Wake Up Wall Street: NFP the last hurdle, but Apple takes a bite out of bulls

Here is what you need to know on Friday, February 3:

Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data day is here and the end of a full week. Wednesday and Thursday saw the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England report, and now the NFP becomes the cherry on top of an eventful week. It is a lot to pack in, but when you add Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META) and Alphabet (GOOGL) earnings, then it was an overload for the mind.

So far we have not found a strong direction. We got close. A dovish Fed, ECB and BoE sent global yields lower and stocks higher, but then Thursday night we had poor earnings from Apple, Amazon and Google parent Alphabet, so now we are set for more chop.

NFPs may not provide any catalysts needed. If it is weak, then recession looms. Yes, lower rates would arrive quicker, but a recession will put the focus back on strong earnings. If the NFP data is strong, then the focus will return to higher yields. We needed the all-clear from Apple at least for this rally to gain legs, but now it likely stumbles. 

The US Dollar, meanwhile, looks to be on a sounder footing with all major central banks now dovish. The Dollar Index is back to 101.60, oil is lower to $75.80, and gold is also lower to $1,915.

See forex today

European markets are mixed: Eurostoxx flat, FTSE +0.5%, CAC -0.2% and DAX -0.5%.

US futures are lower: NASDAQ -1.1%, S&P -0.7% and Dow -0.2%.

Wall Street top news

Apple (AAPL): weak earnings, down 3-4% premarket.

Amazon (AMZN): weak earnings, down 5% premarket.

Alphabet (GOOGL): again weak earnings, down 5% premarket.

Ford (F): weak sales, down 7% premarket.

Starbucks (SBUX): weakness in China, misses EPS and sales, down 2-3% premarket. (Hmmmm, noticing a trend here!)

Tesla (TSLA) sells 66,051 China-made vehicles in January, up 10% yearly, according to China Passenger Car Association. Stock up 1% premarket.

Nordstrom (JWN) up on WSJ report of Ryan Cohen stake.

Regeneron Pharma (REGN) beats on earnings.

Aon (AON) beats on EPS but misses revenue.

Cigna Healthcare (CI) beats on EPS, revenue in line but outlook lower than expected.

Upgrades and downgrades

Upgrades

Friday, February 03, 2023

COMPANY	TICKER	BROKERAGE FIRM	RATINGS CHANGE	PRICE TARGET
Cardinal Health	CAH	Robert W. Baird	Neutral>>Outperform	$87>>$94
H.B. Fuller	FUL	Citigroup	Neutral>>Buy	$72>>$85
Int'l Paper	IP	UBS	Sell>>Neutral	$31>>$43
Nordstrom	JWN	Gordon Haskett	Reduce>>Hold	$22
Erasca	ERAS	Morgan Stanley	Equal-Weight>>Overweight	$15
Esperion Therapeutics	ESPR	Morgan Stanley	Underweight>>Equal-Weight	$9

Downgrades

Friday, February 03, 2023

COMPANY	TICKER	BROKERAGE FIRM	RATINGS CHANGE	PRICE TARGET
Aptiv	APTV	Wolfe Research	Outperform>>Peer Perform
Boeing	BA	RBC Capital Mkts	Outperform>>Sector Perform	$225
C.H. Robinson	CHRW	Stifel	Buy>>Hold	$107>>$99
Camden Property	CPT	Piper Sandler	Overweight>>Neutral	$136
Cognizant Tech	CTSH	Robert W. Baird	Outperform>>Neutral	$66>>$68
Ford Motor	F	Deutsche Bank	Hold>>Sell	$13>>$11
First Foundation	FFWM	Piper Sandler	Overweight>>Neutral	$17.5>>$16
Focus Financial	FOCS	BMO Capital Markets	Outperform>>Market Perform	$55>>$53

Source: WSJ.com

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