Monday, January 14, 2008

Earnings season starts on up note

Earnings season is beginning, actually Alcoa (AA) marked the official start last week. This week a bunch of financials report, tomorrow Citigroup (C) is the first. Today the market is up, it liked preliminary earnings from IBM (IBM) sending the stock up 5.66. Dow is up 109 & advancers beat decliners 2-1 (so-so) while NAZ is up 27. However, Sears (SHLD) is down 6 after lowering Q4 estimates. In addition, the National Retail Federation lowered forecasts for growth in retail sales to 3.5%. Retail stocks have gotten punished badly, take a look at Sears over the last 2 years (down 50% from the peak just a few months ago).

Sears Holdings Corporation (SHLD)

Back to financials, Citigroup is expected to post an ugly report which will be followed by more from financials. Treasury bonds continue to do well as the yield falls to 3.77% & gold sets new records reaching 911. This should be an interesting week, the VIX (volatility index) is over 24 (20 indicates high volatility). Hang on for a rough ride!

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