Pre-Market News And Views

This morning the S&P 500 e-mini futures(ESM1) are soaring higher by 17.50 points to 1271.50 per contract. Often during the week of options expiration when the major stock indexes decline during the first part of the week the second part of the week will usually see a rebound. The Japanese crisis is still front and center. Many experts are expecting this crisis to take some time before the nuclear reactors can be cooled down and the nuclear material contained.

The weekly initial jobless claims report and the monthly Consumer Price Index(CPI) report were released at 8:30 am EST this morning. Initial claims for the week ending March 12, 2011 declined by 16,000 to 385,000. Economists had expected 387,000 initial jobless claims. The highly followed CPI report for February was reported at 0.05 percent. Economists had expected the report to come in at 0.04 percent. The Core Consumer Price Index for February was reported at 0.2%. The markets rallied higher off of these numbers.

Everyone is talking about the strong Japanese Yen that surged after the market in the U.S. closed yesterday. The Japanese Yen is very extended and has already begun to pullback this morning. Traders can follow the Japanese Yen by following the CurrencyShares Japanese Yen TrustFXY.

Last night the Asia markets were all down by a little more than 1.00 percent. The Nikkei 225(Japan) traded lower by just 1.40 percent and this was certainly a strong recovery for the index that was down over 5.00 percent at the open.

FedEx Corp.FDX is soaring higher after reporting earnings. The stock is catching a strong bid higher with the S&P 500 Index futures. This stock and other transport stocks will be in play today.

Oil is trading back above the $100.00 a barrel level this morning. The major stock market indexes often view high oil as a negative, however, the market does not seem to care about high oil today. Gold and silver are slightly higher this morning. The U.S. Dollar Index is declining sharply lower again this morning helping to inflate the markets.

Nicholas Santiago
InTheMoneyStocks.com