Two big financials as well as a number of brokers reported financial results before the start of regular trading this morning. Caroline Boroden, known as "Fibonacci Queen," appeared with Jim Cramer on CNBC recently, where she suggested that the January 20th inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump could mark an "important decision point" in the direction of the overall market. Netflix, Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) is scheduled to report earnings after the market close. S&P futures were higher, by 0.17 percent. The dollar was 0.44 percent lower against the euro, Gold was unchanged and oil was down 1.5 percent to $52.44 per barrel.
Stock in Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was lower, by 0.62 percent, in early trading on the financial giant's fourth-quarter 2016 operating results. Citigroup earnings, on a per-share basis, came in at $1.14, beating the analyst consensus, as featured with Yahoo Finance, of $1.12, by $0.02, or 1.8 percent. On a year-over-year basis, the bank's EPS grew by 7.5 percent, from $1.06. The over-200-year-old institution reported revenue of $17.012 billion, missing the consensus of $17.3 billion, by $288 million, or 1.7 percent. Citi revenue was down 8.7 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2015, from $18.64 billion.
GS stock marginally lower on earnings beat
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) stock was lower, by 0.1 percent, in the pre-market on the investment banker's fourth-quarter 2016 results.
Goldman Sachs EPS was reported as $5.08, beating the street expectation of $4.82, by $0.26, or 5.4 percent. GS EPS was up by $3.81 from $1.27 in the fourth quarter of 2015. The employer of close to 35,000 announced revenue of $8.17 billion, beating the consensus of $7.72 billion, by $450 million, or 5.8 percent. On a year-over-year basis, revenue was up 12.4 percent.
Goldman Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein described a "challenging" first half of 2016 in a statement released by the company. The 62-year-old went on to cite his belief in the firm's Business position as "industry leading" and well as its "strong capital and liquidity." A conference call is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET that may be accessed from the United States by dialing 1-888-281-7154 or 1-706-679-5627 in other countries.
The call is also available with the Goldman investor relations website.
AMTD downtick in pre-market
The well-known discount broker, TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation's (Nasdaq: AMTD) stock was 0.8 percent lower in pre-market trading. The North American brokerage reported EPS of $0.41, matching the consensus view. TD Ameritrade beat street revenue expectations of $856.89 million, by $2.11 million, or 0.3 percent, being reported as $859 million. Year over year, TD revenue up 12.4 was percent, from $812 million.
Management with the investment dealer has scheduled a conference call for 8:30 a.m. ET available from the TD Ameritrade investor relations site, or by dialing 1-877-648-7976. A transcript of the call is set to be made available on the Omaha-based firm's website by January 19. A recording of the call is scheduled to be available later today by dialing 1-855-859-2056 and entering "Conference ID 69450485."
