Market Awaits JOLTS Report After the Bell

Pre-market futures are flat-to-down this morning, in what is a pretty clear “risk off” sign ahead of tomorrow’s Fed decision on interest rates. Actually, the -25 basis-point (bps) cut is already baked-in; it’s whether it will be a “hawkish cut” that ends the party early — as of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference after the release — and keeps interest rates elevated for the remainder of Powell’s term.

Small Business Optimism Ticks Up in November

The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) is out with its Small Business Optimism Index ahead of today’s open. The November headline ticked up to 99.0 from 98.2 reported the previous month. This is the highest print since August’s 100.8, and 64% of small business owners said their companies’ performance is either excellent (+11%) or good (+53%). Labor quality was the most important problem small business owners faced last month.

This report is starkly different than the November private-sector payrolls report last week from Automatic Data Processing ADP, which saw small businesses cut -120K positions last month. That’s not necessarily a ringing endorsement for strong business conditions for companies with fewer than 50 employees. In today’s NFIB report, the number of small business owners who believe conditions are about to improve dropped -5% to +15% today.

JOLTS Report After the Bell for October

After the regular trading session gets underway today, we’ll see the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) released for the month of October. Due to the 6-plus-weeks of a federal government shutdown, these monthly reports are still working their way toward getting up to date. Expectations are for the JOLTS headline to come in at 7.2 million, where it has been for the previous two reports. Healthcare, social assistance and leisure & hospitality led the way by sector.

Earnings Roundup Ahead of the Open: GIII, CPB & More

The parent company for designer brands Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan and major American sports leagues, G-III Apparel Group GIII posted a big earnings beat this morning. Earnings of $1.90 per share outpaced the Zacks consensus by 30 cents, even as revenues came up slightly short of the $1.01 billion expected. Shares are currently up +9% in pre-market trading.

The Campbell’s Company CPB outperformed earnings in its fiscal Q1 this morning by 4 cents per share to $0.77, for a +5.48% earnings surprise. Early trading is flat on the news, and the company remains sold off by -28% year to date.

AutoZone AZO shares are down in today’s pre-market after missing fiscal Q1 results on both top and bottom lines today. The specialty retailer made $31.04 per share in the quarter, -3.7% from estimates, on revenues which were -0.25% lower than expected. Shares are down -2.7% at this hour.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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