The Focus Remains on Fed and Headlines

The early action on this fine Monday morning suggests that traders are still taking their cues from any/all headlines relating to Ebola. U.S. futures had been steady for much of the morning until a headline saying that a pediatric patient is evaluated crossed the wires. Almost instantly, futures doubled their losses on the news. And while the decline is not significant at this point, this reminds us that the algos are primed and ready to react to this story.

The big financial news today is the weekend report from the ECB stating that 25 of the 130 largest European banks failed the latest round of stress tests and will need to raise €24.6 billion in new capital. However, the bank notes that no major banks failed the stress tests and that more than €15 billion in new capital has already been raised.

Also in Europe, the latest German IFO Business Climate Index came in below expectations, falling for a sixth consecutive month.

In Brazil, the stock market is down more than -5% on news that incumbent president Dilma Rousseff defeated pro-business candidate Aécio Neves in Sunday’s runoff election.

And sticking with the global theme, there is a fair amount of chatter this morning about the Goldman report in which the firm reduced their forecast for oil demand. As such, traders will likely continue to watch the all-important $80 line in the sand for crude today.

Looking ahead, investors should remember that the FOMC begins its two-day meeting on Tuesday and is expected to announce the end of QEIII at the conclusion Wednesday afternoon. Note that there is no press conference scheduled for this meeting.

Here at home, investors will get a look at the Flash PMI at 9:45 am eastern and Pending Home Sales at 10:00 am. U.S. futures are ...

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A Case of The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

To the casual observer, it was a good day on Wall Street yesterday. The Dow gained more than 215 points, the NASDAQ rallied +1.6 percent, and the Russell 2000 tacked on +1.8 percent. However, to those watching the action a ...

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The Only Story That Mattered

There were three stories in the market on Wednesday, but in reality only one really mattered on the day. You see, when reports start hitting the wires that there are multiple gunmen shooting at people in Canada's Parliament building, traders' ...

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In Case You've Forgotten, It Doesn't Pay To Fight The...

The bulls (or perhaps more accurately, the bull algos) put on quite a show again on Tuesday. For the fourth day in a row, stocks rocketed higher and the S&P 500 finished with the best one-day gain in more than ...

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The Big Picture: Time to Buy The Dip?

Sometimes it can be advantageous to step back from the blinking screens and the wild intraday swings in order to try and get a feel for the bigger picture. On that note, there can be little argument that the U.S. ...

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We're Watching The Charts, Big Blue, and the Fed

On this 27th anniversary of "Black Monday," investors will likely see the recent spate of market volatility continue. Barring an unforseen event, stocks are unlikely to drop 508 points as they did 27 years ago. However, the early action has ...

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Central Bankers Start Talking The Talk

Thursday was yet another wild ride on Wall Street. While the intraday swings paled in comparison to Wednesday's insanity, there was still plenty of volatility to go around. With the algos clearly still in charge of the action, it is ...

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There Is a Sixth "E" to Worry About

As of Tuesday afternoon, the stock market was struggling with "The Five E's". Traders were fretting about the potential impact of Ebola, Europe's sinking economy, the big dive in energy, the status of various monetary easing ...

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The Problem Are The Five E's

Identifying the drivers of stock market action can be helpful in determining when a move is overdone and due to reverse. For example, the various wannabe crises that have cropped up over the past two years have all fizzled out ...

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Should You Worry About the 200-Day Break?

For much of Monday, the S&P 500 traded in a relatively narrow range with the market appearing to be searching for direction. After a decline of more than 5% over the past few weeks, most traders were looking for a ...

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An Awful Lot To Consider

Anyone expecting a quiet Columbus Day Holiday in the markets (where stock markets are open but banks and bond markets are closed) will likely to be disappointed as the news flow over the weekend and the early action in the ...

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This Time, The Worries Are Fundamental

Wow, what a week/month it has been so far. Students of market know that October has a reputation for increased volatility. And cutting to the chase, this October is certainly living up to that reputation as we've seen wild swings ...

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