Image Source: UnsplashA healthy start to the trading week relied mostly on speculative valuation, as much of the factual reportage has yet to materialize. What we mean by this is most of the meaty reports with the potential to sway trading trajectories haven’t happened yet.Even still: the Dow was up +275 points, +0.65%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq grew +0.27% and +0.26% on the session, respectively. The small-cap Russell 2000 put up solid numbers for the day, +1.63% by the closing bell.It’s both Jobs Week and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) week. Add to that the busiest week of Q3 earnings season to date — with five of the Mag 7 stocks reporting earnings this week, starting with Alphabet (GOOGL – Free Report) Tuesday afternoon — and what this will add up to is a good level of understanding of the markets and the economy ahead of the election, and subsequently the next Fed meeting.

Ford Falls -4% on Q3 Meet and Beat

Ford Motor Co. (F – Free Report) reported earnings of 49 cents per share, equalling the Zacks consensus estimate for the automaking giant’s Q3. Revenues in the quarter of $43.07 billion stepped ahead of the $41.20 billion expected.Yet next-quarter earnings guidance remained on the low end of previous estimates, with Ford’s EV unit losing -$1.22 billion (a big bet on the F-150 Lightning has not paid off much, to date). Commercial vehicles led the way in the quarter with $1.81 billion in revenues. Including this afternoon’s selloff, shares are -10% year to date.

VF Corp. Up Big on Fiscal Q2 Results

VF Corp. (VFC – Free Report), the parent company of Vans and North Face brands, is trading up +15% following its big earnings beat this afternoon on its fiscal Q2 report. Earnings of 60 cents per share well outperformed the 41 cents analysts were looking for, while revenues of $2.76 billion was nicely ahead of the $2.60 billion estimate. Revenue guidance was actually a smidge below where Zacks analysts had projected, but the stock is now trading back in the green, year to date. 

Cadence Beats Earnings by 20 Cents per Share

Automation software provider Cadence Design Systems (CDNS – Free Report) share are up +5% on the company’s latest earning report this afternoon. Earnings of $1.64 per share outpaced expectations by 20 cents, while posting $1.22 billion in revenues, bettering the $1.18 billion consensus. The midpoint of its next-quarter earnings has bumped up 2 cents to $5.90 per share. Up +5% in the after-market, Cadence is also now trading into the green, year to date.

F5 Up +10% on Big Earnings Beat
 Cloud-based cybersecurity firm F5 (FFIV – Free Report) is also trading up more than +10% in the late session following big beats on both top and bottom lines. Earnings of $3.67 per share trounced the $3.45 anticipated, while $747 million in quarterly sales beat the Zacks consensus of $729.6 million. Revenue guidance for next quarter have gone up nicely, while earnings projections have stayed pat.More By This Author:Top Stock Reports For Costco, Coca-Cola & T-Mobile US
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