6 Gut Checks pre-open

Need to Know JULY 03, 2013 6 gut checks before the stock market's opening bell By Shawn Langlois   Getty Images Good morning. The lovely country that gave us piri piri sauce, vinho verde and mangrove-planting  footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has now given us the latest excuse to assume the fetal position and mutter indiscernibles. Who are we to disappoint? So, yes, let's wig out. Portugese stocks and bonds are getting absolutely mauled, Egypt is a hot mess, and the euphoria over the Winklevoss's new bitcoin fund is finally wearing off in the U.S., leaving markets vulnerable to the weight of the global chaos. Happy Fourth of July ! What's a savvy investor to do from here, besides marinate the ribs, ice the beer and wait for Friday's jobs report? With "greed and despair" the order of the day, perhaps throwing cash at emerging markets might be a good idea (more on that below). Key market gauges:Crude  is pushing deeper into triple-digit territory, taking out levels not seen in more than a year as Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's refusal to step down continues to roil the Middle East oil trade. U.S. markets are already feeling queasy, and stocks won't have a full trading day to recover, either. The stock market closes at 1 p.m. Eastern. Futures on the Dow  and the S&P  are both down in the hours before the open. Selling smacked major indexes in Asia earlier, with Australia  and Hong Kong  taking the brunt of the declines. Europe  isn't doing any better. Portugal is where the real meltdown is taking place, after two of the country's cabinet ministers abruptly quit. The economy: The shortened market day isn't getting in the way of a fairly full economic calendar. At 8:15 a.m. Eastern, ADP serves up the appetizer to the official U.S. jobs report followed shortly thereafter by weekly jobless claims from the Labor Department. The government will also post the U.S. trade deficit at that time. After the market opens, ISM  is expected to show some faster growth in June among service-sector companies. Read: Spotlight on economy . The buzz: Pimco's troubles remain a hot topic after Morningstar reported that $9.6 billion poured out of the the Total Return Fund , the biggest mutual fund in the world, in a panicky exodus triggered by rising interest rates. Onyx Pharma  shares are still in play after tacking another 3.2% onto Monday's huge rally on word that it rejected a buyout bid from Amgen . Michael Dell is running up against resistance in his attempt to take Dell  private as an investor-advisory firm is reportedly leaning against his $24.4 billion bid . Keep an eye on Mead Johnson  and Abbott  after reports China is launching an investigation into possible price-fixing in the infant-formula market. Throw Nestle  and Danone  into the mix, as well. After yesterday's stellar showing for the auto industry, Toyota  is announcing a recall of some 185,000 vehicles worldwide due to a glitch in the power-steering computer system. The chart of the day: Citi Research is doing a little bottom fishing in emerging markets, saying that the major equity regions are trading below 10 times price-to-earnings, which has proven to be a profitable entry point in the past. There are several factors supporting their bullish outlook, including the level of fear gripping investors. In fact, Citi points out that even EM fund managers are leaning more heavily on developed-markets stocks. Historically, these levels on the "Greed and Despair Sentiment Index" portend 12-month gains in excess of 20%. Citi The call of the day: Lance Roberts of Streettalk Live says Friday's jobs report could come in as low as 120,000 , a far cry from the average analyst target of 161,000  and well below some of the weakest estimates out there. He blames the poor numbers on reduced demand as evidenced by the GDP revision, corporate profits that have likely peaked, and a "muddling" economy. "What I am most interested in seeing is the revisions to prior employment estimates," he wrote. "If I am right, we are likely to see negative revisions in that data which would be a reflection of the continued slow-growth economic environment that has been the hallmark of this recovery." Random reads: An iconic film for each the 50 states . Some slam dunks in there, like Purple Rain (Apollonia, call me) for Minnesota and Taxi Driver for New York. Exposing this Patriot's violent past . Temperatures reaching 129 degrees? Darth Vader don't care . Weighing in at twice the trans fat of the worst the Colonel has to offer, Long John Silver's "Big Catch" is more like "Deadliest Catch." Holiday tip: This is how responsible post-28-year-olds should get their drink on . "I know, call your mom, you just turned into her." 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