Stock Futures Edge Higher. Stocks to Watch: BIDU, XOM, GOOG, JPM, KFT, and MFE

Published on Wednesday, 13 January 2010 08:13 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, Jan 13^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures pointed to a slightly higher open, a day after the S&P 500 posted its first decline for the year after Alcoa earnings report disappointed investors. Emerging markets stocks dropped the most in four weeks, and crude oil dipped below $80 a barrel on evidence that Central Banks around the world are preparing to wind down stimulus measures.

European shares edged higher, with gains by miners offsetting weakness in the banking sector. Asian markets sank, following the previous day's decline by Wall Street and the Chinese central bank's surprise move late Tuesday to require banks to hold a larger proportion of cash in reserve.

Investors will be hesitant to commit as there is little in the economic calendar and important earnings reports from Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) are scheduled to be release later this week; therefore a tight trading range should be expected.

Oil dipped below $80 a barrel to its lowest in more than a week on concerns that demand from China will not rise as expected as credit tightens and a report showing U.S. distillate stockpiles rising last week.

Watch for results of the $21 billion 10-year note from the Treasury shortly after 1 P.M. as any weakened demand that can push rates higher will be a negative for the trading day.

At 2 P.M. the Federal Reserve releases its Beige Book, the region by region assessment of economic conditions. At the same time, the Treasury is out with the December budget statement, expected to show a deficit of $91 billion for the month, compared with a shortfall of $51.8 billion in December of 2008.

Today Stocks to watch: Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Kraft Foods (NYSE:KFT), and McAfee (NYSE:MFE)

Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) the Chinese search engine rallied more than 8% in Frankfurt trading after Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) defied the Chinese government by saying it will end self-censorship of its search engine and may quit the world’s largest Internet market after attacks on e-mail accounts of human-rights activists. A series of “highly sophisticated” attacks on Google and at least 20 other companies last month, as well as limits on free speech, led to the decision, Google said in a statement on its site. An exit from the China market will hurt Google as it will cut an estimated $600 million in annual revenue and may boost Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), as the Chinese search engine will solidify its lead with the estimated 388 million internet users in China.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), watch for the biggest energy producer in the U.S. and biggest market cap stock to react to lower crude oil pricing. With crude oil below the $80 a barrel mark will prompt investors to reassess positions on the stock. Additionally yesterday’s announcement from fellow Dow component Chevron (NYSE:CVX) that its fourth quarter 2009 will be lower than in the third quarter, due to weaker refining margins, will maintain pressure on the sector.

JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) will be a stock to watch as the sector will start under pressure as European financial shares moved lower after French bank Societe Generale had to take another hefty write-down on its mortgage assets. Additionally JP Morgan CEO, Jamie Dimon, will be testifying in Congress on causes of the crisis, the controversy over bonuses, and the current state of the economy. The testimony could be crucial politically for the Banks as the Obama administration is considering a fee on bailout banks to help reduce the deficit.

Kraft (NYSE:KFT) the food maker that it’s engaged in a hostile bid to acquire England’s chocolate maker, Cadbury, boosted its full-year profit outlook for the second time in two months after logging strong operating gains, as it spent more on money on its core brands than in the prior year. Kraft now anticipates 2009 earnings of at least $2 per share, compared with a prior forecast for a profit of at least $1.97 per share.

McAfee (NYSE:MFE) the maker of anti-virus software, will be a stock to watch after Facebook, the networking site, announced that its 350 million users can download a free six-month trial of McAfee's Internet Security Suite. After the six month trial, users can pay McAfee's normal fees for the service, the no. 2 security software firm, as part of the deal will advertise in Facebook. With the number of Facebook users, this could provide McAfee with a revenue boost and market share gains.