3 Things To Know Before Trading

Stocks were generally higher on the session in Asian trade. The Hang Seng gained 1.4% and the Nikkei and Shanghai added 0.9%, but Australia lost a slight fraction. The same can be said for European indexes, the Dax is currently up about one percent but the Footsie is essentially unchanged. US stock futures are up about a half of a percent.

*The preliminary January reading of Japan’s Industrial Production missed the forecast of +4.0% on a monthly basis, but still rose 2.4% for the month.

*Libya is ongoing and so too are protests in Bahrain.

*The January reading of Japan’s Retail Trade was better than forecast at +0.1%; it had been expected to fall 1.5% from the month before.

*Finn Gael leader Enda Kenny will push for a quick formation of an Irish government after a resounding victory in Ireland’s election and he plans to renegotiate Ireland’s bailout deal, including a lower interest rate on the loans and end the protection for senior bank bondholders.

*The January reading of Germany’s Import Price Index was stronger than expected with a monthly gain of 1.5%.

*There are a couple of Fed speakers on the calendar today. NY Fed boss Dudley will talk about the economic outlook at 7:30am CST and Boston Fed’s Rosengren will participate in a panel discussion about the financial crisis at 7:45am CST.

*The January reading of Personal Income and Spending are due out at 7:30am CST. Income is expected to be +0.4% and the estimate for Spending is +0.4%. The PCE Core inflation measure is forecast to be +0.1% on the month and +0.8% on a year on year basis. The February reading of the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index is due out at 8:45am CST, but three minutes earlier for subscribers. The Chicago Index is expected to fall 1.3 points on the month to 67.5. The January reading of Pending Home Sales is due out at 9:00am CST and is expected to be down 2.3% from the month before.

*The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index is due out at 9:30am CST, it is expected to rise two points on the month to 12.9.

*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries today that are due to mature on 8/31/13 and 2/15/15; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CST.

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