Things To Know Before The Open

*Stocks were very strong in Asian trade. The Nikkei was up more than two percent, Shanghai added 1.8%, the Hang Seng gained 1.6% and Australia was a quarter point higher. The same story for European indexes, with the Footsie currently up by 1.75% and the Dax has a gain of about one and a half percent. US stock futures are up more than a half percent.

*The September reading of Australian Retail Sales were up 0.3% on a month on month basis, a couple of tenths below the forecast.

*The final October reading of Germany’s service sector Purchasing Managers Index was revised down six tenths to 56.0, a steady ready was expected.

*The October reading of Switzerland’s Consumer Price Index was +0.5% on a monthly basis, one tenth below the forecast and was +0.2% on a year over year basis, one tenth under the estimate.

*In October UK house prices rose 1.2% from the month before, according to Halifax; a bigger gain than the estimate for +0.8%.

*The Bank of England is due out with their policy statement at 7:00am CDT. No change in the interest rate or QE total is expected.

*The ECB will be out with their policy statement at 7:45am CDT and no changes are expected here either. ECB boss Trichet will tell us all about it at his press conference which is set to begin at 8:30am CDT.

*Fed Chairman Bernanke took the unusual step of penning an Op/Ed piece for the Washington Post to explain the Fed’s latest venture into quantitative easing. In the article he tells readers what the FOMC did at their meeting yesterday and says what he hopes this move will accomplish; “This approach eased financial conditions in the past and, so far, looks to be effective again. Stock prices rose and long-term interest rates fell when investors began to anticipate the most recent action. Easier financial conditions will promote economic growth. For example, lower mortgage rates will make housing more affordable and allow more homeowners to refinance. Lower corporate bond rates will encourage investment. And higher stock prices will boost consumer wealth and help increase confidence, which can also spur spending. Increased spending will lead to higher incomes and profits that, in a virtuous circle, will further support economic expansion.” (Well that all sounds great, one can almost wonder why such a terrific idea wasn’t utilized sooner.)

*US chain stores are releasing their October same store sales results today, some of the early reports include: Stein Mart -6.5%, Bon Ton -4.2%, The Limited Brands +9%, and the Buckle +2.6%.

*The weekly report on Initial Jobless Claims is due out at 7:30am CDT, it is expected to be 442k. The preliminary Q3 reading of Non-farm Productivity is also due out at 7:30am; Productivity is forecast to +1.0% and the Unit Labor Costs estimate is +0.6%.

*The weekly report on inventories of Natural Gas is due out at 9:30am CDT, it is expected to show an increase of 64 bcf.

*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries today that are due to mature between 10/31/14 and 9/30/16; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CDT.

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