An Apple Inc. (AAPL) earnings announcement a day will keep the bears away. The technology heavyweight roared past Wall Street’s $10 per share first quarter estimate by earning $12.30. Yesterday, Top Equity News told you that AAPL would put at least $11 on the bottom line.
Perhaps yesterday’s new will be enough to turn the tide of the Apple induced NASDAQ and to a lesser degree S&P 500 correction. At the very minimum, a return trip to 3020 seems plausible in the next couple of days/weeks.
That would put the index in touch with its 50, 26, and 12-day moving averages as they currently share roughly the same space on the NASDAQ’s chart. The 3020 level also marks the point where the index fell through a hole in its lower support trend line.
Pre-market futures momentum could be muted or accelerated when Durable Goods Orders are released at 8:30 a.m. eastern. Later in the day, Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve will steal the spotlight from Apple for a while.
Top Equity expects the Chairman and the Board to leave its zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) intact with some form of acknowledgement that the Fed is ready to act if perceived risks bloom. Whatever he says, Wall Street algorithms are sure to jerk the market back and forth.
After an exciting day of news, the agenda for tonight and tomorrow will be relatively quiet on the big earnings and economic news front. Market Watchers will pay attention to see if Jobless Claims continue to creep towards 400,000; however, thoughts will quickly turn to Friday morning’s initial read on first quarter GDP.
Economists believe the economy grew by 2.5, down from the fourth quarters 3%. TEN believes there could be a little upside in Friday’s announcement. We look for 2.6 to 2.7% growth.
If all goes right and durable goods orders meet or top expectations, Bernanke gives market friendly testimony, Jobless Claims moderate, and GDP surprises, it will be a string of news that doesn’t upset the APPL cart. Such a run could make investors forget April’s sell showers and that Apple guided lower for its second quarter.
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