Futures are mixed as I write this.
Futures were mixed on Wednesday, New Years Eve, and the DOW gained over 100 points.
Today could be different, but you never know, there are no clear indicators except as I write this, global stocks are showing some gains. For example, shares of Vestas, the world's largest maker of wind energy turbines, are up a healthy percent. Vestas trades on the Oslo exchange.
Unfortunately we have this major headline today - Factories slash output and jobs around world.
We take a deep breath and recognize that this recession is a real stinker. More data is due out today on factory productivity. It will not be good of course, but the deep thinkers will be parsing the info for signs of exactly how bad is bad and possibly even if bad might have some good signals, depending on the factory sectors involved.
We have the hideous 2008, hideous from an economic and war point of view mind you, behind us. Sometimes even the psychological drama of this fact alone is enough spur investors. We shall indeed see how it all fleshes out at 4PM EST.
Here's where I get into trouble but why not, its a new year. I will say that the DOW shifts by 50 points today up or down and the S&P by 5 points. What the heck, its a safe bet. Now watch the thing tumble by over 400 points. Its going to be a while before the DOW hits 10K again.
Reuters: Stock futures signal mixed start of the year
On the macro front, investors braced for the Institute of Supply Management index, due at 10:00 a.m. EST. The ISM will likely report that its index of national factory activity dropped to 35.5 in December from 36.2 in November, according to the median forecast of 69 economists polled by Reuters. A reading below 50 indicates a contraction in the sector. The reading for November was the weakest since 1982.Reuters: Global stocks rise on first trading day of year
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