3 Things to Know Before Trading

*Stocks were higher throughout Asia. The Nikkei gained 1.5%, Shanghai added 1.25%, the Hang Seng was up more than one percent and Australia closed 0.8% higher. European indexes are currently little changed on the day, with both the Dax and Footsie currently flat. US stock futures are essentially unchanged as I write.

*The July reading of Australia’s Balance of Trade showed a surplus of A$1.89 billion, well short of the estimate for a surplus of A$3.1 billion. The shortfall is being blamed on lower prices for commodity exports and weaker demand from Asia.

*The Q2 reading of Switzerland’s GDP came in a tenth better than forecast at +0.9% on a quarter on quarter basis; almost matching the Q1 growth of +1.0%.

*The July reading of Switzerland’s Retail Sales was the best in more than a year with a year on year gain of 4.8%. The seasonally adjusted real sales were up 0.7% from the month before.

*In August UK house prices fell 0.9% from July, according to Nationwide; that was the biggest one month drop in half a year and three times the expected decline. On a year over year basis UK house prices gained 3.9%, one percent below the forecast.

*The ECB left policy unchanged including their benchmark rate at 1.00%. Bank President Trichet will tell us all about it at his press conference beginning at 7:30am CDT.

*US chain stores are announcing their August same store sales results this morning. Some of the early reports include: Stein Mart +8.5% versus last year, The Limited Brands +10%, The Buckle -3.5% and Bon-Ton Stores -4.6%.

*The weekly report on Initial Jobless Claims is due out at 7:30am CDT, it is expected to be 475k. Also due out at 7:30am is the final revision of Q2 Non-farm Productivity; this is forecast to be -1.9%, down from the initial result of -0.9% and the estimate for Unit Labor Costs is +1.2%, up from the initial report of +0.2%. The July reading of Factory Orders is due to be announced at 9:00am CDT, it is expected to be +0.2%. Also due out at 9:00am is the July reading of Pending Home Sales, which is forecast to be -1.0% on a month on month basis.

*Fed boss Bernanke is scheduled to testify before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission at 8:00am CDT; among other things they will discuss the chairman’s actions and thought process during the crisis in regards to Bear Stearns, Lehman, etc. Boston Fed’s Rosengren and Cleveland Fedster Pianalto will give welcome remarks at a Fed conference on housing at 8:00am CDT.

*The weekly report on inventories of Natural Gas is due out at 9:30am CDT, it is expected to show an increase of 55 bcf.

*The Treasury is expected to announce at 10:00am CDT the detail of next week’s auctions of 3 Year Notes, 10 Year Notes and 30 Year Bonds.

*The Treasury plans to sell $10 billion re-opened 10 Year TIPS today; the results will be announced just after noon CDT.