TradeTheNews.com US Market Update

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 11:13:57 AM

 TradeTheNews.com US Market Update

Dow -41 S&P +2 NASDAQ +14

***Economic data***
- (US) MBA Mortgage Applications w/e Feb 10th: -1.0% v +7.5% prior
- (RU) Russia Jan Industrial Production Y/Y: 3.8% v 2.7%e
- (PL) Poland Jan CPI M/M: 0.7% v 0.8%e; Y/Y: 4.1% v 4.3%e
- (US) Feb Empire Manufacturing: 19.53 v 15.00e
- (BE) Belgium Dec Trade Balance: -€1.2B v -€484.5M prior
- (US) Dec Total Net TIC Flows: 87.1B v $42.9B prior; Net Long-term TIC Flows: $17.9B v $45.0Be
- (PL) Poland Jan YTD Budget Performance: 15.1%
- (US) Jan Industrial Production: 0.0% v 0.7%e; Capacity Utilization: 78.5% v 78.6%e
- (US) Feb NAHB Housing Market Index: 29 v 26e
- (US) Weekly DOE Energy Inventories: Crude: -170K v +1.5Me; Gasoline: +400K v +500Ke; Distillate: -2.87M v -1Me
- (UK) BOE buys £1.5B in 2019-2025 Gilts in reverse auction; bid-to-cover: 3.84x

- US equity trading has been choppy and volatile this morning as overnight risk appetite gets washed away by a steady stream of headlines out of European officials. Ahead of the US session, the leaders of Greece's two governing political parties finally committed themselves to the terms of the new bailout in writing. In addition, China hinted that it would invest more into the European rescue mechanisms. But coming into the US session, doubts were raised by European partners that all of their demands in regard to Greece had truly been met and various figures discussed making contingency plans for a Greek default. New Democracy leader Samaras stated that policy modifications could be necessary in implementation of austerity measures. BoE Chief King said the BoE and the UK government have been discussing ways to prepare the UK for a default, and German Finance Minister Schaeuble said Europe is "better prepared than two years ago" for a Greek default. Today was the former line in the sand for Greece to meet the Troika's demands in full, and now that deadline has been moved back to next Monday, Feb 20th. Note that US economic data, including the Feb Empire survey, were relatively strong, helping to offset some of the gloom in Europe.

- Shares of MetLife are up nearly 3% this morning after the firm slightly beat EPS expectations. Met saw healthy growth in both premiums and investment income. Deere is down 3% despite outperforming consensus expectations. The firm's performance in the quarter showed solid growth and guidance for FY12 was pretty good, with the only sour note some concerns about weakness in Brazil and Argentina due to the ongoing drought. Apparel retailer Abercrombie and Fitch reported in-line results and flat comps for the quarter, and also reaffirmed is stronger-than-expected FY12 forecast. Shares of ANF are up a whopping 10%. Investors were not impressed with Zynga's first quarterly report as a publically traded firm, and shares of ZNGA are down more than 10%. The company exceeded consensus estimates on the top and bottom lines, and its FY12 earnings guidance was a bit stronger than expected, but apparently growth in the user base was seen as too slow. Multiple firms cut ZNGA overnight.

- In other news, Kellogg agreed to buy the Pringles snack unit from Procter & Gamble for $2.7B in cash. The deal would almost triple Kellogg's international snack business and let household goods maker P&G leave the food business after its agreement with Diamond Foods fell apart. Phil Falcone's new wireless network provider, LightSquared, has been dealt a big blow by the FCC, which said Lightsquared cannot launch its high-speed network due to interference with GPS devices. Recall that last July, Sprint entered into a 15-yr hosting and network service agreement with LightSquared. Shares of Sprint network provider Clearwire are benefitting today, with CLWR up 6% or so on the news.

- EUR/USD is back below 1.3100 in the US session after the pair made a run for 1.3200 on overnight risk appetite. The yen had also firmed up on the rise of risk appetite, however the EUR/JPY cross continues to have difficulty holding above the 103 handle. USD/JPY was retesting its former 3-month resistance level of 78.30.

***Looking Ahead***
- (EU) EU President Van Rompuy and EU Barroso with China President Hu
- (PT) EU/IMF begins third review of Portugal
- (MX) Mexico Q4 Inflation Report
- 11:00 (EU) Eurogroup Finance Ministers conference call on Greece
- 11:00 (US) Fed to sell $8.00-8.75B in Notes
- 11:30 (IS) Israel Jan Consumer Prices M/M: -0.2%e v 0.0% prior; Y/Y: 1.9%e v 2.2% prior
- 14:00 (US) Fed Releases Minutes from Jan. 24-25 FOMC Meeting
- 16:00 (NZ) New Zealand Jan ANZ NZ Job Ads M/M: No est v -2.3% prior
- 16:30 (NZ) New Zealand Jan Business PMI: No est v 51.9 prior

Legal disclaimer and risk disclosure

All information provided by Trade The News (a product of Trade The News, Inc. "referred to as TTN hereafter") is for informational purposes only. Information provided is not meant as investment advice nor is it a recommendation to Buy or Sell securities. Although information is taken from sources deemed reliable, no guarantees or assurances can be made to the accuracy of any information provided. 1. Information can be inaccurate and/or incomplete 2. Information can be mistakenly re-released or be delayed, 3. Information may be incorrect, misread, misinterpreted or misunderstood 4. Human error is a business risk you are willing to assume 5. Technology can crash or be interrupted without notice 6. Trading decisions are the responsibility of traders, not those providing additional information. Trade The News is not liable (financial and/or non-financial) for any losses that may arise from any information provided by TTN. Trading securities involves a high degree of risk, and financial losses can and do occur on a regular basis and are part of the risk of trading and investing.

Daily Forex Market News
Forex news reports can be found on the forex research headlines page below. Here you will find real-time forex market news reports provided by respected contributors of currency trading information. Daily forex market news, weekly forex research and monthly forex news features can be found here.