3 Things To Know Before Trading

Tallahassee, FL 1/25/12 (StreetBeat) -- Stocks were mixed in Asian trade, but the Nikkei and Australia both gained more than one percent; China is still closed for the holiday. European indexes are lower this morning with the Dax and Footsie both down about two thirds of a percent. US stock futures are lower by about a third of a percent as I write.

*The Q4 reading of Australia’s Consumer Price Index was unchanged on a quarter on quarter basis, a couple tenths less than expected. The annualized rate of Australia’s CPI was also two tenths lower than forecast at +3.1%.

*The December reading of Japan’s Merchandise Trade Balance was a bigger deficit than expected as Exports fell 8.0% from a year earlier while Imports were up that much. For 2011 Japan had a deficit of Y2.49 trillion, or $32 billion, the first full year deficit since 1980.

*The January reading of Germany’s IFO Index of the Business Climate increased one point to 108.3, better than the estimate for a three tenth gain, it is a five month high.

*The Bank of England saw some positive developments recently, but still see considerable risks for the UK from the global economy and they think inflation could slow “sharply” in coming months, according to the minutes from the latest policy meeting. Some members also said further asset purchases were “likely”.

*The first look at the Q4 reading of UK GDP was worse than expected; the quarter on quarter result was -0.2%, but a decline of only one tenth was forecast.

*Greek debt talks continue, no results, but a bit more contention from some key players. The IMF wants the ECB to take a haircut on its Greek holding, but the central bank is not keen to do that; the IIF negotiator also thinks the ECB should play along.

*The Davos World Economic Forum kicks off today; so, as is usually the case with this event, there is increased potential for headline risk.

*US mortgage applications were down 5.0% in the week ended January 20, according to Mortgage Bankers Association; both main components fell by that amount.

*The December reading of Pending Home Sales is due out at 9:00am CST, it is expected to be -1.0% month on month. Also due out at 9:00am is the November reading of the FHFA House Price Index; forecast to be unchanged on the month.

*The weekly report on energy inventories is due out at 9:30am CST. Stocks of Crude Oil are forecast to increase 1.5 million barrels, Gasoline inventories are expected to rise 2.0 million and the estimate for Distillates is -125k.

*The Treasury plans to sell $35 billion 5 Year Notes today; the auction results will be released early today, at 10:30am CST.

*The FOMC concludes their two-day meeting today; their schedule is as follows:

11:30am CST-- FOMC statement is released
1:00pm CST-- Fed releases the Summary of Economic Projections (GDP, Unemployment Rate, Inflation and Fed Funds path)
1:15pm CST-- Chairman Bernanke press conference begins

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