare away the bears by posting a unexpected gain of 1.1% compared to the expected 0.5%. Market started with a high note, then found itself struggling to hold the highs, came down during lunch but subsequently made its way back up to flat for the day. Trading volumes were pathetic, just below 600 mil shares traded on the NYSE. The bulls merely outpaced the bears by a little. The discretionary was the leader for yesterday, having the strong upbeat from the retail sales. The rest of the sectors showed lacklustre performance, resulting in a flat trading day. For 14 Mar, we're having the unemployment claims which is not very likely to rock the market tremendously. We're so gonna have a flat trading day tonight...

Market Call: FLAT

Date: 13 Mar 2013