Stock Futures Lower: Caution after 3-Day Rally. Stocks to Watch: ANR, AAPL, DF, DISH, ESRX, M, PCLN, RL, DIS

Published on Wednesday, 08 August 2012 07:18 Written by Christopher Lynn

New York, August 8^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Stock futures were pointing to a lower open after a three-day rally took the S&P 500 above 1,400 and the NASDAQ above 3,000. Participants showed caution after stocks hit fresh three-month highs and after the Bank of England slashed its growth forecast for the year. Hopes for central banks providing further stimulus eased amid the lack of recent news or signals from policymakers.

In Asia, stocks closed with gains for a third straight session, as hopes for central bank action helped provide an underlying bid to the markets. Participants continue to bet that declining global growth and deteriorating euro zone debt crisis will force policymakers to provide further stimulus measures. The Nikkei gained 0.9%, as exporters benefited from a softer yen; while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.2%, logging its fourth straight session of gains.

In Europe, markets were retreating from 4-month highs, which were hit in the prior session, after the Bank of England slashed its growth outlook for the year to less that 1% year over year, as outlook has weakened considerable since May. Additionally, German trade balance for June exceeded expectations, but had little impact on trading, as the market had began to drift lower, as hopes for action from the ECB eased somewhat.

The euro was falling against the Dollar, trading above the $1.23 level. Crude oil was losing 0.69% to $93.02 per barrel. Also in the energy complex, natural gas was climbing 0.07% to $2.966 per MMBtu. Gold was sliding 0.13% to $1607.60 an ounce, and silver was slumping 0.79% to $27.865 an ounce, meanwhile copper was retreating 0.78%.

On economic news, at 8:30 am, second quarter preliminary productivity and unit labor costs data will be available. At 10:30 am, the Energy Department will release its weekly inventory report on crude oil and distillates inventories.

Today’s Stocks to watch: Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Dean Foods (NYSE: DF), DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH), Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX), Macy’s (NYSE: M), Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN), Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL), and Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS).

Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR), the steam and metallurgical coal producer, will be in focus after reporting its quarterly results later this morning. On average analysts expect a quarterly loss of $0.33 per share on revenues of $1.78 billion. The highest loss estimate is $0.53, while the lowest is $0.02 per share. Last quarter, the coal producer lost $0.27 per share, much lower than consensus for a loss of $0.06 per share.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), the maker of iPads and iPhones, was falling 0.43% to $618.25 in pre-market, as the stock gives back some of its recent rally, which erased all of the pullback from its big earnings miss last month. The stock has been trading amid increased expectations on its short-term product refresh cycle, which includes the new iPhone 5, a potential iPad mini in the fall, and a potential iTV sometime next year. The stock broke above calculated resistance at $616.40, which might act as support, while its 20day moving average is trading at $603.3.

Dean Foods (NYSE: DF), the Dallas, TX based dairy products maker, will be in focus after surging nearly 27% to $15.75 in after hours following news that it beat earnings expectations on revenues that were shy of consensus, while it issued upside earnings guidance for the current quarter and full year results. The company also announced the filling of an IPO registration for its wholly owned subsidiary, The WhiteWave Foods Company. Dean Foods plans to spin off the subsidiary, distributing the 80% of shares that it will still own after the IPO to its shareholders. Dean Foods posted a profit of $0.36 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than consensus, on revenues that fell 5.3% from a year ago to $3.13 billion versus consensus of $3.22 billion.

DISH Network (NASDAQ: DISH), the second largest direct broadcast satellite provider in the U.S., will be in focus after the company missed earnings expectations on revenues that were below consensus. DISH said it earned $0.50 per share, $0.17 worse than consensus, on revenues that fell 0.5% from a year ago to $3.57 billion versus consensus of $3.63 billion. Net income decline from a year ago amid higher subscriber-related expenses from higher programming costs and increased subscriber acquisition costs. DISH's net subscribers decreased by about 10,000 during the quarter, ending the period with about 14.06 million subscribers. The subscriber churn rate declined from a year ago to 1.60%.

Express Scripts (NASDAQ: ESRX), the full service pharmacy benefit management and specialty managed care Company, will be in focus after jumping 7% to $59.95 in after hours. Express Scripts traded above its 52-week high of $59.50 after it posted earnings of $0.88 per share, $0.06 better than consensus, on revenues that surged 143.8% from a year ago to $27.69 billion versus consensus of $26.57 billion. The company raised its full year earnings guidance above consensus, citing a strong second quarter, increased use of more profitable generic drugs and sooner-than-expected cost savings from its $29 billion acquisition of rival pharmacy benefit manager Medco Health Solutions.

Macy’s (NYSE: M), the department store operator, will be in focus, as the company will report quarterly results later this morning. On average analysts expect a profit of $0.65 per share on revenue of $6.10 billion. The highest earnings estimate is $0.66 per share, while the lowest is $0.62. Last quarter, the company posted a 7.5% upside earnings surprise, as it earned $0.43 per share.

Priceline.com (NASDAQ: PCLN), the name your price online travel company, was plunging 14.68% to $580 in pre-market following negative reaction to its quarterly results and guidance. The company posted worse than expected earnings on revenues that were shy of consensus. Additionally, the travel reservation site issued downside earnings guidance for the current quarter. Priceline said it earned $7.85 per share, $0.48 worse than consensus, on revenues that jumped 20.3% from a year ago period to $1.33 billion. The company said that the strong Dollar had a significant impact on second quarter results and cited the weakness in the global economy and European headwinds as the reason behind the cautious guidance.

Ralph Lauren (NYSE: RL), the owner of one of America's Iconic apparel brands, will be in focus after it reports its quarterly results later this morning. On average analysts expect a profit of $1.78 per share on revenue of $1.58 billion. The highest earnings estimate is $1.87, while the lowest is $1.72.

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), the world’s largest media company, will be in focus after dropping 0.82% to $49.40 in after hours following reaction to its quarterly results that beat on the bottom line, but missed on the top line. Disney posted a profit of  $1.01 per share, $0.08 better than consensus, on revenues that climbed 3.9% from a year ago period to $11.09 billion versus consensus of $11.32 billion. The movie studio revenue was essentially flat as smaller revenue from DVD and Blue Ray discs offset upbeat sales for hit movies like The Avengers. Meanwhile, its Parks and Resorts segment unit posted revenue of $3.44 billion a gain of 9%, boosted by the revamp of Disneyland's California Adventure theme park and benefiting from a full quarter of operations from its newest cruise ship, the Disney Fantasy.