Amazon

Apple, Microsoft and Google certainly provided some optimism for big cap tech but the enormous falls in Facebook (Meta) and Netflix shares painted a different picture.

To me, Amazon is the tie-breaker and will signal where the Nasdaq is going from here. There's certainly some pessimism into the report, with the index down 3% today.

For it's part, Amazon shares are down 8% today so that builds in a cushion.

The other main event is non-farm payrolls, which is a more-complicated picture. The consensus is +150K, which has come down since ADP. I believe the market would cheer on a weak data point because it would severely damage the case for a 50 basis point hike in March from the FOMC.

What I fear is that the layoffs of low-wage workers due to omicron will lead to higher numbers on earnings and that could be spun hawkish, even if it's only temporary. That would set up stagflatioary talk and that's not good for anything.

Here's the forecast from Goldman Sachs:

"We estimate nonfarm payrolls declined by 250k, 400k below consensus of +150k. Our forecast reflects a large and temporary drag from Omicron on the order of 500-1000k, as survey data indicate a surge in absenteeism during the month."