Tis the Season

Earnings season is under way! Alcoa (AA) the first company to report posted a narrower 4th quarter loss as aluminum prices rose and the manufacturing industry showed signs of improvement.  The net loss was $277 million, or 28 cents per share, compared with a loss of $1.19 billion, or $1.49 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2008, when the economic downturn began. 

The company reported an operating loss of $266 million, or 27 cents per share.

Revenue fell to $5.43 billion from $5.68 billion but was 18 percent higher than the third quarter, the Pittsburgh-based company said. Alcoa also had a positive cash flow of $761 million in the quarter.

Analysts on average were expecting revenue of $4.86 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.   Alcoa traded at 52 week highs earlier in the day and currently in after hours is trading down 5% at $16.60.

Volatility was fairly light today as many are waiting for more companies to report to see if the Markets recent strength is priced in or for that matter over priced. Once again today, the markets had a hard time selling off. The Nasdaq was the weakest of all, however rallied most of the afternoon.

Our traders have been taking a wait and see approach as we wait to see what the next move will be. We have reduced share size per trade and have made significant less trader per day. We can only assume the  earning will provide for more volatility over the near term and with JP Morgan reporting later in the week, we will get a sense of where the financials want to go from here.

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