The lack of any substantial QE hints have investors on edge going into the weekend. The whole basis of the rally it seems was the notion that QE3 was right around the corner and the congressional testimony by Bernanke didn’t reveal anything new. A quick look at the three major indices has the Dow futures down 52, the Nasdaq down nearly 8 and the S&P off 5 points going into the market open.
China’s rate cut, while initially hailed, is now worrying investors that it was some sort of pre-planned move due to bad data. Upcoming data out of China includes PPI, CPI, industrial production, retail sales and fixed-asset investment. Sign Up For Free Stock Alerts
Europe continues to remain an ongoing concern with the expectation that Spain will soon ask for a bailout of its financial institutions. Always expect the unexpected out the EU as the rumor mill continues to churn in both directions.
Commodities are following the rest of the market sharply lower. Oil prices are really taking it on the chin this morning as Nymex crude futures are down 3% to $82.25. Gold prices continue to give up ground, off another $9 to $1578.90 per ounce.
Stocks to Watch
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) is up 1.12% this morning at $18.05. CHK has traded 137 thousand shares so far today and trades 31.7 million shares a day on average. CHK shares are up in pre market as the company looks to complete sale of pipeline assets for $4 billion. The company has a market cap of 11.46 billion.
McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE:MCD) is down 2.70% in pre market trading at $85.99. MCD has traded 124 thousand shares this morning and trades 6.4 million shares a day on average. McDonald’s saw sales rise 3.3% in May, but warned economic volatility could affect its second quarter EPS by $0.07 to $0.09. The company has a market cap of 89.82 billion. Sign Up For Free Stock Alerts
Sirius XM Radio Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI) is up 0.54% today at $1.87. SIRI has traded 44 thousand shares so far today and trades 55.2 million shares a day on average. SIRI shares have fallen more than 10% in the past month. The company has a market cap of 7.07 billion.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is up 0.78% today at $15.48. YHOO has traded 13 thousand shares this morning and trades 16.9 million shares a day on average. YHOO share were upgraded this morning to outperform from market perform at Bernstein. The company has a market cap of 18.72 billion.
Zynga, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZNGA) is up 0.50% this morning at $6.06. ZNGA has traded 34 thousand shares so far today and trades 18.1 million shares a day on average. ZNGA shares have rallied as much as $0.60 in the past few days. The company has a market cap of 4.44 billion.
Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) is up 1.77% today at $2.83. NOK has traded 20 thousand shares so far today and trades 38.4 million shares a day on average. NOK shares have rallied more than 6% in the past week. The company has a market cap of 10.50 billion. Sign Up For Free Stock Alerts
Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RIO) is down 4.36% in pre market trading at $44.54. RIO has traded 30 thousand shares so far today and trades 3.7 million shares a day on average. NOK shares have rallied more than $4 a share over the past few days. The company has a market cap of 86.60 billion.
About Danny Fisher
