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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Schacknow - TODAY'S PRIMER , February 1, 2012

Peter Schacknow, Senior Producer, CNBC Breaking News Desk

A new month begins on Wall Street with some possibly bullish momentum: the Dow and the S&P 500 chalked up their best January percentage gains since 1997, and the market formed the so-called “golden cross”, where the S&P 500’s 50-day moving average moves above its 200-day moving average.

Having said all that, it should also be noted that both the Dow and the S&P 500 finished January with four consecutive days of losses.

Some early news out of Europe, albeit not unexpected: EU officials have rejected the proposed merger between NYSE Euronext (NYX) and Deutsche Boerse. NYSE chief executive Duncan Niederauer will speak to CNBC’s Squawk Box about the rejection later this morning.

A busy day for economic numbers will be highlighted by the release of ADP’s monthly private sector employment report at 8:15am ET. Economists look for the U.S. economy to have added 170,000 private sector jobs during January, following an addition of 325,000 in December.

At 10am ET, the ISM Manufacturing Index is expected to rise to 54.5 for January from 53.9 in December, and December construction spending is seen rising by 0.5% following a 1.2 % increase in November.

We’ll also get December auto sales numbers from U.S. automakers, with General Motors (GM) expected to be the first to report at about 10am ET. Ford (F) traditionally reports at noon ET, but did move that time earlier last month.

Earnings reports out this morning include Aetna (AET), Franklin Resources (BEN), Hershey (HSY), Nasdaq OMX (NDAQ), Northrop Grumman (NOC), and Whirlpool (WHR), while after-the-bell reports will include Allstate (ALL), Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), Electronic Arts (ERTS), Green Mountain Coffee (GMCR), JDS Uniphase (JDSU), and Qualcomm (QCOM).

Amazon.com (AMZN) leads our list of stocks to watch this morning, as the online retail giant gives current quarter guidance below Wall Street estimates. The company did beat estimates with its fourth quarter earnings, but the stock took a 10% hit after-hours on its forecast.

Broadcom (BRCM) beat Street estimates with its fourth quarter profits and also announced a dividend increase of 11.1%.

Seagate Technology (STX) earned $1.32 per share, excluding certain items, for its fiscal second quarter, 26 cents above estimates, with revenues also above consensus.

Boston Properties (BSP) earned $1.21 per share for the fourth quarter, which beat estimates by two cents, but guided the current quarter below current consensus.

The most anticipated event of the day may not occur until after the closing bell, with Facebook expected to file for a $5 billion initial public offering.

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