Waiting On The Fed And Apple

The waiting game continues for Apple’s earnings given how important the company’s weighting is to many indexes.

After the close of trading Apple’s (AAPL) earnings beat estimates of $1.88, and whisper estimates of $1.93, coming in at $1.96. Revenues for the quarter were $51.5 billion vs $51.0 billion expected. Margins also beat expectations of 39.3% coming in at 39.9%. iPhone sales missed at 49.05 million vs 49.5 million while iPad shipments  are being cannibalized by iPhone Plus. China sales were weaker but offset by U.S. sales. Holiday sales revenue was somewhat weaker than estimates of $77.1 billion vs $75.5 billion to $77.5 billion.

The stock was higher after the release by then started selling off up 1.25% at the time of this writing.

And Wednesday’s Fed announcement looms which has investors apparently nervous.

Economic data continued to reflect economic weakness. Durable Goods Orders fell again to -1.2% vs -1% expected & prior was revised even weaker to -3% vs -2%. Core Cap-Ex expenditures fell sharply matching 2009 lows of -7.9%. PMI Services Flash fell to 54.4 vs 55.3 expected & prior 55.6; Case Shiller HPI improved slightly to 0.1% vs expected & prior -0.2%; Consumer Confidence fell sharply to 97.5 vs 103.5 expected & prior 102.6; and, the Richmond Fed Mfg Index continued negatively to -1 vs -2 expected & prior -5.

For bulls this should mean bad news remains good.

Stocks were weak most of the day Tuesday with little leadership.

And, in other news, we’re sending more troops to Iraq?!?

Market sectors moving higher included: Healthcare (XLV), Biotech (IBB) and Bonds (TLT).

Market sectors moving lower included: Just about everything else varying in degree.

The top ETF daily market movers by percentage change in volume whether rising or falling is available daily

Volume was quite light once again and breadth per the WSJ was negative.