Market Talk

Okay, so yesterday the world was about to spin off its axis, the end-times were nigh, disaster seemed afoot. Even Charlie Sheen was putting on a credible stage show.

Today, not so much.

US stocks recover after yesterday’s sell-off, with Johnson & Johnson leading the Dow higher after a well-received earnings report. Given how quickly stocks shook off that S&P warning, which yesterday seemed a globe-rattling event, you wonder if yesterday’s sell-off in the stock market had as much to do with S&P’s report as it did with an overbought market.

DJIA gains 65 (0.5%) to 12267, S&P 500 rises 7 (0.6%) to 1313, Nasdaq Comp adds 10 (0.4%) to 2745. NYSE volume’s low. J&J, Caterpillar comprise about half of the Dow’s gains. J&J, Goldman both see earnings slide from a year ago, although the Street rewards the former and punishes the latter.

Gold touches $1,500, closes a hair beneath there. Crude’s above $108/barrel again. Yen remains pegged above 82 to the dollar, but watch if it breaks below there (moves down in the yen represent strengthening.) We’d be getting back to the range that sparked the yen’s wild March 16 rise and subsequent G7 intervention.

Slate of post-market earnings includes IBM, Yahoo and Intel.

Despite the recovery today, the technical damage yesterday was material, as our colleague Tomi Kilgore points out:

The S&P 500′s bounce was encouraging for bulls, but it didn’t quite erase the negative overhang created by Monday’s tumble. The S&P 500 up 7 at 1313, but below resistance at the 50-day moving average (currently at 1315). While the index stays below the 50-day MA on a closing basis, the preferred stance will be sell on rallies, as Monday’s slide stirred up technical chatter about a possible longer-term “double-top” reversal pattern (February top of 1344, April top of 1339). That won’t be confirmed unless the index falls below the March low (1249), but the longer the index closes below the 50-day MA, the more likely it becomes.

Now, for sheer lunacy, absolutely nothing tops this story from the Orlando Sentinel about a central Florida unemployment bureau and its latest plan to, well, fight unemployment: they’re giving out “superhero” capes.

It sounds like a bad Saturday Night Live sketch, but we’re not kidding. Here’s the website of the Workforce Central Florida, which launched a marketing campaign to “help us fight Dr. Evil Unemployment.” It’d be hysterical if it wasn’t so sad. Nothing quite says “we’ve hit the wall” than this effort.

Big show today, markets trying to rebound after yesterday’s sell-off, earnings from Goldman and J&J as well as a look at this afternoon’s earnings, and author, economist and sometimes actor Ben Stein comes on to talk about the U.S. debt issues, the future of the economy and the importance of diversification.

Asian markets overnight felt the reverberations of S&P’s outlook cut on US government debt, with stocks marking substantial declines.

European markets currently engaged in a moderate bounce from sharp selling yesterday, and euro’s recovering. Stage set for modest rebound for US stocks after yesterday’s sell-off

Oil continues to slide, recently at $106.43/barrel, and gold’s up a little after another fresh Comex settlement high yesterday at $1492.30.

Goldman Sachs, J&J earnings headlines hitting the tape now. Both stocks rising in premarket trading. Intel, IBM after the close. March housing starts due at 8:30 a.m. ET.

S&P futures up 1.80, DJ futures up 27. Ten-year note lower, yield at 3.39%.

Meanwhile, last night Texas Instruments reported a weak first quarter and warned the Japanese disaster would cut into its second quarter. Kevin Kingsbury adds some perspective:

Citigroup calls the impact on Texas Instruments (TXN) in the wake of Japan’s disaster largely as expected. It lowers guidance amid TXN’s cut and moves price target to $40 from $42. But the investment bank does call TXN’s underlying business “good” and “order strength is contributing to an optimistic” 2H view. Susquehanna concurs, adding, “Outside of baseband/Japan, demand commentary sounds good.” FBR says, “We remain constructive on TXN as the firm has meaningful barriers, growing scale and a low 12x P/E multiple,” which should send shares higher. “That said, many TXN comparables are also inexpensive.” Auriga keeps its sell rating, contending it is “somewhat pessimistic” about a 2H rebound. TXN down 2.3% premarket at $34.