3 Things to Know Before Trading

Northern, WI 4/26/12 (StreetBeat) -- Stocks were generally little changed in Asian trade. The Hang Seng was among the best with a gain of 0.8% and Australia was up a third of a percent, but the Nikkei and Shanghai were essentially unchanged. European indexes are mixed this morning; the Footsie is unchanged and the Dax is down 0.4%, but Spain is off by about two percent right now. US stock futures are unchanged as I write.

*German states are releasing the April reading of their Consumer Price Indexes this morning, including: Saxony +0.1% on the month and +2.0% year on year; Brandenburg +0.2% and +2.1%; Hesse +0.2% and +1.9%; Bavaria +0.3% and +2.2% and North Rhine Westphalia +0.2% and +1.7%. The national CPI is due out at 7:00am CDT, it is expected to be +0.1% on a month on month basis and +2.2% year on year, for the EU harmonized version.

*In March in the UK there were 31,888 loans for house purchase, according to the British Bankers Association; that’s a couple thousand less than anticipated.

*Exxon and UPS are among the companies due to report earnings today.

*The weekly report on Initial Jobless Claims is due out at 7:30am CDT, it is expected to be 375k. The March reading of Pending Home Sales is due out at 9:00am CDT, it is forecast to be up one percent from the month before.

*There are a couple of regional Fed reports on the calendar today. The March reading of the Chicago Fed National Activity Index is set to be released at 7:30am CDT; it was -0.09 in February. The Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Activity Index is due out at 10:00am CDT, it is expected to be down two points from the month before at 7.

*The weekly report on inventories of Natural Gas is due out at 9:30am CDT, it is expected to show an increase of 45 bcf.

*The Fed is scheduled to buy Treasuries today that are due to mature between 2/15/36 and 2/15/42; the results of the operation will be announced just after 10:00am CDT.

*The Treasury plans to sell $29 billion 7 Year Notes today; the auction results will be announced just after noon CDT.

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