The Bulls Live to Fight Another Day

By Minyanville Staff Mar 01, 2013 4:15 pm

Today's financial recap and tomorrow's financial outlook.

The buzz word of the day was "sequestration" as President Obama and Congress failed to come together to halt automatic spending cuts that could disrupt some government functions and the economy.

However, on the back of some positive economic data, stocks climbed out of the doghouse this morning following initial weakness.

The February University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey came in above consensus, as did the February ISM index. We also saw better-than-expected US auto sales numbers. These offset a weak January personal income report and January's drop in construction spending.

In earnings news, consumer electronics retailer Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) delivered a positive surprise, though company founder Richard Schulze backed off from his plans to take the company over. And on the negative side, construction giant Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ:FWLT) took a big hit after reported disappointing fourth-quarter earnings and revenue numbers.

Elsewhere in stocks, Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) rallied sharply following the ousting of Andrew Mason from the Chief Executive Officer position, while Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) took a hit after Credit Suisse reduced its iPhone sales estimates.

Looking further into today's stock action, we did see outperformance in financials and small caps, which tends to bode well for the major averages, but bonds were strong and semiconductors weak, making market internals a bit of a wash today.

Over in commodities, following an early pop, gold sold off, while crude oil continued its decline.

Monday's Financial Outlook

There are no economic reports scheduled for Monday.

However, we will see a host of earnings reports. Before the open, Transocean (NYSE:RIG), Tech Data (NASDAQ:TECD), and Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) will deliver their numbers. After the close, ABM Industries (NYSE:ABM), Ascena Retail Group (NASDAQ:ASNA), and Quad/Graphics (NYSE:QUAD) will report.

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