Morning Market Report

Futures look up a bit less than one percent as markets respond Euopean stocks. In Europe, stocks reached a one year high and the euphoria appears to be spreading to the states. Early movers includ 3M which is responding to an upgrade from Goldman Sachs. Meanwhile, Coors and Tyson lead a smaller calendar of earnings reporters this week.

We also have the ISM numbers come out this morning at 10 AM Eastern Time. (Independent Supply Management) 50 is the break even point. Anything above that means an expansion in the manufacturing sector. The consensus number is supposed to be 46.5 which should be better than then 44.8 in June.

In Europe, stocks were higher as I mentioned earlier. The FTSE in London was up 1.48%, the DAX in Germany was up 1.47%, while the Spanish index was up .26%. In the Far East, things were slightly more mixed. The Hang Seng index in China was up 1.14%, while the NIKKEI in Japan was down slightly .04%, and the Straits Time Index in Singapore was up .84%.

Crude oil continues to gain. It's crossed through $70 a barrel. It's currently trading at $71.03 per barrel. Bonds had monster days on Friday. Good auctions all week caused rates to go down all across the board. The Ten Year U.S. Treasury bond finished at 3.49%. Bonds are giving some of that back today. The Ten year is now trading at 3.56%. The spread however has tightened between the 2 year and ten year and is now 2.4%. Bonds in Britain were mixed while they were all worse in Germany.

The Dollar is mixed this morning. It's down against the Euro by .41%, down against the British Pound by .80%, while it was up against the Japanese Yen by .33%.

Finally, we are awaiting word on July car sales. Everyone is expecting an impressive number fueled by the Cash for Clunkers program. Ford reported to the Wall Street Journal that it will post its first year over year gain.

Stocks may test some psychological limits this week. The S&P will likely test 1000 and the NASDAQ will likely test 2000 before the week is out. Of course, the big number comes at the end of the week when unemployment numbers for July are released prior to the open. Look for a wild ride until then and certain afterwards.

Disclosure:

I am NOT an investment professional. All information here should be used strictly for information purposes. All investment choices should be made on a personal basis and nothing here should be construed as investment advice.