EB Watch List Update Report

MARKET NOTE: The market continues its march lower today with all of the major indexes substantially lower. This includes the NASDAQ, down almost 3% at its low today and down over 8% since in five trading days. Of course all sectors are lower, so what's the culprit today? Oil can't really be blamed. It is lower, but not by that much. There haven't been any earnings of consequence today that would spook the market. Europe was already down hard before the US market opened so that didn't help. Chesapeake Energy is down 50% today on the heels of LinkedIn down almost 44% on Friday with some wondering if CHK will survive as a company. That's never soothing to a market that is already in a tailspin. Financials continue to lead the market lower with the sector down over 3% today, certainly not helping the overall market. The VIX is higher by almost 14% and bond yields are lower as well with the ten year treasury note now at 1.75%. So any way you want to cut it or examine it, traders flat out don't like stocks, to the point where drops in individual stocks of 5-10% in a single day are becoming more commonplace and where drops like we've seen in stocks like AMZN and LNKD are accepted as necessary. The low so far in the NASDAQ today has eclipsed the August 24 flash low crash but the S&P has so far held the January 20 low of 1812. The question remaining on everyone's mind is when might the persistent selling end, especially with so many stocks at far lower prices than they were just a few weeks back? Everyone loved Google last week after its earnings were released with the stock almost touching $790. Now that it is close to $665? No thanks! But, the market does like to get dramatic from time to time, and this is one of those times. Does it portend really bad times ahead, or have traders simply come together as a herd, with a collective "shoot now and ask questions later" mentality? Perhaps, but until enough market participants are willing to put their capital back to work on the long side, stocks will continue to struggle. In the meantime, keep an eye on the S&P to see if it holds that 1812 low which is a must if the bulls hope to regain any control of the market. KEY EARNINGS REPORTS Companies reporting earnings today (February 8) DO, HAS, L, OI and YELP Companies reporting earnings tomorrow (February 9) include: AKAM, BIDU, BLKB, CDW, KO, CSC, CVS, FRT, FDC, GT, IR, MAS, NCR, PNRA, RGC, SAVE, STMP, TEN, TRMB, VIAB, DIS, WEN, WU and WYN ADDITIONS TO WATCH LISTS: Nothing to add today; need to continue to remain cautious BRIEF COMMENTS ON SELECT WATCH LIST STOCKS: Large Cap Watch List There are no Large Cap stocks on the Watch List at this time. Mid Cap Watch List There are no Mid Cap stocks on the Watch List at this time. Small Cap Watch List STMP - As a reminder, STMP closed below its stop of $91 on Friday so it will no longer remain on our Watch List. Also note that the company reports its earnings tomorrow. DELETIONS FROM OUR WATCH LISTS: STMP is being removed from the Watch List which is the last remaining stock on the list. At your service, John Hopkins, EarningsBeats