Durable Orders More or Less in Line With Expectations

Pre-market futures are up after a couple mixed days this week. We appear to be on something of a different trajectory this week — or likely a holding pattern — after a robust early autumn that saw a good start to October after an unseasonably profitable September.But until the General Election on November 5th — and, let’s face it, that whole trading week will likely pass before we know who wins the presidency — we don’t expect much directional impetus in the stock market. Currently, the Dow is +99 points, the Nasdaq +80 and the S&P 500 +19.Durable Goods Orders Moderate in SeptemberBefore Friday’s opening bell, we saw the latest report on Durable Goods Orders for the month of September. These are preliminary figures, so they are very likely prone to at least a little tweaking on subsequent updates.Headline Durable Goods of -0.8% was better than the -1.0% estimate, and equal to the big downward revision (0.0% reported) a month ago. Ex-transportation, this springs back to life: +0.4%, though down from the upwardly revised +0.6% the previous month. Non-Defense, ex-aircraft (a proxy for “regular” business spending) reached +0.5% last month. Steady as she goes. Shipments was the only real scuff mark: -0.3%, down 20 basis points (bps) from the August’s -0.1%.Centene Posts Big Q3 Upside SurpriseManaged healthcare provider Centene CNC posted Q3 earnings of $1.62 per share this morning, up +16.5% from the $1.39 expected. Revenues of $42.02 billion outpaced expectations by more than +10% for the quarter, up from $38.04 billion in the year-ago quarter.Shares of Centene have gained +13% so far this morning on the news. The stock had been down -17% year to-date (so it’s still officially underwater this morning), but this bounce-back is nice to see after Centene’s earnings miss the prior quarter.Booz Allen Hamilton Demonstrates Strength in Q2Military intelligence services firm Booz Allen Hamilton BAH also reported earnings this morning, for fiscal Q2 in BAH’s case, with strong beats on both top and bottom lines. Earnings of $1.81 per share was nicely above the $1.48 in the Zacks consensus, for a +22% positive surprise in the quarter. Revenues of $3.15 billion outpaced estimates by +6.5%.What to Expect for Friday in the Stock MarketAfter the opening bell, the latest Consumer Sentiment survey from the University of Michigan puts out its final print for October, expected to come in at 69. Also, Boston Fed President Susan Collins will make an appearance later this morning.But we all know the election results are what we’re waiting on to send markets higher (or lower, depending what happens). Before that, next week’s PCE report and Jobs Week together will help inform the Fed’s interest rate decision, which comes out two days after the election. Until then, no one is expected to make any sudden moves that change the overall balance of trading.7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 DaysJust released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.7% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. See them now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (BAH): Free Stock Analysis Report Centene Corporation (CNC): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks