Pre Market

The market looks a little higher at the open as Disney reported better than expected earnings last night and improved the mood a bit. We get Cisco after the close today. The only economic data today was productivity (higher than expected at 1.8%) and unit labor costs (lower than expected at 2.1%). Both figures are for the 4th quarter and tell us little about the future but good numbers are welcome. Biogen had good earnings and that should help the biotech sector today. Toll Brothers had another lousy quarter but no one should be surprised that a homebuilder is struggling.

It is interesting though how the homebuilding stocks have performed lately. They were up most of the day yesterday but sold off late with the market. Housing starts are probably near their eventual lows (see yesterday's post) and I guess it makes sense to see the homebuilders start to perform better, but it does seem premature with the large inventory of homes on the market. I suspect most of the move in the homebuilders recently was short covering and it will take some time before real long term buyers come back to the group.