Pre-opening Comments for Friday April 19th U.S. equity index futures were mixed this morning. S&P 500 futures were unchanged at 8:30 AM EDT. Netflix dropped $22.56 to $588.00 despite reporting a higher than consensus increase in subscribers. Also, first quarter revenues and earnings beat consensus. KB Homes gained $1.59 to $62.00 after the company lifted its dividend by 25% and authorized a $1 Billon share buyback program. PPG Industries dropped $0.57 to $134.54 after reporting less than consensus first quarter revenues. The company also announced a $2.5 billion share buyback program. P ..read more

Pre-opening Comments for Thursday April 18th U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 7 points at 8:35 AM EDT. S&P 500 futures were unchanged following release of the April Philly Fed Index at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was unchanged versus a gain of 3.2 in March. Actual was a gain of 15.5. CSX added $0.54 to $34.70 after reporting higher than consensus first quarter earnings. Alcoa gained $1.05 to $36.70 after reporting higher than consensus first quarter revenues. Equifax dropped $19.80 to $217.88 after noting that weaker mortgage demand is weighing o ..read more

Pre-opening Comments for Wednesday April 17th U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 13 points at 8:30 AM EDT. Take Two Interactive added $1.55 to $147.00 after the company announced a cost cutting program. JB Hunt Transport dropped $9.99 to $173.00 after forecasting lower volumes. United Airlines gained $2.03 to $43.55 after forecasting fiscal second quarter above consensus estimates. Travellers dropped $6.12 to $217.00 after reporting less than consensus first quarter earnings.   Technical Notes Solar ETF $TAN moved below $40.15 extending an ..read more

Pre-opening Comments for Tuesday April 16th U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures added 13 points at 8:35 AM EDT. S&P 500 futures added 11 points following release of the March Housing Start report at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was a drop to 1.480 million units versus 1.521 million units in February. Actual was a drop to 1.32 million units. The Canadian Dollar dropped US0.13 to US72.40 cents following released of Canada’s March Consumer Price Index at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 0.6% versus a gain of 0.3% in February. Actual was an increase of 0 ..read more

Pre-opening Comments for Monday April 5th U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 40 points at 8:35 AM EDT despite Iran’s missile attack on Israel over the weekend. Index futures gained 9 points following release of March U.S. Retail Sales at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 0.3% versus a revised gain of 0.9% in February. Actual was an increase of 0.7%. Excluding auto sales, consensus for March U.S. Retail Sales was an increase of 0.4% versus a revised gain of 0.6% in February. Actual was a gain of 0.6%. Lockheed Martin gained $7.27 to $458.22 a ..read more

Pre-opening Comments for Friday April 12th U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 18 points at 8:30 AM EDT. JP Morgan dropped $4.03 to $191.40 despite reporting higher than consensus first quarter results. Wells Fargo added $0.59 to $57.28 after reporting higher than consensus first quarter results. Earnings were only 8% lower than the first quarter last year. Advanced Micro Devices dropped $3.08 to $167.42 and Intel dropped $0.75 to $76.88 after China announced plans to remove their microchips from the country’s telecom systems.   Technical N ..read more

Pre-opening Comments for Thursday April 11th U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 4 points at 8:35 AM EDT. S&P 500 futures recovered 25 points following release of the March U.S. Producer Price Index at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 0.3% versus a gain of 0.6% in February. Actual was an increase of 0.2%. On a year-over-year basis consensus was an increase of 2.3% versus a gain of 1.6% in February. Actual was an increase of 2.1%. Excluding food and energy, consensus for the March PPI was an increase of 0.2% versus a gain of 0.3% in Febr ..read more

Pre-opening Comments for Wednesday April 10th U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were down 54 points at 8:35 AM EDT. U.S. Index futures plunged 61 points following release of the March U.S. Consumer Price Index at 8:30 AM EDT. Consensus was an increase of 0.3% versus a gain of 0.4% in February. Actual was an increase of 0.4%. On a year-over-year basis, consensus was an increase of 3.4% versus a gain of 3.2% in February. Actual was an increase of 3.5%. Excluding food and energy, consensus for March CPI was an increase of 0.3% versus a gain of 0.4% in Februar ..read more

Pre-opening Comments for Tuesday April 9th U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 11 points at 8:30 AM EDT. Gold added another $22.40 to $2,373.40 per ounce in overnight trade. Taiwan Semiconductor is expected to open higher after the company received a $6 billion grant from the U.S. government to ramp up its semiconductor production in the U.S. Pfizer added $0.10 to $25.68 after seeking extended approval from the FDA for its RSV shot.   Technical Notes Platinum ETN $PPLT moved above $87.38 extending an intermediate uptrend. Old Dominion Freigh ..read more

Pre-opening Comments for Monday April 8th U.S. equity index futures were higher this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 5 points at 8:30 AM EDT. Tesla added $2.85 to $167.83 after Elon Musk announced the unveiling of a robo taxi in August. AZZ added $0.38 to $79.00 after raising sales and revenue guidance for fiscal 2025. Boeing dropped $1.92 to $183.14 and Southwest Airlines dropped $0.27 to $28.07 after an engine part on one of Southwest Airlines’ aircraft detached.   The Bottom Line World equity indices moved slightly lower last week. Exceptions were the TSX Composite Index and t ..read more