The Market In 5 Minutes: Neil Gorsuch, Apple And #TheFinalYolo

Below is a tool used by the Benzinga News Desk each trading day — it's a look at everything happening in the market, in five minutes. Apply for daily AM access by clicking here or email minutes@benzinga.com.

Macro Focus

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 44 points to 19,837.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures rose 5.75 points to 2,280.00. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index climbed 28.50 points to 5,140.75.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.72 percent to trade at $55.98 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.62 percent to trade at $53.14 a barrel.

USA ADP Employment Change for Jan 246.0K vs 165.0K Est; Prior 153.0K

Data on motor vehicle sales for January will be released today.
The Markit PMI manufacturing data for January will be released at 9:45 a.m. ET.
The ISM manufacturing index for January is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.
Data on construction spending for January will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.
The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on petroleum inventories is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
The Federal Open Market Committee will announce its policy decision at 2:00 p.m. ET.

BZ News Desk Focus

Apple AAPL Reports Q1 EPS $3.36 vs $3.22 Est., Sales $78.4B vs $77.38B Est.
US Steel X Reports Q4 EPS $(0.61) vs $0.32 in Q3, vs GAAP EPS $(7.74) in Same Qtr. Last Year, Sales $2.65B vs $2.65B Est.
Advanced Micro Devices AMD Reports Q4 Adj. EPS $(0.01) vs $(0.02) Est., Sales $1.11B vs $1.07B Est.
Electronic Arts EA Reports Q3 EPS $0.00, Rev. $1.149B
Anthem ANTM Q4 EPS $1.76 vs $1.61 Est, Revenue $21.48B vs $20.92B Est
Johnson Controls JCI Reports Q1 EPS $0.53 vs. Est. $0.52, Rev. $7.1B vs. Est. $7.15B
Altria MO Reports Q4 Adj. EPS $0.68 vs $0.67 Est., Sales $6.25B
Tupperware TUP Reports Q4 EPS $1.45 vs. Est. $1.37, Rev. $600.9M vs. Est. $616M

Sell-Side Themes

Evercore changed its ratings on a few retailers, notably lifting Coach COH to Buy.

Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls

FBR Capital downgraded Under Armour UAA to Market Perform.
Morgan Stanley downgraded Mobileye MBLY to Equal-Weight.
HSBC upgraded Constellation Brands STZ to Hold.
JMP Securities upgraded Twilio TWLO to Outperform.

Deal Talk

Shares of Salesforce CRM spiked to a high of $80 following renewed takeover chatter with Alphabet's GOOG Google mentioned as the potential buyer. A report from Arete indicated Google could acquire Salesforce for $105 per share. There has been heavy call buying in Salesforce over the past two weeks.

Roche RHHBY is considering a potential sale of its diabetes-care business for as much as $5 billion, among other options, according to sources as reported by Bloomberg. A partial sale of the business or a spinoff was also an option, sources said. A representative for Roche declined comment on the rumor.

In The News

Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, has praised the career of Antonin Scalia, citing the late justice’s “originalist” approach. In a potential silver lining for Democrats, Gorsuch is a leading critic of a Reagan-era judicial doctrine that has helped to bolster the power of the executive branch.

Blogosphere

Firearms Versus Bow and Arrows: "In the decade after Ed thorp launched Princeton Newport Partners, the fund gained 409%, annualizing at 17.7% before fees and 14.1% after. Not bad for a market neutral portfolio. Over the same period, the S&P 500 annualized at just 4.6%, including dividends. When Thorp was running his strategy, his competition was, well, there really wasn’t any. He described what he was doing as 'like firearms versus bows and arrows.'"

Shoppers vs. Inflation Monster: "The 12 percent trade-weighted slump in sterling since Britain's vote to leave the European Union has forced up the cost of imported goods, from ham to handbags. But with companies and shoppers taking action to avoid paying higher prices, the impact might not be quite as bad as initially feared. That could support consumer spending and preserve margins."

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