Wal-Mart Better Than Expected

Wal-Mart (WMT) reported better than expected earnings. The world’s largest retailer said 1Q EPS came in at $0.76, a penny better than consensus estimates. Revenues increased 10.2% year-over-year to $94.12 billion vs. $93.7 billion cons. Guidance is inline with second quarter earnings in the range of $0.78-0.81 vs. $0.81 consensus, but Wal-Mart sees comparable store sales in the U.S. in the range of 0-2%. See Macke’s Movers by Professor Jeff Macke.

From the Bull Pen: WMT shares are offered lower this morning, but bulls know this is a best-of-breed stock and will use this weakness as a buying opportunity. Sell-stops could be set around $54.

From the Bear Cave: Retail bears might find a downside play in Steve Madden (SHOO). Buy-stops can be set above $20 resistance which coincides with the 200-DMA.


RIMM’s ‘Bold’ Showdown

Bloomberg reports Research in Motion (RIMM) surged nearly 7% yesterday after the company unveiled its new Blackberry phone. The new model, called the BlackBerry Bold, will sport new features such as a quicker web browser and 1 gigabyte of memory, more than any other Blackberry models. Users will also have the ability to expand it to 8 gigabytes using a memory card. AT&T (T) will offer the Blackberry Bold, aimed at business customers and power users, in the U.S. for $300 to $400 starting this summer. The Bold sets up a showdown with Apple (AAPL) which likely won’t announce a new iPhone until later this summer. Todd mentioned RIMM in yesterday’s Random Thoughts.

From the Bull Pen: Those bullish RIMM can set sell-stops below yesterday’s low, near $135. Apple may also be another opportunity; sell-stops can be set below $180.

From the Bear Cave: Bears might find a downside play in AT&T. Buy-stops can be set above $40.


For more ideas, check out Minyanville’s Spotlight Stocks.


Quick Check Around the World

Asian trading closed with the Hang Seng +1.95%, Nikkei +1.53%, Sensex -0.64%, Taiwan +1.81% and Shanghai -1.84%.

A glance towards Europe finds the CAC -0.28%, DAX -0.21%, FTSE -0.85%,

As of 8:40 AM EST, S&P futures are higher +1.30 to 1406, and Nasdaq futures are up +0.50 to 1999.


A Look At Commodities

Commodities are mixed. Crude oil is up +0.66 to 124.89. Gold is lower -3.80 to 881.00. Silver is higher +0.315 to 17.158, and copper is up +0.90 to 379.30.

The dollar index is up +0.234 to 73.181.


On the Radar

Economics

Import Price Index (m/m): 1.8% vs. 1.6% cons.
Import Price Index (y/y0: 15.4% vs.15.0% cons.
Advance Retail Sales: -0.2% vs. -0.2% cons.
Retail Sales less autos: 0.5% vs. 0.2% cons.

10:00 Business Inventories: 0.5% cons

Click here for the full trading radar.

Good luck!