3 Things to Know Before Trading

*Stocks in Asia were mixed and generally little changed on the session. The Nikkei and Shanghai rose a slight fraction and the Hang Seng was unchanged on the day, but Australia managed a gain of 0.8%. European indexes are generally higher this morning after a minor pullback on Monday; the Footsie is currently up more than one percent and the Dax is now up slightly less than one percent. US stock futures are mixed, with the Dow and SP up a slight fraction but the Nasdaq is down about six tenths of a percent, mainly because Steve Jobs is again taking a medical sabbatical and Apple is under some pressure, down about five percent from Friday, as a result of the news.

*The December reading of Japan’s Department Store Sales were down 1.5% on a year over year basis, the weakest result since September.

*The January reading of Germany’s ZEW Survey of Economic Sentiment was more than double the expectation; an eleven point jump to 15.4. That’s the best result since July.

*The December reading of the UK Consumer Price Index was much stronger than forecast, it was up 1.0% on a monthly basis and is +3.7% annualized; both results were three tenths above the estimates.

*Citigroup reports Q4 eps of +4 cents, short of the estimate for +7 cents.

*The January reading of the Empire State Manufacturing Index is due out at 7:30am CST, it is expected to rise two points to 12.50. At 8:00am CST the Treasury is scheduled to announce the November net change in the foreign holdings of long term US securities, it is expected to show a gain of $40.0 billion. Benchmark revisions for the Employment Cost Index are due to be announced at 8:00am. The January reading of the NAHB Housing Market Index is due out at 9:00am CST, it is expected to be up one point on the month to 17.

*The Fed is scheduled to buy TIPS today that are due to mature between 4/15/13 and 2/15/40; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CST.

*Chinese leader Hu Jintao is making a state visit to the White House today, so there could be the occasional and unannounced comment on China/US relations.

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