3 Things to Consider While Trading Today

Tomahawk, WI 7/5/2011 (PennyPayDay) -- Stocks were generally mixed and little changed in Asian trade overnight. Australia lost a quarter percent and the Hang Seng was down a slight fraction, while Shanghai and the Nikkei rose a slight fraction. European indexes are mixed so far this morning, with the Dax and Footsie both up a slight faction at the moment. US stock futures are essentially unchanged as I write.

*The Reserve Bank of Australia kept its benchmark interest unchanged at 4.75% at their policy meeting today, as expected. They say inflation should be near their 2% to 3% target in the next year, but there is some concern about slowing prospects and uncertainty in Asia and Europe.

*China’s service sector Purchasing Managers Index was down two tenths on the month to 54.1, according to HSBC.

*There is chatter about a rate hike in China this coming weekend, in front of inflation data due out next week.

*SP warned over the weekend that the French plan for rolling over Greek debt would qualify as a distressed exchanged and therefore prompt the rating agency to call it a “selective default”. There does appear to be a way out of the situation if Trichet allows the ECB to rollover its holdings of Greek debt; making the default rating a temporary phase.

*The final June reading of the Eurozone’s service sector PMI was revised down a half point to 53.7, it had been expected to remain at 54.2.

*The final June reading of Germany’s PMI Service Index was revised sharply lower to 56.7 from the original result of 58.3; although that is up six tenths from the month before the report was not expected to be revised.

*The German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe will begin hearing arguments today about the legality of Germany’s participation in last year’s bailout of Greece. Presiding Judge Andreas Vosskuhle defined the task, “Europe’s future and the right economic strategy to tackly the sovereign debt crisis isn’t debated in Karlsruhe, that’s the task of politicians, not of judges. But the Federal Constitutional Court must consider the limits that the constitution sets the political realm. Self limitation by law is the foundation of the democratic constitutional state—above all in a crisis situation.” No word on when a ruling will be reached.

*The May reading of Factory Orders is due out at 9:00am CDT, it is expected to be +1.0% on a month on month basis.

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