Stocks Are Flat Ahead of Apple’s Earnings

The stock market is about flat today. I think the Industrial Production report helped some but most traders are still focused on earnings. Apple’s earnings are due after the bell, and that will get a ton of attention. We’re almost exactly halfway through earnings season; 248 of the S&P 500 companies have reported so far, and 76% have beaten earnings estimates. That’s not bad.

The S&P 500 has been as high as 1,762.77 today which is another all-time intra-day high. The market closed Friday at 1,759.77 which was an all-time high close. Our Buy List briefly passed the 30% YTD gain market, but has since fallen back.

Steven Russolillo notes the strong breadth of today’s market. A total of 451 stocks in the S&P 500 are higher this year. That’s the second-most breadth since 1980. In 2003, 458 stocks were up for the year. This isn’t always the case. In 1998 and 1999, most of the heavy lifting of that bull rally was done by a small number of stocks.

Stocks like AFLAC, Stryker, Medtronic and Ross Stores are at new highs. There are no Buy List earnings reports today, but tomorrow AFLAC, Fiserv and Harris are due to report.

Of course, the Fed meets again tomorrow and Wednesday but I don’t expect to hear any tapering news. To taper now would be like getting picked off with two outs in the bottom of the ninth in the World Series. That’s unheard of.

Posted by on October 28th, 2013 at 11:19 am


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