Initial Jobless Claims

Major indices continued its decline from yesterday as the Dow suffered a triple digit point loss for the second consecutive day. Positive retail sales data added to an otherwise already convincing case that the economy is strong enough for the Federal Reserve to begin tapering. The Fed's policy...

Thursday's Retail Sales report is a highlight in an uneventful week for economic data in the run up to Christmas. The report is due to be released by the U.S. Department of Commerce at 8:30 am EST today. The Retail Sales Economic Indicator Retail Sales tracks the change in the total value...

Stock futures pointed to a lower open following premarket data revealing that the U.S. economy and job market are improving faster and stronger than expected. Selling began at the bell and continued for the entire day as major indices failed to hold on to any rallying gains. Investors and...

Major indices crawled higher on light volume, which was to be expected. The Nasdaq to new highs that haven't been seen since September 2000, while the other major indices failed to hold on to earlier gains, but still finished in positive territory. On Thursday, the markets will take a much...

Futures Lower After Cisco Earnings, Weaker Dollar U.S. equity futures traded slightly lower in early pre-market trade following some weak guidance from Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) for the upcoming quarter and as the dollar traded lower. Also, some weak earnings in Europe weighed on sentiment. Top News...

Futures Higher On China Trade Data U.S. equity futures shrugged off fears of Federal Reserve tapering in early trade and moved slightly higher following a largely better than expected trade report from China for July. Also, the European Central Bank issued its monthly report, revising down growth...

Weekly Preview: Earnings Season Continues, Fed In Focus, Economic Maelstrom Expected Next week, earnings season continues with hundreds of companies set to report earnings. Also, there is a flood of economic data due out in the next week from around the world. Further, the Federal Reserve, the...

Futures Lower After Technical Breakdown U.S. equity futures traded lower in early pre-market trade after breaking below a key technical level Wednesday which saw U.S. stocks close lower. S&P 500 futures fell below the key 1685 level which was acting as support over the last few days and...

Futures Little Changed Ahead of Bernanke, Key Tech Earnings U.S. equity futures nearly unchanged ahead of some key earnings Thursday as well the second day of Congressional testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Earnings from Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), and...

Futures Higher On Dovish Bernanke U.S. equity futures rose sharply as a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke after the close Wednesday was much more dovish than expected. The comments show that the Fed is not looking to end its easy money policies any time soon. Top News In other...

In the upcoming week, second quarter earnings season formally kicks off with the much-anticipated earnings report from Alcoa (NYSE: AA). Also, JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) kicks off financials earnings while Yum! Brands' (NYSE: YUM) earnings report will be closely watched for comments on its...

The ISM Non-Manufacturing Index, the broad index of services activity in the United States, slipped in June to 52.2 from 53.7 in May. Economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast a reading of 53.7. Output Drops The broad measure of the health of the services economy across the U.S. dropped in June...

In the upcoming week, markets will eye key economic data points in the shortened week due to the Fourth of July holiday. To note, markets will be closed on Thursday and Wednesday is a shortened trading day for equities. Key Earnings The only notable company to report earnings next week is...

Thursday morning, markets received a large flood of economic data from the U.S. that was largely in line with expectations. Jobless claims fell from last week while spending and incomes rose in May. Jobless Claims Drop Initial jobless claims for the week ended June 21 fell to 346 thousand from an...

Next week, key economic data points will be the focus of markets as the end of quarter earnings lull comes to an end. However, a few key earnings reports are expected and could also move markets. Key Earnings Earnings from key companies next week including Lennar (NYSE: LEN), General Mills (NYSE:...