The Market In 5 Minutes: Nonfarm Payrolls Lower Than Expected

Macro Focus

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 12 points to 19,809.00, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 1 point to 2,263.50. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index rose 1 point to 4,963.00.

Oil prices traded higher as Brent crude futures gained 0.86 percent to trade at $57.38 per barrel, while US WTI crude futures also rose 0.82 percent to trade at $54.20 a barrel.

Nonfarm Payrolls for Dec 156.0K vs 178.0K consensus estimate. Private Payrolls for Dec 144.0K vs 170.0K consensus estimate.

Unemployment Rate for Dec 4.70% vs 4.70% consensus estimate.

• Data on factory orders for November will be released at 10:00 a.m. ET.
• Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans is set to speak in Chicago at 11:15 a.m. ET.
• The Baker Hughes North American rig count report for the latest week will be released at 1:00 p.m. ET.
• Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan will speak at the American Economic Association's annual meeting in Chicago at 3:30 p.m. ET.

BZ News Desk Focus

• PriceSmart PSMT Reports Q1 EPS $0.82 vs. Est. $0.84, Rev. $716.1M vs. Est. $743M
• Helen Of Troy HELE Reports Q3 EPS $2.37 vs. Est. $1.86, Rev. $444.41M vs. Est. $447.3M
• Ruby Tuesday RT Reports Q2 Adj. EPS $(0.18) vs $(0.04) in Same Qtr. Last Year, Sales $214.7M, Comps Down 4.1%
• Greenbrier GBX Q1 EPS $0.79 vs $0.83 Est, Revenue $552.3M vs $489.4M Est

Sell-Side Themes

One sector that may be ripe for buyouts is the discounted biotech sector, which had a tough year in 2016. With many of these stocks trading at a discount to where they were a year ago, biotech M&A interest may start to pick up soon. Jefferies analyst Brian Abrahams is cognizant of slowing volumes and increasing competition in the space, but he still believes that there will be plenty of biotech deals this year.

Sell-Side's Most Noteworthy Calls

• Longbow downgraded Wendys WEN to Neutral.
• UBS downgraded McDonalds MCD to Neutral.
• Longbow downgraded GoPro GPRO to Underperform.
• RBC upgraded Disney DIS to Outperform.
• Credit Suisse upgraded Hershey HSY to Outperform.

Deal Talk

Carlyle Group CG is exploring a sale of nutritional-supplements maker Nature’s Bounty Co., whose brands include “MET-Rx” and “Pure Protein,” people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg. The private equity firm has held talks with potential advisers about selling the U.S. company, formerly known as NBTY Inc., according to the people. Nature’s Bounty could fetch as much as $6 billion in a sale, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

Meredith MDP is said to have contacted Time TIME to express interest in a potential merger, according to sources as reported by Bloomberg. A group headed by Edgar Bronfman Jr. offered $18.00 per share, according to the NY Post and that offer was rejected. Other potential buyers have contacted Time regarding a potential deal, a source said.11 percent in New York trading. Time’s board of directors will meet later this month to discuss its options.

In The News

China continued to squeeze the global market for the yuan Friday, sending the cost of borrowing the currency in overseas markets soaring to a near-record high. Investors and analysts say the nosebleed rates are likely to continue as China’s central bank battles to keep the country’s currency from weakening too far and fast.

Russia has done nothing to help defeat Islamic State forces in Syria and has adopted a strategy of “explicitly thwarting the U.S.” elsewhere, outgoing Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal. Carter, who has a long history of working with Russian officials over the course of his career, said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to blunt American influence have been increasing and are making it harder to find areas in which Washington and Moscow can work together.

Blogosphere

"London's streets were packed over Christmas with tourists from the Middle East, China and the U.S. weighed down by Gucci, Rolex and Hermes shopping bags. They've had to move pretty sharpish to take advantage of the Brexit-induced fall in sterling, as the big brand-owners hike their British prices to readjust to the change."

What happens when all the easy marks walk away from the poker table? What happens when the mom & pop investors stop making mistakes that are easily harvested by professionals? Josh Brown takes a look at "when only dragons remain."

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