MORNING UPDATE: PriceWatch Alerts for ORCL and More... for 2005-04-12 |
| ----------------------------------------------------------------- MORNING UPDATE: PriceWatch Alerts for ORCL, SBUX, DLTR, SWKS and NCR. Apr 12 - 8:30 AM EDT - Before the open... PriceWatch Alerts for ORCL, SBUX, DLTR, SWKS and NCR, Market Overview, Put/Call Alert, FuturesWatch, Today's Economic Calendar, Expected Earnings Reports, and the Quote Of The Day. QUOTE OF THE DAY ----------------------------------------------- "There's low volume and that's telling you that the sidelines are packed with people waiting for some sort of a headline to act as an inspiration telling them to buy or sell." -- Paul Cherney, chief market analyst, Standard & Poor's. PRICEWATCH ALERTS - HIGH RETURN COVERED CALL OPTIONS ----------- -- Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL) Last Price 12.40 - SEP 11.00 CALL OPTION@ $1.85 -> 4.3 % Return assigned* -- Starbucks Corp. (Nasdaq: SBUX) Last Price 47.51 - JUL 45.00 CALL OPTION@ $4.30 -> 4.1 % Return assigned* -- Dollar Tree Stores Inc. (Nasdaq: DLTR) Last Price 24.84 - AUG 22.50 CALL OPTION@ $3.20 -> 4.0 % Return assigned* -- SkyWorks Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: SWKS) Last Price 5.75 - AUG 5.00 CALL OPTION@ $1.15 -> 8.7 % Return assigned* -- NCR Corp. (NYSE: NCR) Last Price 35.25 - MAY 35.00 CALL OPTION@ $1.60 -> 4.0 % Return assigned* *For more details on covered calls and how you can use them to enhance your portfolio performance go to http://www.poweropt.com/cchelp.asp NEWS LEADERS AND LAGGARDS------------------------------------- So far today, Verizon Communications, Abbott Laboratories, and Ameritrade Holding Corp. lead the list of companies with the most news stories while Shopping.com Ltd. and Bausch & Lomb Inc. are showing a spike in news. Genentech Inc., The Boeing Co., and Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. have the highest srtIndex scores to top the list of companies with positive news while Qualcomm Inc. and MCI Inc. lead the list of companies with negative news reports. Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. has popped up with a high positive news sraIndex score. MARKET OVERVIEW------------------------------------------------ Trading overseas is deep into negative territory, as only three of the 15 markets that we follow are in positive territory. The cumulative average return on the group is a negative 0.198 percent. Asian stocks were mostly lower on Tuesday as technology weakness continued to plague most markets in the East. Meanwhile, Europe is down as we head deeper into a week burdened with earnings from retailers and outlooks for consumer spending. Futures are pointed lower this morning, casting a somber tone across the Street. Crude prices have continued to climb, edging closer to the $54-a-barrel level. Meanwhile, investors are somewhat anxious ahead of the February trade data that is due out today. Analysts are currently forecasting the gap will widen to $58.4 billion from January's $58.3 billion, marking the second largest trade gap. DYNAMIC MARKET OPPORTUNITIES------------------------------------- Besides the start of another busy earnings season, this week will also bring the usual complement of economic data. Today, all eyes will turn towards the US Labor Department?s latest trade report ? one that is expected to show the deficit widening from US$58.3 billion in February to US$59 billion last month. While sturdy economic growth in the US is obviously upbeat, how long can the country continue spending more than it can realistically afford? Imports are sweeping into the US at a hearty pace, but exports aren?t keeping up, despite the dollar?s weakness. The situation isn?t without precedent. Many other countries have experienced depreciation in their currency, helping them gain competitive advantage over others, beef up trade activity and, in turn, trade surpluses. But some studies, including one by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, show that in order for the US trade deficit to drop by 2% by the end of the decade, the dollar would have to lose around a quarter of its current value against the benchmark basket of major world currencies. While that would arguably help out the US, others would not be so fortunate. A weaker dollar and cheaper American exports would be a big blow to Europe, already dependent on exports for the majority of its economic growth, and struggling to muster any kind of domestic consumer spending amid a jobless rate around 9%. That goes double for Japan. While the European Central Bank could at least cut interest rates (currently at 2%) to compensate, the Bank of Japan has no room at all with rates already at zero. A strong yen would cripple Japan?s chances of engineering a sustained economic recovery as exports fell. PUT/CALL ALERT ------------------------------------------------- Equity option activity on the CBOE saw 390,898 put contracts trade compared to 552,918 call contracts on Friday. The resultant single-session put/call ratio came in at 0.707 as the 21-day moving average inch higher to 0.648. The CBOE Market Volatility Index, SPX implied (VIX - 11.98) plunged 5.07 percent, OEX implied (VXO -12.59) added 4.05 percent. The Nasdaq-100 Trust Volatility Index (QQV -16.61) jumped 4.86 percent and the CBOE Nasdaq Market Volatility Index (VXN - 16.90) slipped 0.35 percent. FUTURES WATCH -------------------------------------------------- The futures markets are steady to a tad lower this morning as traders continue to sit on the sideline waiting for the release of the minutes from the March 22nd, FOMC meeting, due out at 1:00 CDT. Traders will be looking for a more hawkish rhetoric out of those minutes that may suggest a more intense and faster increase in interest rates. The markets will also be watching the earning reports closely in order to see if there is a trend developing that could help to give the market a bit more direction as well as the fuel needed to work its way out of the current range. The S&P futures should find some buyers up above the 118500 level and above the 149100 level in the NASDAQ futures. Meanwhile the crude oil continues to bounce around between the $58-$52 dollar range which is also helping to keep the equities in a confused state of mind. TODAY'S ECONOMIC CALENDAR --------------------------------------- 7:45 A.M. April 9 ICSC Store Sales Index 8:30 A.M. February Trade Deficit 8:55 A.M. April 9 Redbook Retail Sales Index 11:20 A.M. Pres Bush speaks on the War on Terror in Killeen, Texas 2:00 P.M. March Treasury Budget Balance 5:00 P.M. April 9 ABC/Washington Post Consumer Confidence Index 7:30 P.M. Philadelphia Fed President Santomero speaks on the business cycle at University of Delaware in Newark, Del. EARNINGS EXPECTED TODAY (w/current estimates) ------------------ Abbott Labs (ABT) 1Q 0.58 Ameritrade Holding (AMTD) 2Q 0.16 Bank of the Ozarks (OZRK) 1Q 0.43 Gannett Co. (GCI) 1Q 1.06 Manugistics Group (MANU) 4Q (0.04) Marshall & Ilsley (MI) 1Q 0.71 Media General (MEG) 1Q 0.39 Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) 1Q 0.12 Team Inc. (TMI) 3Q 0.15 Travelzoo Inc. (TZOO) 1Q 0.14 This Morning Update was prepared with data and information provided by: PowerOptionsPlus.com - The Best Way To Find, Compare, Analyze, and Make Money On Option Investments - Forbes Best of the Web Winner. InvestorsObserver.com -- Better Strategies for Making Money -> For Investors With a Sense of Humor. Only $1 for your first month plus seven free bonuses worth over $800, see: http://www.poweropt.com/io Quote.com QCharts- Real time quotes and streaming technical charts to keep you up with the market. 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Go to: http://www.poweropt.com/247 Schaeffer's Investment Research - Market information that combines unique data with insightful commentary, enabling you to navigate in any market conditions and invest wisely http://www.poweropt.com/sirmmo All stocks and options shown are examples only. These are not recommendations to buy or sell any security. PriceWatch Alerts do not take into account your trade size, brokerage commissions or taxes which will effect actual investment returns. Stocks and |
