Reply #21: pre-open numbers and blather [View All]

[ozymandius]

08:35 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -4.7. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -5.8. Still shaping up to be negative start for stocks as futures indications continue to trade well below fair. Meanwhile, investors are sifting through the first of today's three scheduled economic reports. Initial claims unexpectedly fell only 1,000 to 309,000 (consensus 312,000).

That's the lowest level in nearly a month and still indicative of tight labor conditions, hardly the evidence bond traders want to see since high resource utilization remains such a concern for the Fed. The yield on the 10-year note (-18/32) is back at 5.03%.

08:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -3.8. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -7.0. Early indications are again pointing to a lower open for the cash market. As expected, the Bank of England left its benchmark rate unchanged today at 5.50%; however, New Zealand unexpectedly raising rates is fueling an added sense of anxiety among U.S. bond traders who continue to rule out a Fed rate cut anytime soon as global credit continues to wind tighter.

The yield on the 10-year note eclipsed the psychological 5.00% level overnight for the first time since last August; but within the last 15 minutes it has climbed as high as 5.04%, raising liquidity concerns and spiking the futures market to morning lows.