Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Fed Day
The four day winning streak of the indexes came to an end Tuesday with mixed economic news triggering profit taking. The Dow lost 49.05 points today to close at 10,452.00. The SPX dropped 6.18 points to 1,107.93. We are in the green and looking ok.
In economic news one of the concerns Tuesday came from the release of the producer price index. Producer prices in November rose 1.8 percent, which was well above estimates for growth of 1.0 percent. The core rate, which excludes food and energy prices, also exceeded expectations, rising 0.5 percent. In the past year, the core rate is up 1.2 percent with the headline figure rising 2.7 percent. This news raised concerns about inflation and interest rates, although most economists still feel the Fed will keep the term low for an “extended period” in their statement.
The drop in the Empire State Mfg. Survey was a disappointment with this index down to nearly 21 points to 2.55. Economists were looking for a gain to 25.0 from November’s reading of 23.51. Nonetheless, business activity in the New York region remains in expansion territory above zero, where it has been for the past five months. Industrial production in November was actually stronger than expected, rising 0.8 percent after a flat reading in October. The manufacturing component of the report was even strong, rising 1.1 percent. Obviously, we are getting mixed reports on the manufacturing sector, which has kept stocks from moving far on the news.
Today, Wednesday’s session see's the release of several economic reports, as well as the Fed statement on interest rates. Traders are expecting to see the Fed not rock the boat at the end of the year and be keeping the statement the same as previous months.... let's hope so.
Until next time.
In economic news one of the concerns Tuesday came from the release of the producer price index. Producer prices in November rose 1.8 percent, which was well above estimates for growth of 1.0 percent. The core rate, which excludes food and energy prices, also exceeded expectations, rising 0.5 percent. In the past year, the core rate is up 1.2 percent with the headline figure rising 2.7 percent. This news raised concerns about inflation and interest rates, although most economists still feel the Fed will keep the term low for an “extended period” in their statement.
The drop in the Empire State Mfg. Survey was a disappointment with this index down to nearly 21 points to 2.55. Economists were looking for a gain to 25.0 from November’s reading of 23.51. Nonetheless, business activity in the New York region remains in expansion territory above zero, where it has been for the past five months. Industrial production in November was actually stronger than expected, rising 0.8 percent after a flat reading in October. The manufacturing component of the report was even strong, rising 1.1 percent. Obviously, we are getting mixed reports on the manufacturing sector, which has kept stocks from moving far on the news.
Today, Wednesday’s session see's the release of several economic reports, as well as the Fed statement on interest rates. Traders are expecting to see the Fed not rock the boat at the end of the year and be keeping the statement the same as previous months.... let's hope so.
Until next time.
# posted by Paul @ 3:03 AM 
