Michael Kors (NYSE:KORS) shares are up 4% Tuesday after the company announced its plans to raise its earnings forecast.For the fiscal year of 2012, the company now anticipates earnings of $0.79-$0.81 per share and revenues of $350 million to $355 million.The fashion company went public last December.
Analysis from the Forex FX blog for Technical analysis updates.
The EURUSD is trading close to the 1.3260 – 1.3300 price pivot zone. This area has recently seen multiple rejections but the daily candle from Friday has moved deeper into the upper range which could be indicating that supply in this area is diminishing to a certain extent. COT data is also showing a continuation of the short covering that has been seen over recent weeks. The smallest net short position is now seen since the end of Feb.
The AUDUSD currency pair is trading close to the 1.0500 line in the sand after breaking below the key level earlier in the week. Price is currently at a retest of the broken trendline with a fib confluence level to the upside as per the attached D1 chart. Developments in China continue to influence the Aussie Currency exchange rate with the fear that her commodities could see a decline in demand. China’s Central Bank also set a Record Yuan Reference Rate on Friday. The net long AUD COT position continues to decline at 45.2k.
Shares of Targacept (NASDAQ:TRGT) fell 14% Tuesday after announcing that it will drop plans with AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) on creating a drug to treat major depressive disorder.Targacept (NASDAQ:TRGT) has potential upside of 132.1% based on a current price of $5.6 and an average consensus analyst price target of $13.Targacept should find initial resistance at its 50-day moving average (MA) of $6.52 and further resistance at its 200-day MA of $13.02.
By CountingPips.com
The latest Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that large futures speculators cut back on their overall US dollar long positions last week while Japanese yen positions rebounded after falling for six consecutive weeks and Canadian dollar long positions rose to their highest level since May 2011.
Non-commercial futures traders, including hedge funds and large speculators, decreased their total US dollar long positions to $11.67 billion on March 20th from a total long position of $19.0 billion on March 13th, according to the CFTC COT data and calculations by Reuters which calculates the dollar positions against the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc.
Individual Currencies:
EuroFX: Currency speculators increased their sentiment for the euro currency for a second consecutive week as Euro short positions fell to the lowest level since November 2011. Euro net positions declined to 82,954 short contracts on March 20th from the previous week’s total of 99,336 net short contracts. Euro contracts are at the best position since November 22nd when short positions totaled 85,068 contracts.
The COT report is published every Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows futures positions as of the previous Tuesday. It can be a useful tool for traders to gauge investor sentiment and to look for potential changes in the direction of a currency or commodity. Each currency contract is a quote for that currency directly against the U.S. dollar, where as a net short amount of contracts means that more speculators are betting that currency to fall against the dollar and net long position expect that currency to rise versus the dollar. The graphs overlay the forex spot closing price of each Tuesday when COT trader positions are reported for each corresponding spot currency pair.
GBP: British pound sterling positions saw a surge of improvement last week after consecutive weekly declines in the previous weeks. British pound positions saw a total of 15,852 net short positions on March 20th following a total of 41,848 net short positions registered on March 13th. British pound sterling positions are still on the short side but are at their best level since September 6th when positions equaled 13,220 short contracts.
JPY: The Japanese yen speculative contracts rebounded last week from their sharp downtrend that had lasted sixth consecutive weeks. Yen positions improved to a total of 25,821 net short contracts reported on March 20th following a total of 42,380 net short contracts on March 13th. Yen speculative positions, two weeks ago, were at their lowest level since April 19th 2011 when positions totaled 52,983 short contracts.
CHF: Swiss franc speculator positions rose for a second consecutive week last week. Speculator positions for the Swiss currency futures registered a total of 11,191 net short contracts on March 20th following a total of 14,798 net short contracts as of March 13th.
CAD: Canadian dollar positions surged higher for a seventh consecutive week and rose to their highest level since May 2011. Canadian dollar positions advanced to a total of 42,315 net long contracts as of March 20th following a total of 26,721 long contracts that were reported for March 13th. CAD positions are at their highest position since May 3rd 2011 when long contracts equaled 54,041.
AUD: The Australian dollar long positions fell sharply after rebounding the previous week. Australian dollar positions decreased to a total net amount of 45,191 long contracts on March 20th after totaling 66,756 net long contracts reported as of March 13th. The AUD speculative positions are now at their lowest level since long positions totaled 32,637 on December 27th 2011.
NZD: New Zealand dollar futures speculator positions decreased for a fourth consecutive week after they had risen for nine straight weeks through February 21st. NZD contracts dropped to a total of 4,210 net long contracts as of March 20th following a total of 13,223 net long contracts on March 13th. This is the lowest level for New Zealand dollar contracts since January 3rd when contracts equaled 2,436 net long positions.
MXN: Mexican peso speculative contracts decreased sharply following a string of ten consecutive weekly increases through March 13th. Peso long positions declined to a total of 24,329 net long speculative positions as of March 20th following a total of 78,892 long contracts that were reported for March 13th.
COT Currency Data Summary as of March 20, 2012
Large Speculators Net Positions vs. the US Dollar
EUR -82954
GBP -15852
JPY -25821
CHF -11191
CAD +42315
AUD +45191
NZD +4210
MXN +24329
Other COT Trading Resources:
Trading Forex Using the COT Report
Nike (NYSE:NKE) is scheduled to release Q3 earnings on Thursday.Last year, the company reported Q3 earnings of $1.08 per share and revenues of $5.08 billion.This year, analysts are expecting earnings of $1.16 and revenues of $5.82 billion.NIKE (NYSE:NKE) has potential upside of 0.4% based on a current price of $112.69 and an average consensus analyst price target of $113.19.
This is what’s in the news for Friday March 23, 2012. The Wall Street Journal reports the SEC is examining whether some sophisticated, rapid-fire trading firms have used their ties to computerized stock exchanges to gain an unfair advantage over other investors, sources say. The Wall Street Journal also reports Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) will test allowing homeowners at risk of foreclosure to turn over deeds to their houses and sign leases that will let them rent the houses back from the bank at a market rate. Bloomberg reports Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard says U.S. monetary policy may be at a turning point and a Fed interest rate increase could come as soon as late 2013. Reuters reports Saudi Arabia will be able to pump enough oil to make up for any loss of Iranian output caused by Western sanctions, according to the head of the International Energy Agency.
In the wake of Zynga’s (NASDAQ:ZNGA) OMGPOP acquisition, Zynga filed a fresh and amended S-1 registration with the SEC that allows the company to sell over 42.9 million shares of common equity at its discretion.Zynga listed Morgan Stanley, Barclays and Goldman as underwriters.Zynga has a market cap of $10 billion and 121.7 million shares outstanding as of February 14th.
Covidien (NYSE:COV) acquired ventilator-maker Newport Medical Instruments for $108 million in a deal that is due to close in the second quarter.The firm said that Newport Medical will be merged with its Medical Devices segment.Covidien (NYSE:COV) has potential upside of 10.9% based on a current price of $53.61 and an average consensus analyst price target of $59.47.
Shares of Cost Plus (NASDAQ:CPWM) increased 12.5% after releasing earnings late Thursday.The company reported Q4 EPS of $1.56, better than analyst estimates of $1.50 per share. Revenues for the quarter rose 6.7% year-over-year to $364.30 million, better than consensus estimates of $361.81 million.Cost Plus is currently above its 50-day moving average (MA) of $13.92 and above its 200-day of $9.72.
Shares of Steelcase (NYSE:SCS) fell 9% Friday morning after posting earnings late Thursday.In the fourth quarter, Steelcase reported EPS of $0.14, missing analyst estimates of $0.16 per share. Revenues for the quarter rose 10.8% year-over-year to $690.20 million, better than consensus estimates of $688.77 million.Steelcase (NYSE:SCS) has potential upside of 37% based on a current price of $9.03 and an average consensus analyst price target of $12.38.
