Small Bounce At The Open

The market put in another day of benign consolidation yesterday. Those are the types of quiet days that frustrate the bears by slowly relieving the overbought condition of the market, and setting up for another stairstep higher.

This morning, the market is getting a small bounce, despite a revenue warning from Seagate Tech (STX) that caused worries in the tech sector. But analyst upgrades elsewhere in the sector have boosted it overall.

There are no economic reports today, so investors will turn their attention to earnings season. There was a report out from Equifax/Moody's that showed mortgage delinquencies hit an all-time high of 2.87% in Q1. I think this speaks more to the credit cycle, and how easy it was for anyone to get any loan they wanted. But I think there are plenty of buyers on the sidelines that will look to buy homes at reduced prices.

Alcoa (AA) kicks off Q1 earnings season tonight. Expectations are for earnings growth this quarter to come in around +3-4%. That would mark the lowest level of growth in five years. So expectations are pretty low, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them exceeded again this quarter.

Asian markets were mixed overnight. The 10-year yield is giving back some of yesterday's spike, falling to 4.72%. And oil is up 50 cents to $62. Biotechs and brokers are the strongest groups so far.