Pretty decent gains today and on some good volume so add another tick to the “crazy” side of the market. If you look at the $SPX on an intra-day basis you can see that we didn’t quite make back 50% of the losses from Monday’s sell-off. Keep an eye on that level ($852.15) tomorrow to see if we can get above that or if it will provide resistance. We get the ADP jobs number tomorrow before the market opens and that will set the tone in the pre-market.
We also get the ISM non-manufacturing PMI which is a leading indicator of economic health. Businesses react quickly to market conditions, and their purchasing managers hold perhaps the most current and relevant insight into the company’s view of the economy. The report surveys around 400 purchasing managers on topics including employment, production, new orders, prices, supplier deliveries, and inventories. This report comes out ½ hour into the trading day and can be a major catalyst.
Today, $GE said fourth-quarter earnings will be more to the lower end of its guidance. In addition, they will take a charge of up to $1.4 billion as it starts to downsize GE Capital. Obviously the market like that news as GE rallied a whopping $2 today, which is over a 13% gain. The proverbial cherry on top came as GE also said it still expects to pay a dividend of $1.24 a share in 2009. I guess the talking heads at CNBC are happy as well.
Tomorrow we get the ADP jobs number, revised nonfarm productivity, revised unit labor costs, ISM non-manufacturing PMI, crude inventories, the beige book, and some Fed speak from Kroszner. There are no S&P 500 companies reporting earnings tomorrow.