EmailStock futures suggest a modest bounce at the open for the S&P 500 following yesterday's 6 point decline.
It is a very quiet day on the news front. Fed Chairman Bernanke is due to speak at 9:30 ET on "Monitoring Finance" at a conference on Bank Structure and Competition. The focus is regulation, not policy.
There are no economic releases today. The most interesting earnings release is Priceline from yesterday after the close. The stock is indicated down 2.2% (720.70 -16.80) despite reporting earnings and revenue above expectations. The problem is that the company indicated that current quarter profits would be well below Wall Street forecasts.
The zero-sum game of currency fluctuations is drawing increased attention. Most US journalists note that the dollar has strengthened to breach the Yen 100 mark. The real story is that the Bank of Japan has managed to weaken the Yen. That will help Japanese exports, but will hurt US companies exporting to Japan or making a profit there (profits in Yen translate into fewer dollars). The stronger dollar is a drag on US earnings for companies doing business in Japan. The Nikkei, however, jumped 2.9% overnight.
Overall action looks fairly tame this morning with underlying sentiment intact.
