Anyone's Guess

It seems as though earnings reports are alternating between beating, hitting and missing forecasts. Yesterday Microsoft beat forecast (although those were lower than last year) and guided higher. Also beating forecasts was Dow component Honeywell. The other Dow component that reported results yesterday was Caterpillar and they missed their forecasts. Finally Amgen also missed its forecast yesterday. So far this earnings season 69% of companies reporting beat forecasts while 15% matched forecasts. Only 16% of companies missed their forecasts but you would never know it by the way the market has performed over the last few days.

Oil seems to be creeping back up to the $55/barrel range which isn’t very good. I know all the gas stations have been only to happy to raise their prices over the last week. Well here’s hoping for some milder weather and lower prices. My wallet is enjoying the break and looking for more.

What’s going on today in the markets is anyone’s guess. Where they start may not be where they finish. All I can say is that today will certainly be interesting.