In extended trade, shares of Intel traded almost unchanged after the company released earnings. But that doesn’t mean there’s not a big story, here.
According to top trader Stephen Weiss, managing partner at Short Hills Capital and author of “The Big Win,” investors need to focus on Intel's guidance, which was disappointing. He says the commentary from Intel CFO Stacy Smith some of which was made on CNBC’s Closing Bell, is troubling.
Smith raised concerns about the health of the global economy, one of a growing number of top executives voicing these concerns.
“As we look at the rest of this year, our expectations of economic growth versus where we were at the beginning of the year have come down and so we’ve brought down expectations of revenue growth,” Smith told CNBC.
That's the takeaway, “Executives are cautious ,” says Weiss, that’s what you need to know here.
“And because caution is pervasive, I don’t think the market can make a big move, higher.” Don't look for the S&P to break out.
Trader Steve Grasso, Director of Institutional Sales Trading at Stuart Frankel, says much the same.
It seems like the S&P wants to bounce around a range until there’s greater clarity. “These kinds of results tells us the economy is getting incrementally worse, however at some point things get so bad the Fed will step in.”
That means the weakness will probably put a ceiling on the market but the potential of QE3 gives it a floor.
Looking at Intel’s forecast a little more closely, Intel estimated third-quarter revenue of $14.3 billion, plus or minus $500 million. Analysts had expected $14.60 billion for the current quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.
The company also cut its revenue growth forecast for 2012 to between 3 and 5 percent, down from a prior forecast of "high single-digit growth".
Posted by CNBC's Lee Brodie
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Trader disclosure: On July 17, 2012 , the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s "Fast Money" were owned by the "Fast Money" traders; Tim Seymour is long BAC; Tim Seymour is long SBUX; Karen Finerman is long AAPL; Karen Finerman is long BAC; Karen Finerman is long JPM; Karen Finerman is long WMT; Karen Finerman is long TGT; Karen Finerman is long GOOG; Karen Finerman is long M; Karen Finerman is short SPY; Karen Finerman is short MDY; Karen Finerman is short IWM; Steve Weiss is long QCOM; Steve Weiss is long DVN; Steve Weiss is long T; Steve Weiss is long VZ; Steve Weiss is long WLP; Steve Weiss is long BCE; Steve Weiss is long VOD; Steve Weiss is short PCAR; Steve Weiss is short APPLE PUTS; Steve Weiss is short JCP; Steve Grasso is long ASTM; Steve Grasso is long BA; Steve Grasso is long D; Steve Grasso is long FRO; Steve Grasso is long LF; Steve Grasso is long LNG; Steve Grasso is long MHY; Steve Grasso is long MO; Steve Grasso is long PFE; Steve Grasso is long S; Steve Grasso is long VLO; Steve Grasso is long XLU
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