Things To Know Before The Open

Stocks were mixed in Asian trade. The Hang Seng and Australia were both up more than one percent, but the Nikkei was down a quarter percent and Shanghai was closed for a holiday once again. European indexes are generally lower on the session, with the Dax currently off by about 0.8% and the Footsie is a fraction down. US stock futures are a fraction lower.

*Terror alerts have been raised by the UK, US, France and Japan because of concerns about a Mumbai, India style commando attack occurring in some Europe cities such as London, Paris or Berlin. However, a spokesman for Germany’s Interior Ministry said there was currently no reason to increase alert levels there.

*China Premier Wen Jiabao was reported to have said that China has been and will continue to be active in buying Greek government debt. The comments were said to have been made during a meeting with the Greek PM on Saturday. China is interested in making a big investment in a port in Greece.

*The August reading of Factory Orders is due out at 9:00am CDT, it is expected to be -0.4%. Also due out at 9:00am is the August reading of Pending Home Sales, which is forecast to be +2.8% on a month on month basis.
*Brian Sack of the NY Fed Markets Group is scheduled to speak to a conference on fixed income management at 10:30am CDT. Fed boss Bernanke has a couple of public appearances today, at 2:00pm CDT he will talk with college students in Rhode Island and at 6:30pm CDT he will deliver a speech on “Fiscal Sustainability and Fiscal Rules”.