EB Watch List Update Report

MARKET NOTE: Dear Members: We've got another day of weakness in the market with all of the major indexes moving lower. The word 'confusion" comes to mind as the market tries to digest the developments and maneuvers of the new Administration and what it might mean to the market. The VIX is up almost 9% as traders continue to worry about what might lie around the corner. You can see this is confirmed by the sharp move higher in gold as well as a move lower in government bonds as traders move to safety. In looking at the equity only put/call ratio, it is at its highest level since the beginning of November. In other words, lots of fear in the market as traders devote more money to puts rather than calls, betting that the market will move lower. Often this serves as a contrarian signal and is quite a different picture than we saw more recently and it was just three sessions ago when the VIX was within striking range of its all time low. So we've quickly gone from traders being very confident to being very nervous which to me is actually healthier than total complacency. In looking at the overall picture, in spite of the new found skepticism, I have to say I'm impressed with how resilient the market is. The NASDAQ remains above all key technical levels and the S&P continues to hang out near its 20 day moving average. The Dow continues to lag but let's not forget it was at an all time high just a few sessions back and remains one small move higher away from getting back above all key technical levels as well. Also as a reminder; Apple reports after the bell tonight and is one of the few stocks that can move the market. Anything positive could put traders in a better mood quickly. Also tomorrow will be the Fed rate announcement. No one expects a raise in rates at this meeting but traders will be extremely interested in what the Fed has to say about the potential for further rate hikes in the future. Bottom line; things look rather bleak here after looking quite rosy last week. This is not necessarily a bad thing; the market had gotten too frothy which made it difficult to extract much out of trades. We could most definitely see more selling in the near term but don't count the bulls out yet. If the selling does pick up we'll want to see if the S&P holds its most recent low of 2233. To the upside, 2300 remains a target for the bulls. KEY EARNINGS REPORTS Companies reporting earnings today (January 31) include: FLWS, AMD, AET, AFL, ALGN, ALLY, AAPL, BXP, CHRW, CB, CIT, COH, DHR, EA, LLY, XOM, FICO, HOG, MAN, MA, NDAQ, NEU, NUE, NS, PCAR, PFE, S, SNBC, UA, UPS, X, VLO and XRX Companies reporting earnings tomorrow (February 1) include: ALL, MO, AMP, ADP, AVB, BAX, CRUS, D, FB, IR, JCI, LM, LNC, MPC, MET, OI, PBI, SIE.DE, SYMC and TSCO ADDITIONS TO WATCH LISTS: Been laying low the past few sessions but will be looking at possible opportunities on this pullback and will let you know if I spot something that might be worth pursuing. BRIEF COMMENTS ON SELECT WATCH LIST STOCKS: SHORTS: None at this time LONGS: Large Cap Watch List None at this time Mid Cap Watch List NUAN - Stock is flat at this time as it continues to remain above all key technical levels. $16.48 remains our target. Small Cap Watch List TRUE - Stock is out performing the market today and a close above $13.12 would be bullish. DELETIONS FROM OUR WATCH LISTS: None at this time At your service, John Hopkins EarningsBeats