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US stock market, economy and companies update (February 06, 2012)

Contributed by Trade The News

- The focus is once again on Greece this morning, after political leaders in Athens failed to achieve agreement on a key package of new austerity measures. Talks between the political forces in the Greek parliament will continue through tomorrow, and if no deal is reached the second bailout deal, worth €130-145B could fall apart, calling into question Greece's solvency. Investors are seeking cover in USTs, and gold is in the red. Crude is a bit lower, hanging around the $97 handle.

- In earnings, Sysco modestly exceeded expectations in its Q2 report, on solid y/y growth. On the conference call, executives warned that product cost inflation continued at historically high levels and pricing pressure remained acute. SYY is down 4%. Hospital giant HCA missed revenue expectations, although profits were better than expected on a big gain in admissions. HCA is up more than 5%. Humana is losing ground this morning thanks to terrible guidance for Q4 and a sub-par FY12 forecast. HUM is down more than 5%. Note that shares of MU are down nearly 3% following the unexpected death of the firm's CEO last Friday in an air crash.

- The FX markets appeared to be suffering from Greek deadline fatigue mode, as the euro is not racking up the sort of losses one might expect given the state of play in Athens. Dealers suspect that PM Papademos was trying to bridge the gap with Greek parties by meeting with EU and IMF lenders first. EUR/USD hovered around the 1.3050 while USD/JPY was steady at 76.63.

***Looking Ahead***
- 11:30 (BR) Brazil Dec CNI Capacity Utilization: 81.7%e v 81.5% prior
- 11:30 (US) Treasury to sell 3-Month and 6-Month Bills
- 12:00 (DE) European Council President Van Rompuy speech: in Berlin
- 12:00 (IT) Italy PM Monti with OECD chief Gurria
- 12:15 (US) Scheduled Fed's Fisher speech cancelled due to illness
- 12:45 (DE) German Chancellor Merkel and France President Sarkozy
- 14:55 ((US) Fed's Bullard
- 22:30 (AU) Australia Central Bank (RBA) Interest Rate decision: Expected to cut the Cash Target by 25bps to 4.00%

Dow -29 S&P -3 NASDAQ -9
***Economic data***
- (CL) Chile Dec Economic Activity Index M/M: 1.3 v 0.8% prior; Y/Y: 5.3 v 3.9%e
- (BR) Brazil Jan Vehicle Production: 211.8K v 262.0K prior; Vehicle Sales: 268.3K v 348.4K prior; Vehicle Exports: 33.1K v 48.4K prior
- (RU) Russia Jan Consumer Prices M/M: 0.5% v 0.6%e; Y/Y: 4.2% v 4.3%e; CPI YTD: 0.5% v 0.5%e
- (RU) Russia Jan Core CPI M/M: 0.5% v 0.6%e; Core YTD: 0.5% v 6.6%
- (CA) Canada Jan Ivey Purchasing Managers Index: 64.1 v 59.7e
- (EU) ECB completed €124M in settlements vs. €63M prior in its Govt bond buying program (SMP); to drain €219.0B in next 7-day Term Deposit Tender