3 Things you need to know before Trading Today

Stocks are quite weak everywhere. The Nikkei was particularly bad, it was down more than ten and a half percent at the close after trading about fifteen percent lower during the session; it is said to be the third worst decline in Nikkei history. The Hang Seng fell 2.8%, Australia lost more than two percent and Shanghai was down 1.4%. Europe is also down across the board, with the Dax currently off by about four percent and the Footsie down more than two percent. US stock futures are down between two and three percent.

*The situation at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, about 150 miles northeast of Tokyo, took a decided turn for the worse overnight. An explosion at the #2 reactor released unsafe levels of radiation, which is said to be somewhere in between the events that occurred at nuclear reactors at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island; but one international agency said the incident should be rated 6 on the 7 point scale that they use to rate such things. The evacuation of the area in the vicinity of the nuclear plant may have to widen; there were reports of higher than normal measurements of radiation in Tokyo.

*The Reserve Bank of Australia thinks “mildly restrictive” policy is appropriate, according to the minutes from their latest policy meeting. But they see the inflation outlook over the next year being consistent with their target levels.

*Bahrain’s capital is said to be in lockdown mode today; stores are shuttered and main highways are being blocked by police after a Saudi-led military force entered the country yesterday to help the government deter the protest movement.

*Libya battles continue; G8 countries fail to agree on a “no-fly zone”, said UK foreign secretary Hague who spoke in Paris after a meeting of the group.

*The March reading of Germany’s ZEW Surveys were slightly weaker than expected. Economic Sentiment Index fell to 14.1 from 15.7 the month before, it had been forecast to rise a couple of tenths and the Current Situation Index was up two tenths to 85.4, but that was short of the 86.0 that was anticipated.

*By the way the energy complex is being hit hard today, currently WTI crude oil futures are down about $4 from yesterday’s close, trading under $97.20.

*The weekly report on chain store sales from ICSC showed an increase of 0.1% on a week on week basis for the week ended March 12. The Johnson Redbook report on the same thing is due out at 7:55am CST.

*The March reading of the Empire State Manufacturing Index is due out at 7:30am CST, it is expected to improve a fraction to 16.10. Also due out at 7:30 is the February reading of the Import Price Index, it is forecast to be up 0.9% on a monthly basis. The Treasury will report at 8:00am CST the net change in January for the long-term US securities that are held by foreign accounts, or the TIC Data, which is expected to show a gain of $55.0 billion. The March reading of the NAHB Housing Market Index is due out at 9:00am CST, the estimate is for 17, up one point from the month before.

*The FOMC meets today, they will release their post meeting statement at around 1:15pm CST; no major changes are expected in the text.

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