Closing Recap

Friday, April 24, 15

Index

Up/Down

Last

DJ Industrials

22.15

0.12%

18,080

S&P 500

4.84

0.23%

2,117

Nasdaq

36.02

0.71%

5,092

Russell 2000

-4.29

0.34

1,267

Equity Market Recap

Major averages add to recent gains, but the tech heavy NASDAQ posts another record close after
setting new levels yesterday, helped by earnings from giants MSFT, AMZN and GOOGL (while
AAPL reports on Monday). S&P 500 index rises to new all-time closing highs (prior closing all-time
high was 2,117.39 on March 2nd of this year). Still no fear in the market as the VIX at new 2015
lows (12.16 low), and no volume to speak off in markets todaystrange times with markets
holding at all-time highs despite what has been a very lackluster earnings season so far (more
than 40% complete)there just remain no other place to park your money other than equities.
Stock indexes edged higher Friday, helped by gains in big technology companies including
GOOGL, MSFT and AMZN after earnings. For AMZN, investors were encouraged in the growth in
some of its other businesses, including its cloud computing division (AWS); MSFT jumped on
earnings beat expectations, and like Amazon, showed promising growth in new businesses like
cloud computing; GOOGL missed analysts expectations, but showed strong growth in mobile ads
Sector movers: Utilities advanced after FERC grants PJM request for auction delay; PJM had
requested 30- to 75-day delay for May auction; shares of utility stocks DYN, EXC, AES, AEP, FE,
EIX among top movers. Cable stocks active after CMCSA ended its $45B bid to acquire TWC amid
govt opposition; also CHTR advisers have reached out to TWC to start talks about a "friendly"
acquisition of the company http://goo.gl/YiCKKF . Semiconductors fell for a 2nd day, weighed
overnight after ALTR, MXIM,KLAC, FSL results/guidance (group declined yesterday after TXN and
QCOM outlooks fell well short of consensus)note the SOX dropped from 717 peak Wednesday
to 690 low today).
Other movers; Biotech drops on BIIB as Q1 EPS misses on lower Tecfidera sales; 3D stocks fell
broadly after DDD guided its Q1 prelim results below consensus (2c-4c vs. est. 17c on weaker
revs), weighing on SSYS, VJET; Gold miners fell after gold prices dropped nearly 2% on the day
(NEM lone riser on earnings); solar stocks broadly lower on no specific news (FSLR, SPWR, YGE,
TSL); frac sand names down a 2nd day, falling as EMES cut its distribution due to market
conditions (HCLP, FMSA, SLCA down yesterday after UNP said sees meaningful frac sand decline
in Q2); restaurants rise again, helped by strong bout of earnings the last few days (SBUX, DNKN,
CAKE, DPZ); airlines rise on earnings from AAL, pullback in oil

Macro
Euro zone finance ministers warned Greece on Friday that its leftist government will get no more
aid until it agrees a complete economic reform plan, as Athens lurches closer to bankruptcy.
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis faced a harsh morning in which euro zone ministers
bemoaned talks they felt "were going nowhere" and one minister said that maybe it was time
governments prepared for the plan B of a Greek default. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance
minister who chaired the meeting in the Latvian capital, slammed the door on Varoufakis'
proposal for early cash after partial reforms - Reuters

Commodities
U.S. oil futures finished with a loss on Friday, falling 59c, or 1% to settle at $57.15 per barrel, but
scored a gain of more than 2% for the week on concerns about crude supplies in the Middle East
(marked its 6th straight weekly advance). The market also benefitted from a decline in the U.S.
dollar, and after U.S. oil drillers took another 31 rigs out of service last week, falling for the 20th
consecutive week and bringing the total number of active rigs down to 703 from their October
peak of ~1,600. Traders overlooked another week of rising inventories, hoping that levels are
near peaks, as production cuts may start slowing the oil glut. Brent for June settlement added
43c to $65.28...climbing 2.9% this week for a third straight gain and traded at an $8.13 premium
to WTI, the most in a month.
Gold futures finished lower on Friday, dropping -$19.30 or 1.6% to settle at $1,175 an ounce,
and tallied a weekly loss of more than 2% for the week as investors looked ahead to the Federal
Reserve's policy meeting next week (FOMC Meeting Wednesday).

Currencies
The dollar added to recent weakness, as the dollar index (DXY) dropped more than 0.3% to 96.93
level, its lowest level since first week of March as the dollar fell against most rival counterparts.
The move lower came amid several weaker economic data points this week (jobless claims,
existing home sales, manufacturingthough durable goods were stronger today) and ahead of
key monetary policy meetings next week. The FOMC and the Bank of Japans policy setting
meeting that are scheduled to conclude Wednesday and Thursday next week, respectively. The
yen ended below the 119 level, while the euro traded to the best level of the week today.

Bond Market
Little movement again in the bond markets, in what has been a very quiet time of late as
investors wait for the Fed to show their hand in regards to outlook in rates. Note today marked
the 27th straight session, where the closing 10-yr yield has fallen between 1.86% and 1.99% (a
break above or below that level could spur some volatility). Complacency best word to sum up
bond market for a while as economic data has been mixed at best. The yield on the 10-yr fell to
1.915% today

Macro

Up/Down

Last

WTI Crude

-0.59

57.15

Brent

0.43

65.28

Gold

-19.30

1,175.00

EUR/USD

0.0039

1.0863

JPY/USD

-0.72

118.86

10-Year Note

-0.034

1.913%

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