Put Your Rally Cap on, Watch These Stocks: Morning Call
The Federal Reserve released minutes of a recent FOMC meeting that suggested they were in no hurry to exit stimulus programs and would eventually do so gradually -- U.S. stock markets rallied into the close after the release.
Today, that momentum carried into European markets with the Stoxx Europe 600 gaining 0.5%.
Asians stocks sank on news that the Japanese economy suffered a larger than expected contraction in the first quarter -- marking two quarters of contraction. This puts Japan in a recession, the third in a decade. Analysts say the earthquake has caused consumers to stop spending and save more; the Nikkei sank 0.4% on the news.
On the earnings front,
Limited Brands
(LTD)
, the clothing retailer that owns
Victoria's Secret
and
Bath & Body Works
forecast second quarter earnings to be as little as 38 cents a share, falling short of the 43 cent analyst consensus.
Advance Auto Parts
(AAP) - Get Free Report
, the second-largest U.S. auto parts retailer reported first-quarter profit of $1.35 a share, falling short of the average analyst estimate by 2 cents.
Hot Topic
( HOTT) forecast a loss in the second-quarter of as much as 11 cents a share, exceeding the average analyst estimate of a 10 cent loss.
After the bell, investors will look to earnings from
Salesforce.com
(CRM) - Get Free Report
-- the first quarter is seasonally slow for the company; not good for a stock already down almost 1.5% for May.
UBS
(UBS) - Get Free Report
notes that the first quarter is absent many catalysts, but Salesforce has beat first quarter revenue guidance every year since its IPO in 2004. Look for revenue of 482.4 million dollars with earnings of $0.27 cents a share. Focus on bookings growth, currency tailwinds and any impact from Japan's earthquake, which according to estimates, is about ten percent of revenue.
Pay attention to
Linkedin's
(LNKD)
long awaited IPO -- the first social networking site to hit the market. It will be a good way to gauge investor interest in the sector and will be used to determine whether sky-high valuations for
and other private tech firms, like
Groupon
, can hold up in the public arena.
The performance of recent IPOs has been mixed with
Sodastream
(SODA) - Get Free Report
performing well while
Renren
(RENN) - Get Free Report
and
General Motors
(GM) - Get Free Report
have disappointed.
Technology stocks had some nice oversold bounces in key areas and thus appear to be building patterns for potential moves higher. On Tuesday,
Netflix
(NFLX) - Get Free Report
,
Apple
(AAPL) - Get Free Report
and
Amazon
(AMZN) - Get Free Report
all showed relative strength, then continued that strength into Wednesday as they rallied with the overall markets.
Chinese internet stocks also provided leadership with
Baidu
(BIDU) - Get Free Report
,
Sohu
(SOHU) - Get Free Report
and
Qihoo 360 Technology
(QIHU)
all positive while
Sina
(SINA) - Get Free Report
was a laggard, finishing in the red.
Crude oil, silver and gold extend gains, as traders look for the rebound to continue but the action remains lackluster as volatility leaves the commodities group. Look for the
iShares Silver Trust ETF
(SLV) - Get Free Report
to trade on volume, but potentially frustrate active investors.
Finally, Scott Redler breaks down the developing descending channel developing in the
SPDR S&P 500 ETF
(SPY) - Get Free Report
and gives clues as to which way it will break.
Disclosure: Scott Redler is flat.
This commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet guest contributor program. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of TheStreet or its management.
