3 Things to Know For Today's Trading

Stocks were generally weaker in Asia, aside from China; Shanghai gained more than three percent in its first session since the end of September and the Hang Seng added a quarter percent. But the Nikkei was down one percent and Australia lost a fraction. Europe is broadly down on the session as well, with the Dax of a quarter percent and the Footsie down three quarters. US stock futures are lower by about a third percent.

*The August reading of Germany’s Balance of Trade showed a surplus of EU9.0 billion; which was down more than four billion from the month before and more than two billion under the estimate. Exports were off by 0.4%, but Imports gained 0.9% from the month before.

*The September reading of Switzerland’s Unemployment Rate fell one tenth to 3.5%, a steady reading was expected.

*The September reading of the UK Producer Price Index was +0.3% on a monthly basis, a couple of tenths more than forecast.

*St. Louis Fed boss Bullard says it is possible the economy could improve without extra help and the soft patch isn’t making it so obvious that the Fed has to act more aggressively.

*The September reading of the Unemployment Situation Report is due out at 7:30am CDT. The jobless rate is expected to rise one tenth to 9.7%. The estimate for private sector non-farm payrolls is +75k and the overall figure is forecast to be -5k. The average hourly wages are expected to rise 0.2% on a month on month basis and be +1.8% year over year. The estimate for the Benchmark Revision for the period that runs from Q2 2009 through Q1 2010 will be released along with the monthly report today. The estimate for the average work week is steady at 34.2 hours. The August reading of Wholesale Inventories is due out at 9:00am CDT, it is expected to be +0.5% on a monthly basis.

*The IMF/World Bank is having a big meeting in DC this weekend, so be aware that any number central bankers or Fin Mins could grab a microphone at any moment and spout off about currencies or debt or any other topic without prior notice. Among those with a scheduled appearance is ECB boss Trichet, who will speak at 2:30pm CDT.

*Fed Governor Tarullo is set to deliver a speech on financial regulation at 1:25pm CDT.