The Market In 5 Minutes: Facebook Beats, Trump Tweets

Macro Focus

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 48 points to 19,768.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 6 points to 2,268.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index declined 16.50 points to 5,132.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.76 percent to trade at $57.23 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures rose 0.48 percent to trade at $54.14 a barrel.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday left interest rates unchanged, while the Bank of England on Thursday lefts its benchmark interest rate unchanged.

Initial Jobless Claims for Jan 27 246.0K vs 250.0K Est; Prior 259.0K Continuing Claims for Jan 20 2.06M vs 2.06M Est; Prior 2.10M

• The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
• Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.

BZ News Desk Focus

• Facebook FB Reports Q4 EPS $1.41 vs $1.31 Est., Sales $8.629B vs $8.51B Est.
• Edwards Lifesciences EW Reports Q4 Adj EPS $0.75 vs $$0.72 Est, Sales $768M vs $759.54M Est
• Qorvo QRVO Reports Q3 Adj EPS $1.35 vs $1.26 Est, Adj Revenue $825.4M vs $821.3M Est
• Cirrus Logic CRUS Reports Q3 EPS $1.87 vs. Est. $1.62, Rev. $523M vs. Est. $495M
• Boston Scientific BSX Reports Q4 Adj. EPS $0.30 vs $0.29 Est., Sales $2.191B vs $2.16B Est.
• Merck MRK Reports MRK Q4 Adj. EPS $0.89, Inline, Sales $10.1B vs $10.22B Est.
• Shutterfly SFLY Reports Q4 EPS $2.63 vs $2.84 Est, Revenue $561.2M vs $583.8M Est
• Estee Lauder EL Reports Q1 Adj. EPS $1.22 vs $1.17 Est., Sales $3.21B vs $3.25B Est.
• Philip Morris PM Reports Q4 Adj. EPS $1.10 vs $1.12 Est., Sales Ex Excise Taxes $7B vs $6.67B Est.

Sell-Side Themes

Ladenburg Thalmann initiated coverage on several healthcare names, with Trevena TRVN, Alnylam ALNY and Achillion ACHN getting Buy ratings.

Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls

• Baird downgraded CVS Health CVS to Neutral.
• Argus downgraded United Rentals URI to Hold.
• Bank of America upgraded US Steel X to Buy.
• Guggenheim upgraded Foot Locker FL to Buy.

Deal Talk

Terry Lundgren, who is stepping down as Macy's M CEO later this quarter, is trying to avoid an ugly board shakeup that could tarnish his 13-year legacy and turn the largest U.S. department store into a battleground littered with discarded top brass, The New York Post has learned. A partner at a private equity firm told The Post that he’d been contacted about a Macy’s sale by a real estate investor — while other industry sources close to the situation say they, too, have had similar discussions.

Reckitt Benckiser Group confirmed to Reuters it's in talks to acquire Mead Johnson Nutrition MJN for $90 per share in cash or approximately $16.7 billion. This confirmed an earlier report from the Wall Street Journal.

Shares of National Oilwell NOV spiked as high as $39.68 as a report from Activist Insights stated that Pershing Square could be taking a new position in the manufacturer of products used in oil and gas drilling. The company later stated it has no information regarding an activist position. Jim Cramer tweeted "$NOV screaming. I am on record from my Deal Economy speech that this company will be acquired by $BHI-GE."

Air Methods AIRM is exploring a potential sale, according to sources as reported by the Wall Street Journal. The company has hired bankers to review potential buyers, sources said. Activist investor Voce Capital Management LLC, has been pressuring the company to formulate a plan to boost Air Method's share price.

In The News

President Trump urged Senate Republicans to make a major change to the chamber's voting rules if his Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, amid early signs the two parties were headed for a major showdown.

Trump suggested Wednesday he could back out of an agreement with Australia to take 1,250 refugees, calling it a “dumb deal!” in a Twitter post. The social-media post came four days after Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had a combative phone call about the status of the refugee agreement. The discussion devolved from there, according to people familiar with the call.

While none of these border taxes have officially been implemented, U.S. companies that rely heavily on imported goods are certainly concerned about the potential for costs to skyrocket. Supporters of new border taxes argue that these cost increases will be offset by a stronger dollar as the economies of U.S. trade partners suffer the consequences of the border taxes. However, many economists question this assumption.

Blogosphere

Back in 2011, companies launched a new marketing tactic of teasing their Super Bowl ads. But that strategy — considered bizarre at the time — is no longer enough. Now, it’s about meta-marketing.

Does seasonality impact quarterly unit sales statistics of Apple's AAPL iPhones? Benzinga looked at unit iPhones sales during the different quarters of the year since 2008.

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