Market Outlook February 21st - February 25th

Market Round up

 Foreign Exchange

Euro/dollar : the pair is pulling back on its new support and is shaping a falling wedge. LONG above 1.3250 towards 1.3850 & 1.4250.

Dollar/yen : the pair is challenging its resistance, the RSI is mixed and calls for caution. SHORT below 84.50 with 80.35 or even 79 in sight.

Company preview

 Wal-Mart (USD 55.38 ; -0.56% ; WMT ; WMT.N)
On Tuesday, Wal-Mart, the US retailing giant is expected to release 4Q EPS of $1.31 compared to $1.17 a year earlier on sales of around $118B vs $113.6B. In January, the US retail sales rose 0.3% vs +0.5% in December, missing the market expectation of +0.5%. Earlier, the Co was downgraded to "neutral" from "overweight" at JPMorgan and was also cut to "neutral" from "buy" at UBS. Technically, the stock rebounded last week from its key rising support in place since July 2010. Above $54.3, look for limited upsides to $56.75 & $58 in the coming days.

 Hewlett Packard (USD 48.67 ; 0.06% ; HPQ ; HPQ.N)
The same day, Hewlett-Packard may announce 1Q EPS of $1.28 compared with $0.98 a year ago on sales of $33B vs appx. $31B. Recently, CEO Leo Apotheker would consider further expanding business outside US, according to WSJ's report. Earlier, HP signed a deal to acquire Vertica, a privately held, real-time analytics platform company at an undisclosed price. Graphically, the stock broke above its former resistance around $47.8 and also stands well above its rising 20D MA. Hence, a further bounce is more likely to $51.5 and then to $53.

 Accor (EUR 35.505 ; 2.67% ; AC ; ACCP.PA)
On Wednesday, Accor could deliver FY net income of E249M compared to a net loss of E282M a year ago on sales of E5.9B vs nearly E7B. Early this month, the Co planned to open 700 Ibis hotels over the next 10 years, cited by Les Echos. From a technical view, the stock price remains bullish above E32.60 and is now challenging its YTD high at E36. The breakout of this level should open the upside way to E38.25 at first and E40 as a MT target.

 Royal Bank Of Scotland Group (GBp 48.53 ; 10.32% ; RBS ; RBS.L)
Thursday, RBS Group is expected to report FY pre-tax profit of around £1.8B compared with a loss before tax of £2.6B a year ago. Recently, the Co would prepare to sell $1.6B of property legacy loans, reported by FT. Earlier, the Co's share price was downgraded to "neutral" from "outperform" at Exane BNP Paribas. From a chartist view, the stock broke above a MT declining trend line last week, which confirmed its ST bullish bias. A test of 50p should be in sight before a further leg up to 54p.

 Deutsche Telekom (EUR 10.01 ; 1.11% ; DTE ; DTEGn.DE)
On Friday, Deutsche Telekom may release FY net income of appx. E3.3B compared to E353M a year earlier on revenues of E62.5B vs E64.6B. Recently, the Co reached an agreement with France Telecom-Orange to explore ways to cooperate in a defined set of technology fields. Technically, the price is supported by a bullish ST moving average but remains capped by its horizontal resistance at E10.15. The stock is expected to re-test this level before any further upsdies towards E10.55.

Selection of those events which may affect the stock prices of international Large Caps

Corporate Calendar February 21st - February 25th