Stock Market Update - Thursday, September 16, 2010 Cautious Outlook

Stock Market Update
Thursday, September 16, 2010

Latest News Headlines:

Closing US Indexes

Dow Jones..10,595.14...+22.41..(0.21%)
S&P 500...1,124.67...-0.41...(-.04%)
Nasdaq....2,303.25...+1.93...(0.08%)

US Stocks Make Minor Gains and Losses with Low Volume at Close
U.S. stocks wavered near neutral Thursday after the latest round of economic data proved mixed. The US market remains in a technical trading range, which it has been in for the past three to four months.

Dow Jones 11:30 AM Averages: DJIA 10,556.92 DN 15.81

30 INDUS 10,556.92 DN 15.81 OR 0.15%
20 TRANSP 4,426.40 DN 47.77 OR 1.07%
15 UTILS 391.02 DN 1.39 OR 0.35%
65 STOCKS 3,658.23 DN 16.94 OR 0.46%



US Stocks Slip As Exchange-Rate Worries Grow

U.S. stocks edged down Thursday as concerns over global exchange-rate policies overshadowed encouraging jobs data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 28 points, or 0.3%, to 10545 in recent trading. Bank of America led the declines, falling 1.2%. Alcoa shed 1.1%, while Walt Disney dropped 0.9%. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3% to 2294. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 0.4% to 1120, with the financial sector lagging.

Benchmark indexes have surged this month. The Dow is up more than 5% since the start of September and the S&P 500 just under 7% in the same period, as fears of a double-dip recession have relaxed. Still, the recent muddy economic data has left investors hesitant about the rally's sustainability.

"There is an extremely low risk of a double dip," said Tim Speiss, head of personal wealth advisors at EisnerAmper LLP. But "investors are not of the view it's happening fast enough," he said. "They want to see more dramatic reductions in unemployment and that's just not going to happen." Speiss noted that the drop in weekly jobless claims to 450,000 on Thursday was encouraging, but that market watchers are hoping to see claims fall below that level, calling it "a huge baseline."

Concerns are mounting over tensions between the U.S. and China.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will tell Congress Thursday that China's move toward a more flexible exchange rate has been "too slow," according to his prepared remarks.

"There's a growing fear that Congress will take action against China," said Joe Quinlan, chief market strategist at U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. "That could create problems not only in disrupting U.S.-China trade, but China's a major holder of U.S. Treasurys and that could disrupt the U.S. credit markets as well."

Geithner's remarks come one day after the Bank of Japan intervened in the currency markets to stem the rise of the Japanese yen, which recently surged to a 15-year high against the dollar.

The U.S. dollar weakened against the euro, but strengthened against the yen. The euro was trading recently at $1.3104, up from $1.3012 lat Wednesday in New York. The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against a basket of six others, fell 0.4%.

Demand for safe-haven Treasurys declined, pushing yield on the 10-year note up to 2.76%. Crude-oil prices slid, while gold futures advanced.

The U.S. labor market, initial unemployment claims declined by 3,000 to 450,000, its lowest level in two months, beating economists' expectations for a rise of 9,000.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said mid-Atlantic manufacturers saw activity contract slightly in September, amid a drop in new orders and a rise in hiring. The index moved to -0.7, just under the flat reading expected by economists.

Among stocks in focus, shipping giant FedEx fell 3.7% after its first-quarter profit more than doubled on a rise in revenue, but the company forecast second-quarter earnings below analysts' average estimate. The company also said it will combine its FedEx Freight and FedEx National LTL operations at the end of January, as it cuts 1,700 full-time employees and closes 100 facilities.

Shares of Ford Motor jumped 4.5% after the car maker was upgraded to "overweight" from "equal weight" at Barclays Capital, saying the North American market will sustain strong margins.

US stocks fell modestly Thursday as investors fretted over the potential for global exchange-rate tensions, but weekly employment data showed minor improvement.

Wall Street opened lower on Thursday as jobless claims dropped to a two-month low but still remained high.

Stocks fell at the open Thursday in the US tracking global market weakness even as jobless claims numbers came in better than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 25 points, or 0.2%, at 10,547. The S&P 500 fell 4 points.

The euro surged against the dollar mid-way through European trading hours. China is seen as a possible source of euro buying as it seeks to hold down the broad value of the yuan, which has recently hit a series of record highs against the dollar.

Amid ever-increasing international pressure on China to allow greater and faster strength in the yuan, the PBOC has allowed the yuan to climb unusually quickly against the dollar of late, with its key dollar-fixing rate dropping to a record low of CNY6.7181 Thursday. That marks an appreciation of around 1% in the yuan over the last eight trading days--a small shift for most major currencies, but a significant move for the tightly controlled yuan.

China resumed net purchases of Treasurys for the first time in three months in July, amid an overall pickup of inflows into long-term U.S. assets, the Treasury Department said Thursday.

China's holdings rose $3.0 billion to $846.7 billion, remaining ahead of Japan as the largest foreign holder of Treasurys. That followed net sales of $24.0 billion in June.

China has been gradually reducing its holdings of U.S. Treasurys since late last year, sparking fears of a possible move out of dollar assets by the largest creditor nation to the U.S.


Gold and Precious Metal Gain as Dollar Weakens
Gold hits record high

Gold prices surged to new record highs on Thursday, continuing a rally started earlier in the week. Gold futures for December delivery were trading up $4.90 at $1,274.10 an ounce Thursday morning. Earlier in the day, contracts were trading even higher, at $1,279.50 an ounce.

Silver is now trading at $20.75 an ounce,.Gold at $1,274.30 an ounce, Platinum $1,612.


Crude Oil:
Crude Settles -$1.45 At $74.57/B On Oversupply

Crude oil futures prices dropped for the third straight day Thursday as a scheduled restart of a major pipeline rekindled oversupply concerns in the world's biggest oil consumer.

Light, sweet crude oil for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange settled down 1.9%, or $1.45, at $74.57 a barrel. On the ICE, North Sea Brent for November delivery settled down 94 cents, or 1.2%, at $78.48 a barrel.

Enbridge Energy Partners said its crude oil pipeline that can carry 670,000 barrels a day of Canadian crude oil to the U.S. Midwest is scheduled to return to service Friday after a week-long shutdown to repair a leak. The line has capacity to handle one-third of U.S. imports of crude from Canada, the U.S.'s biggest foreign supplier.


US Current Account Deficit Gap Widens

The U.S. current-account deficit widens in the 2Q marking a year of consistent increases. he broad measure of U.S. international transactions registered a shortfall of $123.3 billion.



Philadelphia Fed Sept Factory Gauge Dips Slightly
Mid-Atlantic manufacturers saw activity contract slightly in September, amid a drop in new orders and a rise in hiring.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported Thursday that its index of general business activity for factories in its district moved to -0.7, from -7.7 in August, after having stood at 5.1 in July. The September reading was under the flat reading economists had expected to see.


US Jobless Claims
US Jobless Claims Were 450,000 Last Week


US Producer Prices Rose More Than Forecast in August
The Labor Department said that its Producer Price Index, which follows prices of goods that producers are paid before they are sold to consumers, rose 0.4 percent in August after a 0.2 percent increase in July. That increase was the first upward movement in the index in three months.


US Poverty Rate Rose Sharply in 2009, Says Census

Forty-four million people in the United States, or one in seven residents, lived in poverty in 2009, an increase of 4 million from the year before, the Census Bureau reported on Thursday.

The poverty rate climbed to 14.3 percent — the highest since 1994 — from 13.2 percent in 2008. The rise was steepest for children, with one in five residents under 18 living below the official poverty line, the bureau said.

The report provides the most detailed picture yet of the impact of the recession and unemployment on incomes, especially at the bottom of the scale. It also found that the temporary increases in benefits in last year’s stimulus bill eased the burdens on millions of families.

For a single adult in 2009, the poverty line was $10,830 in pretax cash income; for a family of four, $22,050.

Government benefits like food stamps and tax credits, which can provide hundreds or even thousands of dollars in extra income, are not included in calculating whether a family’s income falls above or below the poverty line. But rises in the cost of housing, medical care or energy and the large regional difference in the cost of living are not taken into account either.

By any measure, living on so little income is precarious, and some experts think that people who are getting by on as much as twice the official poverty line should nonetheless be considered poor.

Read the entire story at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/us/17poverty.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss



U.S. Homes Lost to Foreclosure Up 25 Percent
Home have dropped in 36 States.

Lenders took back more homes in August than in any month since the start of the U.S. mortgage crisis. The increase in home repossessions came even as the number of properties entering the foreclosure process slowed for the seventh month in a row, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.

In all, banks repossessed 95,364 properties last month, up 3 percent from July and an increase of 25 percent from August 2009, RealtyTrac said. August makes the ninth month in a row that the pace of homes lost to foreclosure has increased on an annual basis. The previous high was in May.

Banks have been stepping up repossessions to clear out their backlog of bad loans with an eye on eventually placing the foreclosed properties on the market, but they can't afford to simply dump the properties on the market.

Concerns are growing that the housing market recovery could stumble amid stubbornly high unemployment, a sluggish economy and faltering consumer confidence. U.S. home sales have collapsed since federal home buyer tax credits expired in April.

That's one reason fewer than one-third of homes repossessed by lenders are on the market, said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. "These (properties) are going to come to market, but very slowly because nobody wants to overwhelm a soft buyer's market with too much distressed inventory for fear of what it would do for house prices," he said.

As a result, lenders are putting off initiating the foreclosure process on homeowners who have missed payments, letting borrowers stay in their homes longer. The number of properties receiving an initial default notice, the first step in the foreclosure process slipped 1 percent last month from July, but was down 30 percent versus August last year, RealtyTrac said.

The number of homes scheduled to be sold at auction for the first time increased 9 percent from July and rose 2 percent from August last year. If they don't sell at auction, these homes typically end up going back to the lender.

More than 2.3 million homes have been repossessed by lenders since the recession began in December 2007, according to RealtyTrac. The firm estimates more than 1 million American households are likely to lose their homes to foreclosure this year.

In all, 338,836 properties received a foreclosure-related warning in August, up 4 percent from July.



US residents at least $6.6 trillion short of the pension and retirement

Americans are $6.6 trillion short of the pension and retirement savings they ought to have today in order to maintain their standard of living when they retire, according to data released Wednesday by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

That so-called "retirement income deficit" is five times the projected federal budget deficit for 2010, according to Retirement USA, a group of organizations advocating for strengthening Social Security and improving private retirement sources.

The retirement deficit is the difference between the amount of money that Americans need in savings in order to retire at their current living standards and what they actually have. The Center for Retirement Research, a nonpartisan group that is not a member of Retirement USA, calculated the $6.6 trillion deficit based on American households aged 30 to 65 in 2009, a group that it estimates at about 70 million.

The calculation assumes that Americans would continue to work, save and receive retirement benefits at their current rates; includes the value of their homes; and projects the accumulation of Social Security benefits at current levels. It doesn't include the cost of health care in retirement.

Retirement USA used the $6.6 trillion retirement income deficit figure as the focus of a press conference Wednesday to launch a month long campaign to advocate for more retirement security. The group has an online petition and is meeting with members of Congress, asking politicians to make floor statements and issue press releases on retirement shortfall issues.

Retirement USA members include such unions as the AFL-CIO, the Economic Policy Institute, and the Pension Rights Center.

Canada:

Toronto Indexes, Volume; 11 AM EDT Composite Down 1.58

S&P/TSX Composite 12143.26 off 1.58 or 0.0%
S&P/TSX 60 Index 704.86 off 1.22 or 0.2%
Financials 176.81 off 1.51 or 0.8%
Materials 384.52 up 5.92 or 1.6%
Energy 275.30 off 1.19 or 0.4%
Industrials 102.82 off 0.43 or 0.4%
IT 26.82 up 0.03 or 0.1%

Volume Thursday Wednesday
10-11 97.2M 82.1M
9:30-11 167.9M 134.6M

Canada's International Reserves Rose To $58.066 billion
Canada's official international reserves rose $329 million in the week ended Sept. 15, the Bank of Canada reported. The official international reserves totaled $58.066 billion, compared with $57.737 billion at Sept. 8.

South American Markets:



Brazil:

The Brazilian Central Bank on Thursday bought U.S. dollars at a snap auction for BRL1.7185 to the dollar. The central bank did not reveal the volume of dollars purchased. Shortly before the auction, the Brazilian real was trading at BRL1.7174. Shortly after the auction, the real was trading at BRL1.7192 to the dollar.

Brazil Chief Of Staff Guerra Quits Amid Scandal

Erenice Guerra, the Brazilian president's chief of staff, quit her post Thursday following the emergence of allegations earlier in the week that members of her family participated in an influence-peddling scheme involving government contracts.

According to presidential spokesman Marcelo Baumbach, Guerra will be replaced by presidential aide Carlos Eduardo Esteves Lima. Guerra is the second chief of staff of the current administration to step down from the post under fire for alleged links to corruption.

Jose Dirceu, former chief of staff, resigned from the post in 2005 following allegations he helped coordinate a kickback and irregular campaign-funding scheme with members of the country's Congress.

Mexico:

Mexico Shuts Main Gulf Oil Ports As Karl Becomes Hurricane

Mexico's main Gulf coast oil ports were closed Thursday as Tropical Storm Karl gained hurricane strength after emerging into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Communications and Transport Ministry said the ports of Cayo Arcas and Dos Bocas, the two main export terminals of state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, were closed, while the port at Coatzacoalcos remained open, the ministry reported.

After crossing the Yucatan peninsula Wednesday as a tropical storm, Karl strengthened to a hurricane and was expected to reach land late Thursday or early Friday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center reported.

The storm was moving away from Pemex's main oil producing area in the Campeche Sound, in the southern part of the Gulf. Pemex has minor offshore operations further up the Gulf coast.


Chile:

Chile Stocks Close Lower

Chile's blue-chip Ipsa index ended lower Thursday, in a short pre-holiday session, as it tracked slipping U.S. stocks and investors booked profits on select stocks.

The Ipsa closed 0.2% lower at 4813.53, while market volume fell to 69.7 billion Chilean pesos ($140.4 million) compared with CLP139.7 billion the prior session.

The peso closed weaker against the dollar, as slumping global markets pulled the currency lower and as participants bought greenbacks ahead of the long holiday weekend. In light market trading, the peso ended weaker at CLP496.60 to the dollar, versus Wednesday's close of CLP494.70. It traded in a tight range of CLP495.30 to CLP497.10.

All Chilean markets, businesses and government offices in Chile will be closed on Friday and Monday, and all markets are open only half a day Thursday, as the Andean nation celebrates its bicentennial.

European Markets:

Germany:

German Finance Minister Says Germany is Well On Track For Economic Recovery

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble Thursday said the country is well on the way towards economic recovery, speaking at a banking association event. The 2.2% on-quarter growth in the second quarter was an exception. Germany isn't out of the crisis yet, he said but added that undue pessimism about 2011 and predictions of another economic downturn are misplaced, he noted.






United Kingdom:

London Stocks End Down On Weak Data

FTSE 100 Index 5540.14 -15.42 -0.28%
FTSE 250 10442.12 -52.15 -0.50%
DJ UK Smaller Companies 868.54 -3.88 -0.44%

London Stocks End Down

FTSE 100 finishes -0.28%, as weak UK retail sales. U.K. retail sales fell on the month in August for the first time since January, with consumers seemingly concerned about the government's planned spending cuts and the prospect of a rise in unemployment.

Slowing UK Economy In Line With Euro-Zone

U.K. public inflation expectations for the year ahead rose to their highest level in two years in August, as actual inflation stayed well above target and the impact of hot weather on food prices hit the headlines.

The U.K. government Thursday laid out proposals for a new special administration regime to handle the insolvency of investment banks more effectively so that the impact on financial stability is minimized.

U.K.-based retailers Kingfisher PLC (KGF.LN), Kesa Electricals PLC (KESA.LN) and John Lewis Partnership PLC Thursday reported higher profits and sales, but warned the consumer environment in the U.K. and across Europe will remain tough for the rest of this year and into 2011 as the macroeconomic situation hits spending and confidence.

Investec Gives Subdued Outlook As Weak Economy Hits Banking

BT Group is among the worst performers, -3.2% after a broker downgrade, but Kingfisher bucks the trend, +0.6% after posting an increase in 1H profit. "It doesn't yet feel as if markets are quite ready to give up the gains seen this month - but traders are definitely looking for further convincing reasons to keep on buying, with the FTSE already up more than 5% for September," says IG Index.

Investec PLC (INVP.LN) Thursday gave a subdued outlook for its business, as it estimated first-half operating profit will be only marginally higher than last year's GBP205.1 million.

No major UK data due Friday.




Spain:

Spanish Coal Mining Unions Call Strike Over Unpaid Wages

Unions representing coal miners in Spain Thursday called a strike to demand unpaid wages and government aid, as protests over the state of the industry escalated. Six union representatives also shut themselves in a room of a government building in Madrid overnight after talks with Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian broke down, and said they will remain until their demands are met.

"The responses of the industry ministry did not satisfy us and we have decided to call a general strike in the coal sector for Sept. 22, 23, 29 and 30," the unions said in a statement. The government "has given us no guarantee on the payment of the salaries," it said.

Miners from Spanish companies Victorino Alonso and Viloria have stepped up protests over the past two weeks to demand unpaid wages for July and August and government aid to the coal industry. Around 50 miners have since Sept. 2 refused to leave a coal mine 500 meters underground near Guardo in the northern Palencia province. Hundreds have also blocked highways and roads in northern Spain, while thousands of miners and their supporters have staged protest marches. Four miners also launched a hunger strike Monday.

Until February, government subsidies helped guarantee coal purchases in Spain. But Madrid ended the subsidies in the wake of objections from the European Commission. Deprived of government aid, Spanish coal has been more expensive and therefore found fewer buyers, which the mining companies blame for their failure to pay the salaries.

The miners' strike Sept. 29 will coincide with a general strike in Spain to protest tough labor reforms introduced by the government to slash the soaring unemployment rate.



Russia Halts Pork From Two US Smithfield Plants
Russia says US is exporting too many antibiotics in its pork.

Russia has put another halt to pork imports from two U.S. plants as well as producers in several other countries due to concerns about antibiotics in the meat, a Russian government official said Thursday.

Yevgeniy Khorishko, press secretary for Russia's U.S. embassy, said the two U.S. plants are owned by Smithfield Foods Inc. (SFD).

Russia found "excessive presence of antibiotics" in pork produced at the plants, Khorishko said.

The new Russian ban also applies to plants in Germany, Spain, Holland, France and other countries, Khorishko said

The spot October hog contract at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange is down 1.15 cents a pound at 78.10 cents, and initially tumbled to a low of 77.55 cents, or 2.1%. And, the nearby December month is off 0.97 cents at 75.70 cents. It originally slid to a 75.40-cents low, or 1.7%, following the Russia news.

Russia is a major market for U.S. pork, although it has bought less this year than in 2009. U.S. pork exports to Russia for the first seven months of this year totaled 45,696 metric tons, down 43% from 80,451 tons in the same period a year ago, according to data maintained by the U.S. Meat Export Federation.

Russian Wheat Harvest Decline
Russia may harvest only 41 million metric tons of wheat in 2010, down from a prior estimate of 41.5 million tons, according to agricultural research firm SovEcon.

Extreme heat and continued drought have cut the production of wheat and grain this year, and farmers are currently hoping for moisture to assist the winter wheat crop.

Little rain is forecast for two of the Russian regions along the Volga River hardest hit by drought amid the hurry to plant winter wheat crops, according to data Thursday from official forecaster HydroMetCenter.

Saratov may see only 5 millimeters of rain Sunday, while Samara is forecast to get only 1 millimeter of rain Wednesday, HydroMetCenter said on its website.


Asian Pacific Markets:


Japan PM says ready to step into forex markets again.

Bank of Japan Facing Pressure To Do More After Intervention
The Bank of Japan on Thursday gave a boost to the Japanese government's move into currency markets to curb the yen's rise, but now it is facing pressure to do even more to prop up the economy.

The notoriously conservative central bank took the unusual step of allowing the estimated $21 billion generated by the intervention to remain in the banking system. Normally when there is such intervention, the cash is taken out by a central bank through daily money-market operations. By allowing the funds to remain in the system, the BOJ has effectively offered the economy another boost.

Pressure on the bank that was previously seen on the fringes of the political agenda is now moving front and center. Ironically, a man now in the political wilderness may be the one to give the issue new urgency.

Democratic Party power broker Ichiro Ozawa, who lost to Prime Minister Naoto Kan in a party-leadership vote Tuesday, for the first time has suggested the landmark 1997 Bank of Japan law should be reviewed. The legislation gave the central bank independence from the powerful Ministry of Finance, and critics see any changes to the law as undermining the bank's authority.

Adding to this, a group of Democratic Party lawmakers met Thursday to urge the BOJ to take additional steps to complement the potential "kick-start" from the lower yen. "It is important that the BOJ implement monetary easing on a major scale to sustain the impact of the currency-market intervention," the group said in a statement.

The calls echo remarks from private-sector economists who blame the BOJ directly for Japan's continued economic problems. The bank has been accused of dragging its feet on taking the bold steps needed to get Japan out of its deflationary period that has lasted more than 10 years.

Richard Jerram, chief economist at Macquarie Capital Securities Japan, said recently that, while independence is normally very important for a central bank, the BOJ has done too little to tackle Japan's problems. "You can argue that BOJ independence hasn't served Japan well over the past 12 to 15 years," he said.


Commodities Snapshot At Market Close:

Commodities
Crude Oil	74.43	- 0.19%
Natural Gas	4.05	- 0.34%
Gasoline	1.92	-
Heating Oil	2.10	-
Gold	1273.98	+ 0.47%
Silver	20.79	+ 0.97%
Copper	3.48	+ 0.72%
Quotes delayed 15 min.		» Add to your site

World Currencies:

EUR/USD	1.3077	+0.0071 (0.55%)
USD/JPY	85.5800	-0.0500 (-0.06%)
GBP/USD	1.5621	+0.0001 (0.01%)
CAD/USD	0.9743	+0.0009 (0.09%)
USD/HKD	7.7673	+0.0002 (0.00%)
USD/CNY	6.7250	-0.0130 (-0.19%)
AUD/USD	0.9369	-0.0017 (-0.18%)

World Markets Snapshot:

Shanghai 2,602.47 -50.04 (-1.89%)
Nikkei 225 9,509.50 -7.06 (-0.07%)
Hang Seng Index 21,691.45 -34.19 (-0.16%)
TSEC 8,099.75 -64.07 (-0.78%)
FTSE 100 5,547.27 -8.29 (-0.15%)
DJ EURO STOXX 50 2,787.97 -18.50 (-0.66%)
CAC 40 3,738.79 -16.85 (-0.45%)
S&P TSX 12,128.93 -15.91 (-0.13%)
S&P/ASX 200 4,605.30 -56.20 (-1.21%)
BSE Sensex 19,417.49 -84.62 (-0.43%)

Thursday's US Economic Calendar:

8:30 a.m.
2Q International Transactions Overall Balance (expected -123.5B)

8:30 a.m.
Aug PPI (expected +0.4%), PPI Core (expected +0.1%), PPI Core Crude Goods (previous -1.4%), PPI Core Intermediate Goods (previous -0.4%), PPI Crude Goods (previous +2.7%), PPI Energy Goods (previous -0.9%), PPI Intermediate Goods (previous -0.4%), PPI Passenger Cars (previous +0.3%)

8:30 a.m.
Sep 11 Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims Weekly Jobless Claims (expected 460K), Weekly Jobless Claims Net Change (expected +9K), Cont Jobless Claims (prior week) (previous 4478000), Net Chg (prior week) (previous -2K)

9:00 a.m.
Jul Treasury International Capital Data Monthly Net TIC Flows (previous -6.7B), Net Foreign Acquisition of Long-Term Securities (previous +23.5B), Net Foreign Acquisition of US Agency Debt (previous +18.2B), Net Foreign Acquisition of US Corp Bonds (previous -13.5B), Net Foreign Acquisition of US Equities (previous -4.1B), Net Foreign Acquisition of US Tsy Bonds & Notes (previous 33.3B), Net Long-Term Securities Transactions (previous 44.4B)

9:00 a.m.
Fed Gov Duke gives opening remarks at public hearing on home disclosure in Chicago

10:00 a.m.
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - U.S. Treasury Sec Geithner testifies to Senate committee hearing on exchange rate policies

10:00 a.m.
Sep Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey Business Activity (expecte 0), Prices Paid (previous 11.8), Employment (previous -2.7), New Orders (previous -7.1), Prices Received (previous -12.5), Delivery Times (previous -11), Inventories (previous -11.6), Shipments (previous -4.5)

10:00 a.m.
Sep 4 DJ-BTMU Business Barometer (previous -0.1%), (52 Wk) (previous +4.3%)

10:30 a.m.
EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report Total Working Gas in Storage (previous 3164B), (Net Change) (previous +58B)

2:00 p.m.
House Committee on Ways and Means - U.S. Treasury Sec Geithner testifies to House committee hearing on Chinese exchange rate

2:45 p.m.
Bank of England - Bank of England MPC Member Adam Posen speech in Washington, DC

3:00 p.m.
International Monetary Fund - IMF publishes Millennium Development Goals paper

4:30 p.m.
Money Stock Measures

4:30 p.m.
Sep 15 Foreign Central Bank Holdings Foreign US Debt Holdings (previous 3.21T), US Foreign Agency Holdings (previous 809.96B), Foreign Treasury Holdings (previous 2.4T)

4:30 p.m.
Sep 15 Federal Discount Window Borrowings Primary Credit Borrowings (previous 29M), Primary Credit Borrowings W/E Daily Avg (previous 29M), Discount Window Borrowings (previous 52.94B), Discount Window Borrowings W/E Daily Avg (previous 53.53B)

N/A
Federal Reserve Board - Federal Reserve public hearing on the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act

Wednesday Sept. 15, Market Summary:

Stocks:

Stocks rose after a package of mixed economic data. Traders said that the only way that US equities markets are rising, is by lowering the the dollar during trading hours. The last hours decline in the dollar helped push the market up to the top of its tight trading range. "There's a lot of uncertainty in the U.S. in terms of what direction where we're heading in," said John M. Burns, portfolio manager at Bingham, Osborn & Scarborough LLC.

Treasurys:

Longer-dated Treasurys fell for the first time this week, hit by Japan's first intervention in six years to rein in the yen's rise. The 10-year and 30-year maturities bore the brunt of the selling in a choppy trading session, as Japan's surprising intervention in the foreign-exchange market spurred many investors to shift money into short-dated notes that are believed to be the favored destination of Japan when parking its dollar proceeds.

Forex:

US Dollar Index Futures DXY, Day's Range: 81.41 - 81.55, closed at $81.47 The US Dollar Index is retracing to test support after encountering resistance at 81.55. The yen plummeted against the dollar Wednesday after Japan intervened in currency markets for the first time in more than six years.

Investors were on alert for another round of intervention after Japan in Asian and European trading pushed the dollar above Y85, with the greenback gaining more than 3% by North American hours. Traders said there was so far little evidence to suggest for certain that Japan had been active in currency markets into the North American session. Brazil and Columbia were also active in supporting the US dollar by intervening in their respective currencies by buying US dollars.