How High Will We Bounce?
Stocks index futures snapped their five-day losing streak today. Both the Dow
and S&P futures came close to their Dec. 31 lows, as disappointing earnings news
from the likes of AT&T
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Lily
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Dow reversed course in the afternoon session and finished in the green.
Meanwhile, Nasdaq futures were strong all day long as better than expected
results and forecasts from Texas Instruments
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Siebel Systems
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Stock futures were also helped by positive economic news. Weekly initial
jobless claims came in better than expected at 381K versus estimates of 383K.Â
The Conference Boards index of leading economic indicators. rose 0.1 percent
inline with estimates. The LEI has now risen for three straight months. At the
close, the March Dow futures
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22 to 1026.50. Â
Gold prices jumped today over the weakening dollar and the looming war. Gold
is close to a six-year high. February gold
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Treasury futures declined today as safe-haven buying was put on hold. Bonds
also had competition as stocks bounced back after a five-day losing streak.
Bonds also slipped as a supply of higher yielding corporate debt came on to the
market. In addition, comments made by Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert
McTeer Jr. that “The conditions for the recovery to gain momentum are very good”
also spooked treasury prices. The March 10-year contract
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to 114 11/32 and the 30-year contract
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Crude oil slipped today as the Department of Energy revealed that crude
supplies did not decline as expected. Many traders had expected a drop of 1 to 3
million barrels due to the ongoing Venezuelan oil strike. The Department of
Energy revealed today that crude inventories rose by 1.5 million barrels to
273.8 million barrels. March crude
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PowerRating) dropped 0.65 to 32.25.