3 Things To Know Before Trading

Orlando, FL 1/27/12 (StreetBeat) -- Stocks were mixed in Asian trade. The Nikkei fell a slight fraction, but Australia rose 0.4% and the Hang Seng gained 0.3%; most of China remained on holiday. European indexes are also mixed this morning, with the Dax up by a slight fraction and the Footsie is down 0.4%. US stock futures are up a slight fraction as I write.

*The December reading of Japan’s Consumer Price Index, ex-fresh food, is -0.1% year on year, as forecast. The January reading of that same price measure for Tokyo is -0.4% year on year, one tenth more deflationary that expected.

*The December reading of Japan’s Retail Trade were up 0.3% month on month, a tenth short of the forecast.

*Greek debt talks are ongoing, no deal but there is some official chatter out of Brussels and Davos that a deal is close. Although I haven’t heard of any chatter coming from Athens and that is probably the place that the chatter should come from.

*The Q4 reading of Spain’s Unemployment Rate is 22.85%, up 1.3% from the previous quarter and more than a half percent higher than expected; it is the highest result in sixteen years.

*The December reading of Germany’s Import Price Index is +0.3% month on month, matching the expectation.

*The initial release of Q4 GDP is due out at 7:30am CST. Headline GDP growth is expected to be +3.0% on a quarterly basis, annualized. The Q4 reading of the key Personal Consumption component is forecast to be +2.4%. The Q4 reading of the GDP Price Deflator is expected to be +1.9% and the estimate for the PCE Core inflation measure is +0.9% quarter on quarter annualized. The final January reading of consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan is expected to be 74.0; steady from this month’s preliminary result, but well above the 69.9 in December.

*NY Fed boss Dudley is scheduled to speak at 9:00am CST about the regional economy; but he will also take question after his prepared remarks, so it may be more interesting than it sounds.

*The Fed is scheduled to sell Treasuries today that are due to mature between 3/15/14 and 1/15/15; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CST.

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