Futures Dip Slightly; Market Wary Ahead of Jobs Data

And there are still a lot of earnings to digest.
By Sebastian Silva ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- U.S. stock index futures opened slightly lower after major indexes declined fractionally in Friday's session. Despite the modest decline on the last day of the week, stocks capped October with their biggest monthly gain in four years.

The S&P surged 8% last month, fueled in part by strong earnings reports from high-profile names and macro factors like the Federal Reserve's ongoing reluctance to raise interest rates and Europe and China's commitment to stimulate their economies.

Over the weekend, Turkey's AK Party won Sunday's parliamentary elections, strengthening President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 13-year grip on power after a divisive campaign marked by violence, Bloomberg reported.

China's first key indicator of the quarter, an official factory gauge, contracted for a third straight month, Bloomberg reported. And China, Japan and South Korea declared that their cooperation was fully restored in Seoul at the first three-nation summit in more than three years.

Petrobras (PBR) oil workers began a strike, seeking to block asset sales, Bloomberg reported.

And Chipotle (CMG) shut Seattle and Portland stores after a reported E. coli outbreak, according to Reuters.

Looking ahead, there are still plenty of earnings reports that have our attention.

On Monday, we'll be watching Visa (V) - Get Report and Estee Lauder (EL). TheStreet's Jim Cramer said Visa is a buy on any weakness, and Estee Lauder looks better than last quarter. Cramer also likes Fitbit (FIT) for the long term.

On Tuesday, Kellogg (K) reports, along with CBS (CBS) and Tesla (TSLA). Cramer said Kellogg is a buy below $70 and CBS looks strong. A bullish setup in CBS' chart shows about 10% upside. Cramer thinks Tesla is too risky. Morgan Stanley thinks TSLA could more than double.

Wednesday, watch for earnings from Allergan (AGN) and Facebook (FB), stocks Cramer owns for his charitable trust Action Alerts PLUS. Cramer was bullish on both names. Whole Foods Markets (WFM) also reports and Cramer said he prefers Kroger (KR).

On Thursday, Cramer is bullish on Disney (DIS) and Celgene (CELG).

Finally, on Friday, we get the nonfarm payroll report. With the Federal Reserve looking for more data to make a decision on a rate hike, the employment report will be an important indicator and catalyst for the market. Analysts polled by Reuters expect a gain of 182,000.

Separately, Barron's cover story said Micron (MU) could be one big beneficiary in the development of the "cloud chip" and the evolution of the industry.

"Micron's memory chips could play a key role in cloud chips, which will rely less on processing power than on vast amounts of memory. The only pure-play memory-chip maker, Micron, traded last week at $16.90 a share, less than half its 52-week high, reflecting a drop in the price of commodity memory chips. In the next few years, the stock could rise by a multiple of that price, if the industry develops as we expect," Barron's said.

Barron's also featured Avis (CAR) and Kinder Morgan (KMI). CAR could double by late 2017 thanks to less competition, and KMI could fall another 20% or more as the company faces pressure from lower commodity prices, Barron's said.

For even more information on data and earnings in the week ahead, you can reference TheStreet's weekly earnings calendar.

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