Thankfully, it feels like the markets are taking a breather as there are no major domestic or European economic reports today.
The European markets were recently trading higher on the day, with crude oil also up fractionally and the dollar weaker after its biggest rally in two years. Domestic equity futures are mostly flat so far.
In Britain, Queen Elizabeth addressed Parliament on, among other measures, the government's plans for a European Union membership referendum (as directed by David Cameron's government).
Cameron has said that everything is on the table as his conservative government evaluates reforms they demand from the EU. The government has not put forward a definitive set of reforms they request.
The sticking point is the freedom of movement of EU citizens, who under the Union's rules have the right to go and work in any of the EU's 28 countries. EU officials have said this right, which has been criticized by extremist nationalist party UKIP in the U.K., is not on the table.
Cyber security stocks are again in focus as we learned today that the IRS said nearly 100,000 taxpayers had their accounts accessed by cyber criminals. What is different in this case is that the there was no hacking done at the IRS. Rather, the criminals stole the information from individuals and pieced it together using it to access the IRS system as it was designed to be accessed.
Notable earnings calls today include: Tiffany & Co (TIF), Michael Kors (KORS), DSW (DSW), Chico's (CHS), EnerSys (ENS), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), Copart (CPRT) and Costco (COST).
Happy trading!
Bryan Ashenberg is the portfolio manager for Growth Seeker and the fundamental analyst for Trifecta Stocks. Test drive with a free trial.
