Page One
Briefing.com Summary:
*Some of the nation's largest banks reported results that topped expectations, yet the reaction to those results has been mixed.
*It is possible that the Supreme Court could issue its ruling on the IEEPA case today.
*Today's economic releases weren't necessarily supportive of the Fed cutting rates again soon.
This is one of those days where market participants are going to need a high-end processor. There will be a lot to get through before we reach the closing bell.
- Bank of America (BAC), Wells Fargo (WFC), and Citigroup (C) have released quarterly results. Each of them topped EPS estimates, yet the stock price reactions have been mixed.
- The Supreme Court could issue a ruling at 10:00 a.m. ET on the IEEPA case (could being the operative word since today's case ruling is a mystery).
- Officials from Denmark and Greenland are meeting Vice President Vance and Sec. of State Rubio at the White House today.
- Homebuilders are facing assertions from FHFA Director Pulte that they shouldn't be buying back their stock.
- Protests in Iran continue to rage, and the specter of some type of U.S. intervention hangs in the air.
- Metals prices continue to rip (silver futures are over $91.00/toz)
- Pre-open economic releases included November Retail Sales, November PPI, and the Q3 Current Account Balance. The December Existing Home Sales report will follow at 10:00 a.m. ET.
The trading setup going into the opening bell is this:
- The S&P 500 futures are down 31 points and are trading 0.4% below fair value, the Nasdaq 100 futures are down 152 points and are trading 0.6% below fair value, and the DJIA futures are down 169 points and are trading 0.3% below fair value.
- The 2-yr note yield is down one basis point to 3.52%, and the 10-yr note yield is down one basis point to 4.16%.
- The U.S. Dollar Index is flat at 99.05.
Things are looking a little softer at the moment, reflecting a heightened sense of uncertainty in the air. Some of that uncertainty revolves around the path of monetary policy after this morning's economic data worked against the notion of needing to cut rates again soon.
Total retail sales increased 0.6% month-over-month in November (Briefing.com consensus: 0.4%) following a downwardly revised 0.1% decline (from 0.0%) in October. Excluding autos, retail sales increased 0.5% (Briefing.com consensus: 0.3%) following a downwardly revised 0.2% increase (from 0.4%) in October.
The key takeaway from the report is that retail sales rebounded smartly in November after the end of the government shutdown, driven by increases across most discretionary spending categories.
Separately, the Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.2% month-over-month in November (Briefing.com consensus: 0.2%) following a downwardly revised 0.1% increase (from 0.3%) in October. The Index for final demand, excluding food and energy, was unchanged (Briefing.com consensus: 0.2%) following an upwardly revised 0.3% increase (from 0.1%) in October.
The key takeaway from the report is that PPI and core-PPI both increased on a year-over-year basis to 3.0% from 2.8% and 2.9%, respectively, which is to say they moved in the wrong direction to create a true sense of inflation calm and a seeming rate-cut guarantee.
The Q3 current-account deficit narrowed 9.2% to $226.4 billion from an upwardly revised $249.2 billion deficit (prior $251.3 billion) in the second quarter.
