3 Things to Know Before the Market Opens

Stocks followed divergent paths in Asian trade overnight

. Shanghai rose 1.7%, but the Hang Seng was unchanged, Australia lost 1.3% and the Nikkei was off two percent. European indexes are for the most part moderately lower, with the Footsie currently off by 0.2% and the Dax down 0.3%. US stock futures are fractionally lower.

*The August reading of Japan's Retail Trade was +1.4% on a month on month basis, below the forecast of a gain of 1.9%.

*The preliminary August reading of Japan's Industrial Production was way off the estimate, it fell 0.3% on the month but had been expected to rise 1.1%.

*Japan's Ministry of Finance said in Tokyo today that for the period from August 28 through September 28 they sold Y2.12 trillion (or $25 billion) in FX intervention, most, likely all, was on September 15 when they conducted a high profile action to move the yen lower in value versus the dollar and by proxy, the Yuan as well.

*The September reading of Germany's Unemployment Rate beat the street, falling one tenth to 7.5%. The net change in the number of Unemployed was -40k, twice the decline that was forecast.

*UK house prices rose 0.1% in September, according to Nationwide; prices had been expected to fall 0.3%.

*Janet Yellen and Sarah Bloom Raskin were both confirmed as Fed Governors last night by the Senate, Yellen as vice-chairperson. The third nominee Peter Diamond is still involved in the process and will probably not get voted on until after the election.

*The final revision to Q2 GDP is due out at 7:30am CDT. Growth is expected to be steady at +1.6% and so too are Personal Consumption and the Price Deflator at +2.0% and +1.9% respectively. Also, the PCE Core rate is not expected to differ from the previously reported +1.1%. The weekly report on Initial Jobless Claims is also due out at 7:30am, it is forecast to be 460k. The September reading of the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index is due out at 8:45am CDT, three minutes earlier for subscribers. The Chicago Index is expected to fall one point on the month to 55.7.

*Busy day for Fed boss Bernanke. He will testify before the Senate Banking Committee at 9:00am CDT; the hearing is titled "Implementing the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act"; text of testimony was released yesterday afternoon and has no market implications. He will then speak at a town hall meeting with educators at 1:30pm CDT.

*The weekly report on inventories of Natural Gas is due out at 9:30am CDT, it is expected to show an increase of 68 bcf.

*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries today that are due to mature between 2/15/21 and 8/15/40; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CDT.

*The September reading of the Kansas City Fed Production Index is due out at 10:00am CDT, no estimate available.

*Cleveland Fed's Pianalto will participate in a panel discussion in NYC at 5:00pm CDT; the topic is vital economic issues confronting the new Congress.

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3 Things to Know Before the Market Opens

By: Ronald Russo

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