3 Things you need to know before Trading Today

*Stocks were divergent in Asian trade. While Australia gained 0.9%, the Nikkei was up a half percent and the Hang Seng added a third of a percent, there were many indexes down by more than one percent on the session, including Shanghai which lost one and a third percent. Most European indexes are higher on the day; the Dax is one exception with a fractional decline, but the Footsie is currently up a third of a percent. US stock futures are higher by about a third of a percent.

*The November reading of Australia’s Unemployment Rate fell two tenths to 5.2%, as expected. But also in November the net change in the number of employed jumped by 54.6k, more than double the forecast.

*The final Q3 reading of Japan’s GDP was revised higher by four tenths to 4.5% on an annualized basis and by one tenth to 1.1% on a quarter on quarter basis. However the Q3 deflator was revised down four tenths to -2.4% on a year over year basis and that is in essence the reason for the statistical revision on growth.

*Fitch downgraded Ireland’s debt rating by three notches today, down to BBB+, outlook stable.

*The final revision of the November reading of Germany’s Consumer Price Index was unchanged at +0.1% on a monthly basis and +1.6% annualized.

*UK house prices were down 0.7% on a three month annualized basis in November, according to Halifax, matching the estimate.

*The Bank of England sat on its hands; not touching both the benchmark rate at 0.50% and the asset purchase plan at BP200 billion.

*The weekly report on Initial Jobless Claims is due out at 7:30am CST, it is expected to be 425k. The October reading of Wholesale Inventories is due out at 9:00am CST and is expected to show a month on month gain of 0.8%.

*The weekly report on inventories of Natural Gas is due out at 9:30am CST, it is expected to show a decline of 85bcf.

*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries today that are due to mature between 6/30/16 and 11/30/17; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CST.

*The Q3 version of the Fed’s quarterly statistical report, the Flow of Funds, is due to be released at 11:00am CST.

*The Treasury plans to sell $13 billion re-opened 30 Year Bonds today; the results of the auction will be announced just after noon CST.

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