The Market In 5 Minutes: Jobless Claims, Natural Gas, Trump & Mueller

IN THE NEWS

The number of companies reporting above-consensus earnings this season trails the one-year and five-year averages, according to Factset's Earnings Insight report for the week ended Jan. 19: Link

Monday's LD Micro Virtual: CES Wrap Up saw a group of micro-cap tech firms showcase their latest innovations and outline plans for 2018. Three that particularly stood out were Vuzix Corp VUZI, Workhorse Group Inc. WKHS and My Size Inc MYSZ: Link

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was willing to testify under oath in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, the latest twist in a probe that he has repeatedly denounced as a “witch hunt.”: Link $

The threat of another blast of bitterly cold arctic air bearing down on the U.S. is sending natural-gas futures prices to their highest level in more than a year: Link $

A day after sending the dollar reeling with comments supportive of a weak U.S. currency, U.S Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Trump administration was not seeking trade wars but would defend its economic interests: Link

The U.S. economy probably ended last year with the longest stretch of 3 percent-or-better growth since 2005. The $17 trillion question is, can it keep up this performance this late in the business cycle?: Link

The union representing tens of thousands of hotel workers in Las Vegas will ask casino-resort operators to give every housekeeper a “panic button” as it begins negotiating new contracts amid the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct: Link

ECONOMIC DATA

• USA Initial Jobless Claims for Jan 19 233.0K vs 236.0K Est; Prior Revised from 220.0K to 216.0K
• Continuing Claims for Jan 12 1.94M vs 1.93M Est; Prior Revised from 1.95M to 1.97M
• The new home sales report for December is schedule for release at 10:00 a.m. ET.
• The index of leading economic indicators for December will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.
• The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is schedule for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.
• The Kansas City Fed manufacturing index for January will be released at 11:00 a.m. ET.
• The Treasury is set to auction 7-year notes at 1:00 p.m. ET.
• Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.

ANALYST RATINGS

• RBC upgraded CenturyLink CTL from Sector Perform to Outperform
• Wells Fargo upgraded Carter's CRI from Market Perform to Outperform
• Telsey upgraded Lowe's LOW from Market Perform to Outperform
• RBC downgraded Jagged Peak Energy JAG from Outperform to Sector Perform
• Telsey downgraded Tractor Supply TSCO from Outperform to Market Perform
• Telsey downgraded Best Buy BBY from Outperform to Market Perform

This 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. To get the full version of this note every morning, click here.