EB Watch List Update Report

Dear Members: Market Update To say this is the biggest week so far of earnings could be quite an understatement. Could the near term direction of the market actually come down to the reaction to earnings of a handful of stocks? Maybe. We're going to find out over the next few days starting tonight when Apple reports its numbers as the market has moved into consolidation mode after the strong move off of the bottom. Traders have moved from extreme fright a month ago to mostly shrugging off bad news like the worse than expected consumer confidence report this morning. And a few important earnings misses recently including Intel and Caterpillar seem to already have been forgotten. So it's hard to say how the market will react to APPL's earnings after the bell, no matter the outcome, and it fact it seems like it might take a really weak report to get negative market reaction while an OK report might actually benefit the bulls. AAPL isn't the only company worth watching this week. Facebook and Microsoft report on Wednesday and Amazon reports on Thursday. So we've got three of the four largest market cap companies in the world about to report, along with other giants like AT&T, Boeing and McDonald's on tap, just to name a few, along with the Fed rate announcement tomorrow and the jobs report on Friday which should give traders plenty to think about. Toss in the fact that the 20 day moving averages on both the Dow and S&P have now converged on their respective 50 day moving averages, as they try to play catch up with the NASDAQ. So this really could be one of those moments when we see the market break out big either to the upside or downside. One thing the bears have been unable to do is produce a knockout punch on any single day since the December 26 bottom. There have been days when the market has started out weak, like today, but only to see stocks recover in some fashion by day's end. So the selling we are seeing at the moment could look very different by day's end and into AAPL's report. Right now the range on the S&P is quite clear; 2610 to the downside - exactly where the 20 and 50 day moving averages are at - and 2675, the most recent high. Perhaps one of those will go over the next few days which could clear things up as to where the market might be headed. Companies reporting earnings today (January 29) Before Market Opens: MMM, AGN, BIIB, CIT, GLW, DHR, DOV, HOG, HRS, HCA, KNX, LLL, LMT, NUE, PFE, PII, PHM, ROK, SAP, AOS, VZ and XRX After Market Closes AMD, ALGN, AMGN, AAPL, BXP, CHRW, EBAY, IEX, ILMN, JNPR, KLAC, MXIM, PFG, RHI and SYK Companies reporting earnings tomorrow (January 30) Before Market Opens: BABA, ANTM, T, ADP, BA, CHKP, EVR, GD, GNTX, HES, IR, MCD, NDAQ, NVS, RCL, SLAB, SIRI, TMO and VLVLY After Market Closes: AMP, CREE, DLB, FB, FICO, FLEX, MSFT, MDLZ, PYPL, QCOM, TSLA, X, V and WYNN ADDITIONS TO WATCH LIST We added BRKS to our Short Watch List with additional information below. Also, as earnings season builds we will be updating the Candidate Tracker and will keep you posted. Will also keep you posted on any further additions to the Watch List. BRIEF COMMENTS ON WATCH LIST STOCKS SHORTS: OLED - Stock moved back below its 200 day moving average earlier in the session before bouncing. Need to see it close back below that level, currently at $101.24, which could set the stock up to move lower. BRKS - Stock is lower by 2% with the next level of support just above $29. A close below that level could take the stock lower. LONGS: Large Cap Watch List None Mid Cap Watch List None Small Cap Watch List None Deletions from Watch List None At your service, John Hopkins EarningsBeats