The Market In 5 Minutes: All Quiet On The Market Front Ahead Of Jobs Number

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Macro Focus

U.S. equities had a relatively quiet day ahead of Friday's Jobs number. Financials and Utilities both closed down just over 0.05 percent, while the Consumer Discretionary, Materials, and Technology sectors all finished in the green. Major indices are trading slightly higher in premarket this morning ahead of the 8:30 number.

Crude oil has rebounded slightly Friday morning following the 10 percent slide since the start of the week. Supply concerns are still at the forefront of discussion both domestically and internationally. Vladimir Putin did urge OPEC countries to consider a cut at their meeting in Algeria later in the month. Crude futures are still on pace for their biggest weekly loss since January however.

Gold futures sharply sold off yesterday morning following PMI numbers before rallying in the afternoon to close the day slightly higher. Futures are trading around $1,314 in Friday's premarket.

Friday morning all eyes will be on the job number. The following data will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET:

U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls for August. Estimates are for 180K jobs added compared to 255K last month

Private Nonfarm Payrolls. Estimates are for 178K jobs added compared to 217K the previous month.

Manufacturing payrolls are expected to lose 2K after a 9K gain last month.

Participation Rate for August. Last month's was 62.8%.

BZ Newsdesk Focus

Lululemon Athletica Inc. LULU reports Q2 EPS $0.38 vs. Est. $0.38, Rev. $514.5M vs. Est. $515.4M. The stock tumbled in after hours trading from weaker guidance however, as they reported Q3 Rev. $535-$545M vs. Est. $541M.

Verifone Systems Inc PAY reports Q3 EPS $0.42 vs $0.40 est, Revenue $493M vs $515.5M est. The story is weak Q4 guidance however, as they see Q4 EPS $0.28 to $0.29 vs $0.50 est, Revenue $460M vs $536.3M est.

Smith & Wesson Holding Corp SWHC reports Q1 EPS $0.62 vs $0.53 est, Revenue $207.0M vs $198.2M est

Broadcom Ltd AVGO reports Q3 EPS $2.89 vs. $2.77, Revenue of $3.802B vs $3.76B est

Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls

Morgan Stanley Downgrades Carnival Corp CCL to Underweight, Lowers PT to $48.00

Credit Suisse Assumes Ctrip.com International Ltd. CTRP at Outperform, Announces $58.00 PT

Jefferies Upgrades Pioneer Energy Services Corp PES to Buy

Oppenheimer Upgrades Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. TEVA to Outperform

Deal Talk

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co HPE is in talks with private equity firm Thoma Bravo LLC to sell its software division for between $8 billion and $10 billion, according to sources as reported by Reuters on Thursday. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares rose 0.09 percent to $22.18 in the after-hours trading session.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA Affiliate Ant Financial, Primavera Capital are buying a $460M stake in Yum China Holdings, according to the Wall Street Journal

China has launched an anti-trust Probe into Comcast's Acquisition of DreamWorks.

In The News

Bloomberg asks, when a commercial rocket blows up, who pays?

Florida is currently under seige from Tropical Storm Hermine.

Vladimir Putin says he does not know who hacked the Democratic Party.

Blogosphere

The New York Times on how the tobacco industry still has a large influence in Washington.

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