Schaeffer's Top Stock Picks for '25

Stock Futures Mixed Ahead of Packed Earnings Slate

Investors are still monitoring Biden's stimulus proposal

Deputy Editor
Jan 25, 2021 at 9:09 AM
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Stock futures are a mixed bag this morning, as investors prepare for one of the busier week of earnings yet for 2021. Major tech companies like Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Netflix (NFLX) are just a few of the big names slated to release their reports throughout the week. In response, futures on the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) are up triple digits, looking to build on Friday's record close.

Elsewhere, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) futures are pointed sharply lower while S&P 500 Index (SPX) futures are hovering just below breakeven. Investors are continuing to monitor U.S. President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion stimulus program while weighing the rising coronavirus cases.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

  • Founder and CEO Bernie Schaeffer unpacks 2021's ramped up optimism.
  • Las Vegas Sands is set to report earnings on Wednesday.
  • Plus, Express explodes higher; Merck ending Covid-19 vaccine program; and AEO reacts to a bull note.

Futures Chart January 25

5 Things You Need to Know Today

  1. The Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE) saw more than 2.7 million call contracts traded on Friday, and more than 1 millions put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio stayed at 0.40 and the 21-day moving average rose to 0.43. 
  2. Apparel retailer Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) stock is up an incredible 157% in pre-market trading, fresh off a 53% from Friday. Earlier this month, Express announced a deal to add $140 million in financing. EXPR has already almost doubled in value in 2021.
  3. Blue-chip pharmaceutical stock, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is down 1.2% before the open, after announcing the end of its Covid-19 vaccine program. The drugmaker's vaccine candidates generated inferior immune responses, though Merck will continue to develop treatments for the virus. Year-over-year, MRK is off 8.6%.
  4. Thanks to a bull notes, the shares of American Eagle Outfitters Inc (NYSE:AEO) are up 2.1% in electronic trading. Specifically, RBC Capital upgraded AEO to "outperform" from "sector perform," citing positive momentum at American Eagle's Aerie division. In the last nine months, the equity has tacked on 255.5%.
  5. It's a slow day today, free of economic data.

OV Buzz Chart Jan 25

European Stocks Respond to Covid Cases and U.S. Stimulus

Asian stocks rose on Monday amid headlines that China took the United States’ place as the world’s top recipient of foreign direct investment, according to data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. In response, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.5%, as investors looked ahead to President Xi Jinping’s keynote speech at the Davos Agenda. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Hang Seng tacked on an impressive 2.4%, after China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group issued 952.38 million shares to six investors, raising $3.35 billion. Elsewhere, the South Korean Kospi added 2.2%, and the Nikkei in Japan rose 0.7%.

European markets, however, are deep in the red at the midway mark, as anxieties over the coronavirus, President Joe Biden’s latest stimulus attempts, and a slew of fresh earnings reports competed for investors’ attention. The London FTSE 100 is off 1.1%, while the French CAC 40 is 1.3% lower. Meanwhile, disappointing data out of Germany’s Ifo business climate index has the DAX trading 1.7% lower, brushing off an upbeat earnings report from meal delivery kit service HelloFresh.

 
 

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