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UPDATE: Nasdaq sets sights on 11 in a row, but H-P's bummer stands in the way
11:28a ET February 25, 2015 (MarketWatch) Share
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UPDATE: Nasdaq sets sights on 11 in a row, but H-P's bummer stands in the way
By Shawn Langlois, MarketWatch
Critical intelligence before the U.S. market opens
Axl Rose sang a hit song (

) about it, the most overused Biblical verse (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13:4-8) in wedding history opens with it, and this week, it became the most talked-about word on Wall Street.

"Patient" -- when exactly will it be dropped from the Fed's forward guidance? How will the market handle it when that time comes? What happened to THAT Axl? We may never know about that third one, but the other two will probably be answered soon enough.

Just don't go expecting too much added clarity in Janet Yellen's sequel today.

Oppenheimer's Chief In vestment Officer Krishna Memani clearly wasn't too moved by what the Fed chair had to say on Tuesday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/yellen-prepares-markets-for-less-patient-fed-2015-02-24) because he said it didn't change anyone's mind. Those girding for an imminent rate hike, still girding. Those believing there's no rush to raise rates, still believing.

"In short, listening to the testimony was a colossal waste of everyone's time. The Fed will ultimately do whatever it has to do -- but it won't have much of an impact on financial conditions or longer-term rates." he said. "Don't pay much attention to the Fed at the moment."

The market appears to be going along with that advice. Considering the Nasdaq just notched its 10th winning session in a row, the hand-wringing seems to be at a minimum. We haven't seen a streak like this since 2009. Hewlett-Packard's sickly report could make it tough to reach 11 though. Early indications show that a minimal amount of red ink is about to be spilled.

But even if the Nasdaq (RIXF) does manage to shrug off the H-P report and make its way toward record highs, it will only be closing in on a nominal peak. There's a long way to go for the index to really get back to the bubble days (see the chart of the day below).
Key market gauges

Futures on the Dow (YMH5) and the S&P (ESH5) are pointing to a light dip in the early going, after Asia closed with a decidedly mixed session. Europe is leaning around the flat line. Gold (GCG5) is looking up while oil (CLJ5) is stuck below $50 a barrel.

The quote of the day
"A lot can happen in six hours. You can fly from New York City to San Francisco. You can watch The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. Or, if you're the Pebble team, you can announce your new smartwatch and raise $5 million." -- Kickstarter's Michael Stewart, talking about the record-breaking funding of "Pebble Time" (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-pebbles-storming-5-million-success-may-be-good-news-for-apple-2015-02-25).

The economy
Don't get too excited, but more Janet Yellen is on the way today at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, with new home sales for January getting released at the same time. BTIG's Dan Greenhaus says we could be entering a quiet period for a bit after this.

"With a Greek deal done for now, earnings season mostly behind us and Yellen's testimony ending, investors are likely to be on cruise control until the employment report in two weeks," he said. Read: The Fed talks too much (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-federal-reserve-talks-too-much-2015-02-24).

Earnings
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) shares are getting stung premarket after the company said its revenue fell short of Wall Street's expectations and lowered its outlook for 2015. Why? Currency headwinds are weighing heavily (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/h-p-slumps-as-strong-dollar-weighs-on-outlook-2015-02-24). DreamWorks (DWA) and the Lending Club (LC) are also a mess this morning after results.

As for what's on tap today, it's raining retailers. Lowe's (LOW) reported earnings were up 47% in the fourth quarter, over a year ago, and shares are rising premarket.

Target (TGT), Dollar Tree (DLTR), TJX (TJX) and L Brands (LB) are all on the docket, too. On the tech side of things, traders will be eye-balling Salesforce.com (CRM)
Chesapeake's (CHK) stock is falling premarket after the oil-and-gas company's earnings missed expectations by a big margin, and it said next year's capex will be down 26%.

The buzz
Tough night for Southwest Airlines (LUV) passengers after 128 planes were grounded after they failed to inspect backup hydraulic systems that are need in case the main system fails. In total, one-fifth of the fleet was grounded with 90 flight cancellations.

Move over Alibaba (BABA), you could have company next year. Postal Savings Bank of China, the country's sixth largest lender by assets, is seeking an initial public offering in 2016 that could make history by bringing in some $25 billion (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-may-stage-worlds-biggest-ipo-likely-next-year-2015-02-25).



Hillary Clinton hit the stage with Re/code's Kara Swisher (http://recode.net/2015/02/24/watch-the-full-video-of-kara-swishers-interview-with-hillary-rodham-clinton-video/) to talk about gender discrimination, the NSA and her presidential aspirations. And that she uses an iPhone (and a BlackBerry). But not a Fitbit. "In many ways, our economy seems to be still operating like it's 1955" Clinton said.
Here's the full interview. It's a pretty good one.
(https://www.youtube.com/embed/hFA_vIsHJgI)

The chart of the day
Can't you just feel the electricity? The Nasdaq is about to do the unthinkable: retake the 5,000 plateau and notch a record high. Yet your tech portfolio isn't quite lighting it up as it might have been the last time it was at this level.

That's because the index is nowhere near breaking through its real, inflation-adjusted high, like the Dow and the S&P already have, according to Lance Roberts of STA Wealth Management (http://streettalklive.com/index.php/blog.html?id=2621).

"In order for the Nasdaq to enter into the 'real all-time high club' it would currently require an additional gain of 2149.52 points or an additional 43.3% gain from current levels," he said. Adding that one way for it to achieve that would be for the top 20 stocks to more than double in value.

The call of the day
There's a lot to like about Europe right now. The FTSE-100 is taking out record highs, Greek risk is easing, Russia ain't so bad, etc. It's enough to have investors feeling pretty optimistic about the region. To all that, Cam Hui of the Humble Student of the Markets blog says "nein!" For many reasons, including the trend lines in this chart, he sees it playing out differently (http://www.humblestudentofthemarkets.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/buy-europe.html). "After giving the matter some thought, I came to a contrary conclusion of targeting the bulk of an investor`s equity exposure to the US and Asia X-Japan," Hui wrote.

Random reads
Reddit is cracking down on the very thing that has helped to make it one of the most-trafficked sites on the Internet: Nudity without consent (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/in-privacy-update-reddit-tightens-restrictions-on-nude-photos/?_r=0).

Scary. But they lived (

), so we can laugh.
Derrick Rose suffers yet another knee injury (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/bulls/2015/02/24/derrick-rose-knee-torn-meniscus-right-injury-surgery-chicago/23976035/).

More than 40 restaurants have been described as "the Chipotle" of their category of cuisine (http://www.wsj.com/articles/inside-chipotles-kitchen-whats-really-handmade-1424802150) going back to 2008.
All you ever wanted to know about video-game breast physics (http://kotaku.com/how-video-game-breasts-are-made-and-why-they-can-go-so-1687753475) (NSFW, kinda).

Finally, butter-flavored Kit-Kat bars (http://en.rocketnews24.com/2015/02/25/butter-flavored-kit-kats-come-to-japan-as-new-specialty-store-opens-in-hokkaido/http:/en.rocketnews24.com/2015/02/25/butter-flavored-kit-kats-come-to-japan-as-new-specialty-store-opens-in-hokkaido/) are no longer just a fantasy. Thanks Japan!

Need to Know starts early and is updated until the opening bell, but to get it delivered once to your email box. Be sure to check the Need to Know item. The emailed version will be sent out at about 7 a.m. Eastern.
-Shawn Langlois; 415-439-6400; [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 25, 2015 11:28 ET (16:28 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.SN201502250158262015-02-25 16:28:00.00003HOM3OO69HPR4UMEFO1CNJ9K8DJNF Search News
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