The S&P 500 e-mining futures are trading lower this morning by 7.00 points to to 1301.75 per contract. The futures began to nosedive around 1:30 am EST when they were trading as high as 1310.25 per contract. This morning there are a lot of problems erupting from the European Union. Greece, Portugal, and Ireland, all remain in trouble. Spain is the next nation that could be in line for a bailout after Portugal. Where is all of this bailout money coming from?
WTI oil is trading lower this morning by $1.15 to $105.95 a barrel. The stock market indexes and the crude have traded almost in lock step for the past two weeks. Prior to that time, if oil declined lower the stock market would skyrocket higher. Is the stock market really taking the lead from oil these days, or is it just more options expiration games being played by the large institutions?
Gold and silver are trading slightly higher this morning. Often when there are serious problems hitting the headline news regarding the European Union, gold and silver will trade higher. At this time as long as central banks continue to create cash reserves(money) at an alarming rate all of the precious metals can trade higher.
The Producer Price Index was released this morning. The PPI number reported was 0.7 percent, meanwhile, analysts had expected a 1.1 percent. Initial jobless claims surprisingly jumped higher this morning by 27,000 to 412,000 initial claims. All in all, this the report is weighing on the markets a little before the open.
The Asian markets were mixed last night. The Nikkei 225 Index(Japan) was higher by just 0.13 percent. The Shanghai Index(China), and the Hang Seng Index(Hong Kong) closed lower by less than 0.50 percent. The Asian markets do not seem to be having much effect on the stock markets this morning.
Traders and investors should still remember that tomorrow is options expiration. There can still be a lot of games played by the institution traders, therefore, expect volatility into tomorrow.
Nicholas Santiago
InTheMoneyStocks