Stock Futures Flat on Greece and ECB. Stocks to Watch: AAPL, BAC, CSCO, EXPE, GOOG, PEP, SIRI, V

Published on Thursday, 09 February 2012 07:36 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, February 9^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures were pointing to a flat open, as Wall Street focused on Greece and the ECB ahead of weekly jobless claims data. The ECB policy decision could signal further support for the troubled euro zone countries. Higher than expected Chinese inflation dampened hopes of further monetary easing in the world’s second largest economy, which also weighed on sentiment.

In Asia, stocks ended mixed for the session amid a lack of Greek bailout deal and as Chinese inflation was higher than expected, which watered down hopes for another move by China’s Central Bank to cut banks’ required reserve ratios. The Shanghai composite was able to muster a 0.9% gain, while in Japan the Nikkei fell 0.15, pulling back from a three month high.

In Europe, equity markets were trading higher amid optimism over a positive outcome on Greece’s bailout package negotiations and as the Band of England held its interest rates at a low level while boosting quantitative easing. The move higher comes ahead of the interest rate decision by the ECB. Traders were expecting that the ECB would remain accommodative and that it might even provide hints of future rate cuts, while providing information over its special three-year lending facility that it offered banks in the region that has been instrumental in providing cheap funding to financial institutions helping avoid a collapse of one or several banks.

The euro was adding 0.12% against the Dollar, trading above the $1.32 level. Crude oil was climbing 0.54% to $99.24 per barrel. Also in the energy complex, natural gas was gaining 0.45%, but still trading below $2.50 per MMBtu. Gold was adding 0.14% to $1733.80 an ounce and silver was advancing 0.30% to $33.805 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper was falling 0.31%.

On economic news, at 8:30 am, the Labor Department will release its weekly jobless claims reports, with economists expecting 370,000 initial claims filed for unemployment benefits last week. And  at 10 am, December Wholesale Inventories data will be available.

Today’s Stocks to watch: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI), and Visa (NYSE: V).

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, was adding 0.19% to $477.60 in pre-market, trading above its all-time high of $476.79. Mizuho Securities initiated coverage on the tech giant with a Buy and a target price of $635 per share, citing the company’s current leadership in smartphones and tablets, driven primarily by innovation. The firm said that it views current consensus as conservative, as strong mometum in both the iPhone and the iPad should drive estimates and share prices higher. Earlier in the week, Barclays said that it expects that the iTV should add $5.40 per share to earnings in fiscal 2013.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was adding 0.37% to $8.16 in pre-market, extending its prior session gains that took the stock above the $8 per share level for the first time since August of last year and above its 200day moving average for the first time since April. BofA was showing a slight gain ahead of the ECB interest rate decision and statement and as the New York Times reported over the government sponsor settlement of $26 billion between states and top mortgage servicing banks to provide relief to troubled homeowners impacted by the crisis and the deceptive foreclosure practices. According to the report, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Ally Financial. Bank of America latest gains have come amid increased chatter among analysts and some participants that the stock is heavily overbought.

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), the networking giant, was little change in pre-market trading. The company reported better than expected earnings on revenues that beat consensus, however investors were somewhat disappointed over the Cisco’s guidance for the current quarter. Cisco said that it earned for its fiscal second quarter $0.47 per share, $0.04 better than consensus, on revenues that climbed 10.6% year over year to $11.5 billion. The company said that it expects revenue growth of 5 to 7% and EPS of $0.45 to $0.47 for the current quarter. Cisco was downgraded to a Neutral from a Buy at the ISI Group, with the firm setting its target price at $22. The firm cited a much balance risk / reward profile for the stock.

Expedia (NASDAQ: EXPE), the owner of Expedia.com and Hotels.com, would be in focus during the session, as participants adjust positions ahead of its quarterly results scheduled for after the closing bell. Yesterday, the Benchmark Company bumped its target price on the stock to $34 from $31 ahead of its quarterly results scheduled for Thursday after the closing bell. The firm said that the company could record 7% year over year bookings growth to $6.2 billion, leading to a 9% year over year revenue growth to $806 million, with growth potentially hindered by the challenging European environment and domestic competition. On average analysts expect a profit of $0.54 per share on revenues of $815.26 million. The earnings report will be the first one since it spinoff its TripAdvisor business as a separate public entity.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), the owner of the largest Internet search engine, will be in focus amid reports that the company is near the launch of its drive and online storage service. Google Drive will let users store photos, documents, and videos, while also making it easier to share big files instead of attaching them to an email. The service will also allow user to access their files from other computers or smartphones. Google was aiming the new service to compete against Apple’s iCloud, Amazon’s service, Microsoft SkyDrive, and Dropbox. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice was likely to clear the Google – Motorola Mobility deal as early as next week.

PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), the second largest beverage Company and snack maker, was adding 0.04% to $67.02 in pre-market, as participants were digesting better than expected earnings on revenues that were above consensus. PepsiCo provided fiscal 2012 EPS guidance below the Street consensus, citing plans to restructure, increase advertising/marketing expense. PepsiCo also announced an increase of 4% to its dividend, while it anticipates to increase its share repurchases by at least $3 billion. The company earned $1.15 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than consensus, on revenues that climbed 11.6% year over year to $20.16 billion.

Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI), the satellite radio provider, was adding 1.37% to $2.22 in pre-market after the company posted inline quarterly results, while reaffirming its fiscal 2012 guidance. Sirius said that on the fourth quarter it earned $0.01 per share on revenues that climbed 6.5% year over year to $784 million. The company said that it expects that its subscriber base to grow by approximately 1.3 million net subscribers and end the year at approximately 23.2 million. The stock rallied on the prior session more than 3%, breaking above its calculated resistance at $2.16 and leaving it open for further upside.

Visa (NYSE: V), the retail electronic payments network operator, will be in focus after the company posted better than expected earnings on revenues that were higher than estimates. Visa raised its fiscal 2012 net revenues and EPS growth guidance, while authorizing a new $500 million share repurchase program. The company earned $1.49 per share, $0.04 better than consensus, on revenues that climbed 13.8% year over year to $2.55 billion. In after hours, Visa shares were trading at new all-time highs above $111 per share.