1:40pm (EST)
Futures were showing a strong start to this morning’s market action following solid debt auctions from Italy and Spain (which we were counting on) but weakened after the unemployment numbers came out. We have warned these numbers have looked a little fluffed in recent weeks due to the holiday hiring season and we said they could move back up in January.
The unemployment figures have been solid in recent weeks but disappointed Wall Street after Initial Claims came in at 399,000 versus expectations for a print of 375,000. Continuing Claims came in at 3.6 million versus a forecast for 3.59 million.
Elsewhere, Retail Sales rose 0.1% versus calls for an increase of 0.3% while the core reading, ex-autos and gas sales was flat as a pancake versus expectations for an increase of 0.4%.
Another bullish sign from overseas was that the European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.00%, as expected, and the Bank of England also kept its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5%.
As we head to press, the Dow is down 18 points to 12,431 while the S&P 500 off by 2 points to 1,290. The Nasdaq is up 4 points to 2,715.
We have a ton of information to cover in our Members Area so we have to cut it short. We are close to taking profits on positions that are up over 70% so let’s go check the tape. We will be back in the morning with our next update.
