Stock Futures Higher Despite Global Growth Woes. Stocks to Watch: ADTN, AAPL, BAC, BZH, DTV, FB, GG, HGG

Published on Wednesday, 11 July 2012 06:18 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, July 11^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures were pointing to a slightly higher open amid a lackluster overseas session plagued by worries over global growth and the impact it will have on corporate results. Meanwhile, lending support, Spain announced a new swathe of new taxes and spending cuts designed to meet budget targets.

In Asia, most stocks ended lower for the session amid worries that global growth was sputtering, which in turn impact corporate earnings. Japan's Nikkei share average dropped to a two-week low, as the Bank of Japan started a two-day meeting, with participants hopeful there would be additional measures to stimulate growth. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite climbed 0.5%, as it rebounded from a six-month low.

In Europe, markets were struggling as worries over growth in the region and around the world and the impact on corporate results weighed on sentiment. British based luxury goods maker Burberry reported a slowdown in sales, showing the impacts of the debt crisis in Europe and softer demand in China, which used to help the company offset weaker demand in both the U.S. and Europe. Germany's final June CPI reading came out inline, while yields on Spain and Italy drifted lower, as Spain’s Prime Minister Rajoy spoke on austerity measures

On economic news, May trade balance data will be available, while at 10 am May wholesale inventories will be released. At 10:30 am, the Energy Department will release its weekly inventory report on crude oil and distillates and at 2 pm, the Fed will release its last FOMC meeting minutes.

The euro was climbing against the Dollar, trading below the $1.23 level. Crude oil was jumping 1% to $84.92 per barrel. Also in the energy complex, natural gas was adding 0.62% to $2.754 per MMBtu. Gold was slipping 0.08% to $1578.60 an ounce, and silver was gaining 0.62% to $27.05 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper was advancing 0.32%.

Today’s Stocks to watch: ADTRAN (NASDAQ: ADTN), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH), DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), Goldcorp (NYSE: GG), and HHGREGG (NYSE: HGG).

ADTRAN (NASDAQ: ADTN) will be in focus after the company beat earnings expectations on revenues that missed consensus, with results reflecting a tightening spending environment. ADTRAN said it earned $0.38 per share, $0.02 better than consensus, on revenues that fell 0.1% from a year ago to $184 million.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, was adding 0.34% to $610 in pre-market, rebounding from a loss in the prior session, in which the stock was dragged down by broad market weakness. Yesterday, BMO Capital raised its target price on the stock to $700 from $695, a day after Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster gave a bullish outlook on the tech giant, saying that it expects the iPad and iPhone maker could sell up to 6 million mini iPads in the December quarter. Many reports point for Apple to unveil the cheaper and smaller iPad during the unveiling event for the iPhone 5 sometime in September.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was climbing 0.53% to $7.52 in pre-market after losing more than 1% in the prior session and closing below its 50day moving average at $7.58. The stock, which is considered a proxy for the U.S. economy was being hit amid growth woes. According to reports, the lender has been cutting jobs in its commercial banking unit in recent weeks even as it tries to boost the group's business. The job cuts are the latest round in the bank's cost-cutting program, which was announced last year.

Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH), the builder of entry-level and first move-up homes, will be in focus after pricing 22 million shares of common stock at $2.90 per share, and 4 million 7.50% tangible equity units at $25 each. On Tuesday, the stock plunged nearly 12% to $2.98 on news of the new stock offering.

DIRECTV (NASDAQ: DTV), the satellite digital television entertainment provider, will be in focus after Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB) dropped17 national networks from the DIRECTV lineup over a fee dispute. Viacom ignored the latest DIRECTV proposal to keep the channels on the lineup, as the companies tried to reach a deal on the fees. Customers were left without popular networks like Nickelodeon, MTV, and Comedy Central.

Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), the social media Company, was dropping 0.22% to $31.40 in pre-market, extending the 2% drop from $32 per share in the prior session. The New York Times reported that NBC Universal, a Comcast unit, and Facebook would announce a partnership on the Olympics coverage. Users of Facebook, will be reminded about NBC’s coverage of the Olympic Games in London. And viewers of NBC’s coverage, at the same time, will be nudged to talk about the Games on Facebook.

Goldcorp (NYSE: GG), the Vancouver, Canada based gold producer, was tumbling 3.4% to $35.50 after the company gold production for the second quarter of 2012 and updated production and cash cost guidance for 2012. Goldcorp said that second quarter gold production totaled 578,600 ounces, an increase of 10% compared to the first quarter of 2012. Also, full year production guidance was revised to 2.35 to 2.45 million ounces compared to previous guidance of 2.6 million ounces.

HHGREGG (NYSE: HGG), the consumer electronic and household appliances specialty retailer, will be in focus after plunging 21% to $9.10 in after hours. The stock tumbled, as the retailer issued downside guidance for its fiscal first quarter and lowered its fiscal 2013 EPS and sales guidance. HHGREGG said results were negatively impacted by lower than expected revenues primarily within the video category. The company sees first quarter revenues of $490 million versus consensus of $510 million and a loss of $0.16 to $0.17 per share versus an expected loss of $0.05 per share. For the year, the retailer expects EPS of $0.90 to $1.05 versus consensus of $1.20, and sales growth of 3 to 6%.