After a bruising week, futures on the three major indices are point towards a positive open this morning. The lack of any economic news and the pointless G8 meeting is likely to keep a lid on any substantial rally. Uncertainty over Greece and the EU as a whole will still continue to rule over the market as it tries to to take breather after last week’s sell off. Dow futures are currently up 58 points, Nasdaq futures are adding 14 and the S&P nearly 7.
With Greece expected to return the polls on June 17, expect a ton of meetings to try anything to keepe the country in the EU. French President Hollande is expected to call for an informal EU meeting in which he will push for EU bonds. Expect Merkel to push back against that idea as she has been adamantly against mutualizing the region’s debt.
The bounce in futures is giving commodities a mixed bag. After a massive move downward, oil prices are bouncing somewhat this morning with Nymex crude futures up 19 cents to $91.67 per barrel.
Gold prices are whipsawing between positive and negative territory as the metal struggles to regain the $1600 level. Gold futures are currently down $2.70 to $1589 per ounce.
On the forex market, the dollar continues to make gains with the DXY up fractionally to 81.28. The Euro is continuing its slide, down slightly to 1.2748.
Stocks to Watch
E-Commerce China Dangdang Inc. (NYSE:DANG) is up 2.94% in pre market trading at $5.61. DANG shares are recovering slightly in pre market after the stock fell from $7.50 to $5.45 on Thursday and Friday. The company has a market cap of 435.50 million.
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is up 5.58% in pre market trading at $16.28. YHOO has traded 343 thousand shares so far today and trades 16.1 million shares a day on average. YHOO shares are up today on news Alibaba will buy back 20% stake held by Yahoo! for $7.1 billion. YHOO shares have increased about $1.50 in the past two days. The company has a market cap of 18.91 billion.
Quepasa Corporation (AMEX:QPSA) is up 10.78% in pre market trading at $3.39. QPSA has traded 3,300 shares this morning and averages 643 thousand shares a day on average. QPSA shares are looking to recover some after falling more than $1 a share on Friday after Facebook’s poor IPO showing. The company has a market cap of 110.93 million.
Frontline Ltd. (NYSE:FRO) is up 3.41% in pre market trading at $4.85. FRO has traded about 5 thousand shares this morning and trades 1.48 million shares a day on average. FRO shares have dipped about $0.50 a share in the past three days from $5.25 to around $4.75. The company has a market cap of 365.16 million.
Sirius XM Radio Inc (NASDAQ:SIRI) is down 1.33% in pre market trading at $1.86. SIRI has traded 255 thousand shares this morning and averages 65.93 million shares a day. SIRI shares are down more than 15% over the past month. The company has a market cap of 7.16 billion.
Walgreen Co. (NYSE:WAG) is up 4.50% today at $32.72. WAG has traded about a thousand shares this morning and trades 7.96 million shares a day on average. WAG shares have fallen in recent days and is down about $2 a share over the past week. The company has a market cap of 27.01 billion.
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARNA) is up 1.63% in pre market trading at $5.61. ARNA has traded 7 thousand shares this morning and averages 14.2 million shares a day on average. ARNA shares have dipped about a $1 a share over the past week after hitting high of $7 following FDA panel decision. The company has a market cap of 1.01 billion.