subject: The Morning Outlook [print this page] The Morning Outlook The Morning Outlook
This morning investors are zeroing in on retail sales numbers, From Lou Brien: "The May reading of Retail Sales was much worse than forecast; sales were down 1.2% on a month on month basis overall and sales ex-autos were lower by 1.1%. That is the weakest headline figure since last September and the weakest for the ex-autos component since March 2009. The weakest component in May was Building Materials which fell 9.3% from April, following a couple of very strong months, Motor Vehicles and Parts were off 1.7%, Gasoline Stations fell 3.3%, Clothing was down 1.3%, General Merchandise was -1.1% and Department Stores were -1.8%. The strongest component was Non-store Retailers at +2.0%, Furniture +1.0% and Electronics at +0.6%."
With retail sales lower than expected many are casting doubts on how strong the economic recovery will be. Less people trading on this sport filled Friday, paired with worries of economic growth could equate to a rough day on Wall Street. Currently futures are pointing down about a half a percent across the board. Oil is trading at 74.45 down 1.03. Gold is trading up 2.20 at 1,223.00.
In Euro-Zone news, traders continue to worry about contagion from our neighbors to the east, Spain went on record today reiterating that they have never and will never ask for aid from the European Union. Although the country has its banking problems, they are not preparing for a bailout package like Greece. This statement is encouraging, yet market participants remain pessimistic upon past precedence.
Honda's exhaust pipe factory workers are still on strike, with more and more laborers catching on to the beat. Now calling for Unions, workers continue to voice their demands for better working conditions and higher labor. The communist party has attempted to suppress such actions of protest, but it was only a matter of time before China's giant working population decided to stand up for themselves.
In other news, the FBI is beginning its investigation of the AT&T iPad security breach, which we will investigate further later in the day, and the first World Cup begins this morning with South Africa vs. Mexico at 10:00 AM Eastern Time. World Market Media will not be distracted at all by the matches and will have laser focus on U.S. markets and small cap news.
Disclosure: no positions
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