Focus on Earnings

Economic Data

- (BR) Brazil Oct FGV Construction Costs M/M: 0.2% v 0.2%e
- (US) Redbook Retail Sales w/e Oct 24th: +4.4% y/y, Oct MTD: +0.3% m/m; Oct MTD: +4.1% y/y
- (US) Sept Durable Goods Orders: -1.3% v +0.5%e; Durables Ex Transportation: -0.2% v +0.5%e; Capital Goods Shipments (Non-defense/ex-aircraft): -0.2% v +0.7%e; Capital Goods Orders (Non-defense/ex-aircraft): -1.7% v +0.7%e; Durables Ex-Defense: -1.5 v -19.1% prior
- (HU) Hungary Central Bank (NBH) left its Base Rate unchanged at 2.10%, as expected
- (US) S&P/CaseShiller 20 City Composite M/M: -0.15% v +0.18%e; Y/Y: 5.57% v 5.70%e; Index NSA: 173.66 v 173.89e
- (US) Redbook Retail Sales w/e Oct 24th: +4.4% y/y, Oct MTD: +0.3% m/m; Oct MTD: +4.1% y/y
- (US) Oct Consumer Confidence Index: 94.5 v 87.0e
- (US) Oct Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index: 20 v 11e

US indices are moving higher this morning, buoyed by some big earnings reports. The durables data mainly hurt the USD, while equity traders took comfort from the October consumer confidence survey rising to its highest level since October 2007. As of writing, the DJIA is up 0.38%, the S&P500 is up 0.54% and the Nasdaq is up 1.19%.

The September durable goods was negative for the second consecutive month, however the decline was much less severe that the one seen in August, and the August data was revised slightly higher. The core non-defense, ex-aircraft figures were also negative, and those were the very components of the August report that remained in growth territory. EUR/USD moved higher on the data, jumping from 1.2710 up as high as 1.2765.

Shares of Twitter lost as much as 16% after hours and in the premarket, although it's gained back a few points in cash trading. The social media company's headline results were solid, with revenue up 114% y/y, and it raised its FY14 outlook, however investors were focused on anemic growth in active users. The sequential growth in active users was a mere +1.1% q/q, down from 6.3% in Q2. Multiple analysts cut the name, adding weight.

The board of Madison Square Garden caved to pressure and authorized a plan to look at separating the company's entertainment businesses from its sports and media operations. It also authorized a big new stock buyback plan. Activist investors have been pressuring the company to make this move for some time. Shares of MSG jumped more than 15% in after-market trading, but are down to +11% today.

On the heels of Walmart, CVS and Rite Aid unfriending the new Apple Pay system, Apple CEO Cook said the system is already the most-used mobile payment system in the world. "We're more than the total of the other guys and we've only been at it a week," he said, noting that both Visa and MasterCard have confirmed the data.

Insurance names Hartford and Aetna are seeing strong gains this morning on very good earnings reports. Both firms blew out EPS estimates, and Hartford's revenue was way ahead. Aetna hiked its FY14 guidance. HIG is up 1.7%, while AET is down around 3.7% after executives warned medical cost trends would be at the high end of their estimates for the year.

Pharma giants Pfizer and saw very good third quarter results. However, Pfizer narrowed its FY14 guidance, while Amgen raised its outlook and released a very positive strategy review for FY15 and doubled its share buyback. Shares of AMGN are up nearly 5%, while PFE has slipped into negative territory.

Iron ore giant Cliffs is rocking higher this morning as executives talk about possible divestitures on the conference call. The firm's headline results were good, with earnings well ahead of expectations. Iron ore sale declines appear to have bottomed out. While executives said they have more than enough liquidity to run the company, they also hinted that they may be looking at a sale of the firms large Asia/Pacific operations. Mining giant Freeport is down nearly 4% despite a decent quarterly report.

Looking Ahead

- 13:00 (US) Treasury to sell $29B in 2-Year Notes
- 19:50 (JP) Japan Sept Preliminary Industrial Production M/M: +2.2%e v -1.9% prior; Y/Y: -0.1%e v -3.3% prior