EmailThe headline wheels are spinning today; meanwhile, the S&P futures are spinning their wheels.
President Obama and House Speaker Boehner met on Sunday to discuss the fiscal cliff. If we hear from either one of them today that little progress has been made, we'll know all they really did was discuss their fantasy football picks.
Italian Prime Minister Monti announced his plans to resign once the Italian parliament passes the budget. Monti's decision was hastened by the loss of support from Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party. Complicating matters were reports that Mr. Berlusconi, the man Monti replaced, is planning to run for prime minister again.
Italy's stock market is down 3.0% and the yield on its 10-year bond has risen 30 bps to 4.77%. Those indications pretty much say it all in terms of how the market feels about the latest saga in Italian politics.
Most European bourses are down today, yet their losses -- outside of Spain (-1.4%) -- are generally less than 1.0%.
China released a load of economic data that was a mix of good and not-so-good. The good was that industrial production and retail sales jumped 10.1% and 14.9%, respectively, in November. The not-so-good was that exports rose a weak 2.9% while imports were unchanged.
The Shanghai Composite rose 1.1%. We're not sure though if it rose on account of the good data or on account of the not-so-good data that could be seen as a catalyst for further stimulus.
Either way, China's stock market and other markets in Asia didn't seem to be bothered by the political dealings in Europe and the U.S.
On a related note, McDonald's (MCD) customers seemed to rise above the fray too. According to the company, global comparable sales increased 2.4% in November, which was above consensus estimates that called for little change.
Shares of MCD are up 2.0% in premarket action and have helped the futures market recover from larger losses.
At the moment, the S&P futures are pointing to a slightly lower open for the cash market as the world turns, churns, and burns in front of this week's FOMC meeting.
