3 Things to Know Before Trading

*Stocks were mixed in Asian trade. Shanghai rose more than 1.4% and the Hang Seng added more than a half percent but the Nikkei and Australia were essentially unchanged on the session. European indexes are generally higher with the Footsie currently holding a gain of two thirds of a percent and the Dax up 0.4%. US stock futures are up a fraction as I write.

*According to the quarterly policy statement from the Reserve Bank of Australia the current cash rate setting is “appropriate at this stage” and they see the risk that China’s economy may have slowed more than expected.

*The preliminary June reading of Japan’s Leading Economic Index was up three tenths on the month to 98.9, a couple of tenths better than forecast.

*The June reading of German Industrial Production fell 0.6% on the month, it had been expected to increase 0.5%.

*The July reading of Switzerland’s Unemployment Rate fell one tenth to 3.8%, matching the estimate.

*The July reading of the UK Producer Price Index showed that output prices rose one tenth on the month, an unchanged reading was forecast.

*The June reading of UK Industrial Production was -0.5% on a month on month basis, well below the expected rise of 0.1%.

*The July reading of the Unemployment Situation is due out at 7:30am CDT. The Jobless Rate is expected to rise one tenth on the month to 9.6%; Private Sector Non-farm Payrolls are forecast to increase 90k and the estimate for the net change for all Payrolls, including Census and all government jobs, is -65k. The expectation for Average Hourly Wages is +0.1% on a monthly basis and +1.6% year over year. The estimate for the Average Work Week is steady at 34.1 hours. The Fed will release the June reading of Consumer Credit at 2:00pm CDT, it is expected to be a decline of $5.3 billion.