Wednesday Spotlight: ADP, ISM, Beige Book, Auto Sales

7 a.m. — The weekly mortgage applications survey is expected. Last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported the volume of mortgage applications filed in the U.S. increased a seasonally adjusted 2.1% from the previous week on a jump in purchasing activity.

8:15 a.m. — ADP National Employment Report is due for November. The private sector count is considered something of a sneak peak of the big Friday jobs report. Consensus is for a gain of 70,000 private sector jobs. Last time, private-sector employment rose by 43,000 in October topping economists’ expectations, and presaging a strong government report later that week.

10 a.m. — ISM Manufacturing index for November. The headline index is expected to stay flat — but in positive territory — at 56.9. Any number over 50 indicates expansion. The Institute for Supply Management’s index of overall manufacturing activity, based on surveys of purchasing managers, rose to 56.9 in October from 54.4 the month before.

2 p.m. — Federal Reserve Beige Book report on regional economic activity is released. “This week’s publication of the Beige book (due Wednesday at 2.00 pm) will be the first opportunity to see the extent that the substantial improvement in macroeconomic data has had on the FRB’s internal thinking,” wrote Michael Shaoul, chief executive of brokerage Oscar Gruss, in a note Monday.

Throughout the day — Auto sales figures for November in the U.S. will be released by car makers.

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Akamai: Online Holiday Sales Good for Stock?

By Matt Phillips

Most think of Akamai as a play on surging online video traffic. But a number of notes out today point out that Akamai can also be seen as an e-commerce play. “Strong online sales are a positive for Akamai, which counts 32% of its revenue from ecommerce, and to a lesser degree for competitor Limelight,” wrote Raymond James analysts in a note Monday. (For the record Goldman analysts say they expect about 35% of fourth-quarter revenues to come from the e-commerce unit at Akamai.)

Lazard Capital Markets analysts also upgraded Akamai shares Monday, raising their rating from “hold” to “buy.” And in their call they cited the e-commerce angle:

Over this past weekend, market data suggests 15%+ growth in online spending vs. our 10%-15% seasonal forecast. We believe that Akamai’s value-added services are particularly important for e-commerce sites as the company’s edge servers allow for faster site loading and transactions. We note that Akamai’s own tracking of online retail traffic has consistently indicated heavy loads over the past week.

Akamai is a stock beloved by the fast trading crowd. The shares are up more than 100% this year alone. But the trading can be choppy. The shares stumbled earlier this month after Level 3 Communications said it was chosen as a primary content-delivery network for Netflix Inc. Oppenheimer analysts cut their ratings on Limelight and Akamai following that news, citing the prospects for a price fight between such companies. But Akamai shares have since clawed their way back to roughly flat in November.

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