Box Inc. (BOX)

Box Inc. (BOX) shares rose in the extended session Wednesday after the cloud-storage company topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter. Box shares rose 2.1% after hours, following a 4.5% rise to close the regular session at $18.19. The company reported a third-quarter loss of $40.2 million, or 28 cents a share, compared with $42.9 million, or 32 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The adjusted loss was 6 cents a share. Revenue rose to $155.9 million from $94.8 million in the year-ago quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast a loss of 7 cents a share on revenue of $154.6 million. For the fourth quarter, Box expects adjusted earnings of 2 cents to 3 cents a share on revenue of $163.5 million to $164.5 million, while analysts had forecast 2 cents a share on revenue of $164.2 million.

Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM)

Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM) shares rose in the extended session Tuesday, following an initial dip, after the customer-relations management software company topped Wall Street estimates for the quarter but its fourth-quarter earnings outlook came up a little short. Salesforce shares rose 5% after hours, following an initial 3% dip. Shares rose 0.9% to close the regular session at $127.54. The company reported third-quarter net income of $105 million, or 13 cents a share, compared with $107 million, or 14 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 61 cents a share. Revenue rose to $3.39 billion from $2.70 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 50 cents a share on revenue of $3.37 billion.

Crude Futures (/CL) 11/28

Crude Futures (/CL) are trading modestly lower this morning near $51 a barrel albeit off its 52 week trough carved out earlier this week.  Weekly inventory results will be shared an hour after the market open with a 0.6 million barrel build anticipated from the official Energy Information Administration (EIA).  Preliminary results from the American Petroleum Institute (API) report also signaled a strong stockpile over the past 7 days. Any rumblings ahead of next week's OPEC meeting will also garner attention.

economic data today 11/27

The main piece of economic data today will be the Consumer Confidence report which will be released at 9:00am CT.  Equity markets have moved lower overnight, after President Trump told the WSJ that he is likely to raise the tariff level on $200 billion of Chinese imports to 25% from 10% at the beginning of 2019.  He also added he may add tariffs on an additional $267 billion of Chinese goods if there is no deal with China.   At the time of this writing, S&P futures (/ES) are down  0.3% near 2661 and  U.S. Crude oil futures (/CL) are unchanged near $51.75 per barrel.

Earnings 11/26

Earnings will continue to taper off this week with just sporadic reporting expected from a select group of both retail and tech names. Today’s economic data will start out extremely light with only regional data coming out of Chicago and Dallas on the manufacturing front.  Tomorrow will feature consumer confidence readings along with a string of Fed speakers which will be constant through Friday. Mid-week will usher in comments from Chairman Jerome Powell along with a glimpse into key preliminary GDP figures to assess how much the economy may have cooled down after a record pace. Thursday’s most important checkpoint will come from the releasing of the last Fed Meeting Minutes from earlier this month to better extrapolate how likely a hike will occur in December  or into early next year.  Attention will shift towards Buenos Aries at the tail end of the week as The G-20 summit commences with the United States and China squaring off to hopefully pave the way for some type of de-escalation of the ongoing trade war. 

Crude (/CL)

Crude (/CL) continues to take on heavy losses after Wednesday’s 4.9 million weekly barrel build stunned investors as supply quickly reaches over-capacity. Oil is currently trading a staggering 7% lower on the day, now likely securing 7 straight weeks of decline as global demand comes into question.  Natural Gas Futures (/NG) have slipped 1% this morning for a 4^th straight pullback following last week’s record rise. 

Crude Futures (/CL)

Crude Futures (/CL) dropped 6.6% to $53.43, after President Trump reiterated the strong ties between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.  Some felt that President Trump’s  comments were an attempt to keep Saudi Arabia from cutting oil production at the OPEC meeting in December.  Besides the comments, concerns over a global slowdown and oversupply have driven crude oil into a bear market.

shortened holiday week

With the shortened holiday week, most of the earnings reports will take place earlier in the week as the markets are closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving and have a shortened session on Friday.  The retail sector will take center stage with earnings from the likes of Best Buy (BBY), Kohl’s (KSS), Loews (LOW) and Target (TGT) will all release their results tomorrow.  As of this writing, U.S. crude oil futures (/CL) are 1% lower near $56 per barrel and S&P 500 futures (/ES) are 0.4% lower near 2731.

Brent crude

Their combined wagers against West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude soared for a seventh straight week, the longest global short-selling streak in data going back to 2011. The bearish bets jumped 14 percent in the week ended Nov. 13 and have tripled since the end of September, according to data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trade Commission and ICE Futures Europe on Friday.

With oil prices slipping into a bear market, OPEC has promised to do what it takes to cut output. Still, it’s unclear how far the cartel and its allies will go and it may take a reduction well beyond the 1 million barrels a day that’s been publicly discussed to restore faith, said Daniel Ghali,            

UK's FTSE is lower by 1.0%. 11/16

UK's FTSE is lower by 1.0%. Financials and select consumer names are among the laggards with RBS, British American Tobacco, Lloyds Banking, Compass, Persimmon, Prudential, Direct Line Insurance, Barclays, and ITV holding losses between 0.8% and 4.0%. France's CAC is down 0.7% amid losses in most components. Financials Societe Generale, BNP Paribas, and Credit Agricole show losses between 1.1% and 1.6% while STMicroelectronics, Kering, TechnipFMC, Airbus, Renault, Danone, and Louis Vuitton are down between 0.6% and 1.9%. Germany's DAX is down 0.7%. Infineon is down 2.5% while Bayer, Adidas, BMW, SAP, BASF, and Daimler hold losses between 0.6% and 2.5%.

OPEC officials 11/12

Over the weekend, remarks from OPEC officials indicate that they are likely to formally cut output at their next meeting in December.  Concerns of no deal being achieved on Brexit are flaring back up, and Prime Minister May is feeling pressure on all sides.  Reports are surfacing that satellite images of  North Korea, indicate that the country’s  nuclear threat has worsened since the Trump-Kim summit.  This week’s economic calendar will be weighted towards the end of the week with CPI being released on Wednesday and  Jobless Claims, Retail Sales, and Import/Export Prices coming out on Thursday.  Earnings continue to roll on with Home Depot (HD)  results coming out on Tuesday morning and Walmart (WMT) on Thursday morning.  As of this writing, U.S. crude oil futures (/CL) are 1% higher near $60.85 per barrel and S&P 500 futures (/ES) are slightly lower near 2775.

Disney (DIS)

Disney (DIS) – The Mouse beats the house --  The entertainment juggernaut reported earnings of $1.48 per share which was well ahead of the consensus estimate of $1.35 per share.  Revenue figures also beat, with the company reporting revenue of $14.3 billion versus estimates of $13.76 billion.  The shares are trading 1.5% higher, near $118 in the pre-market.

Hologic Inc. (HOLX)

Hologic Inc. (HOLX) shares rose in the extended session Wednesday as the medical technology company's earnings fell short of Wall Street estimates but revenue topped them. Hologic shares rose 4.6% after hours, following a 2% gain to close the regular session at $41.26. The company reported fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $50.5 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with $82.7 million, or 29 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 58 cents a share. Revenue rose to $813.5 million from $802.9 million in the year-ago quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 59 cents a share on revenue of $806.3 million. For the year, Hologic expects earnings of $2.38 to $2.42 a share on revenue of $3.29 billion to $3.34 billion, while analysts had forecast $2.42 a share on revenue of $3.31 billion.

WSJ Dollar Index

The WSJ Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a basket of 16 currencies, was down 0.2% on Friday.
The British pound, meanwhile, gained 0.2% against the dollar to $1.303, its second session of gains amid hopes for progress in Brexit negotiations.
"The Bank of England's statements on Thursday indicated that a Brexit transition deal with the EU could promise upside to its economic projections and make rate hikes likelier," Daniel Trum, a strategist at UBS, wrote in a note to clients. "Indeed, the U.K. economy would justify them already were it not for the Brexit uncertainty."
News from China also helped lift Asian markets, according to some analysts, after Mr. Xi met with Chinese business leaders this week. He pledged to reduce their tax burdens and offered financial support to private companies, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Beyond the trade dispute, some market tensions have eased in recent days following a series of steady earnings announcements and renewed hope that the U.S. economy isn't on the verge of a downturn.
"The economic cycle is OK and the selloff in the equities market has meant the valuations are very reasonable," said William Dinning, head of investment strategy and communication at Waverton Investment Management.
"I don't think we have any sign of a recession in the U.S. -- there may be a bit of a slowdown," he added.
Investors were also positioning ahead of October employment data expected Friday, with many anticipating that the U.S. Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy more quickly if inflationary pressures build.
A Wall Street Journal survey of economists forecast the Labor Department will report that 188,000 jobs were added over the month, while unemployment held at 3.7%.
Investors were watching the U.S. technology sector in particular after Apple posted mixed results following the closing bell on Thursday.
Geoff Yu, head of the U.K. Investment Office at UBS Wealth Management, said last month's selloff may have been caused by investment in technology groups ramping up particularly steeply in recent months.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield drifted up to 3.172%, compared with 3.144% on Thursday. Yields move inversely to prices.
In commodities, Brent crude, the global benchmark, gained 0.3% to $73.14 a barrel. Gold fell 0.1% to $1,237.20 an ounce.