Day Traders Diary

8/26/14

U.S. equity futures hold slim gains amid upbeat action overseas. The S&P 500 futures trade three points above fair value, placing the benchmark index on track to revisit the 2,000 level at the open. Yesterday, the S&P 500 made its first ever appearance above that mark before surrendering a portion of its advance during afternoon action. It is worth mentioning that the Monday advance lacked conviction with the NYSE floor volume (482 million) representing the lowest total of the year.

Participants will receive several data points today with Durable Orders for July (Briefing.com consensus 7.0%) set to be released at 8:30 ET, while the June Case-Shiller 20-city Index (consensus 8.3%) and the FHFA Housing Price Index for June will both be reported at 9:00 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the Consumer Confidence report for August, which will cross the wires at 10:00 ET (expected 88.3).

Treasuries hover just above their flat lines with the 10-yr yield down one basis point at 2.38%.

In U.S. corporate news of note:

Best Buy (BBY 30.65, -1.34): -4.2% after its cautious guidance for the second half of the year overshadowed its better than expected earnings
DSW (DSW 32.00, +3.63): +12.8% following its better than expected results and upbeat guidance
Tim Hortons (THI 82.25, +7.53): +10.1% after confirming its merger with Burger King (BKW 32.18, -0.22). THI shareholders will receive CAD65.50 and 0.8025 shares of BKW, which represents a total value of $94.05/share.
Trina Solar (TSL 12.48, -0.89): -6.7% in reaction to below-consensus revenue
Reviewing overnight developments:

Major Asian indices ended lower. Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.4%, Japan's Nikkei -0.6%, and China's Shanghai Composite -1.0%
In economic data:
Japan's Corporate Services Price Index rose 3.7%, as expected (previous 3.7%)
New Zealand's trade surplus swung to a deficit of NZD692 million (expected deficit of NZD475 million; prior surplus of NZD247 million)
Singapore's Industrial Production rose 2.7% month-over-month (expected 2.0%; previous 0.2%), while the year-over-year reading jumped 3.3% (consensus 3.7%; last 0.8%)
In news:
The People's Bank of China drained liquidity from the market for the ninth consecutive session in the amount of CNY10 billion.
Markets in Europe trade higher. Germany's DAX +0.2%, Great Britain's FTSE +0.5%, and France's CAC +0.8%. Elsewhere, Italy's MIB +0.7% and Spain's IBEX +0.8%
Economic data was limited:
Great Britain's BBA Mortgage Approvals came in at 42,800 (expected 44,200; prior 43,200)
Among news of note:
Russian President Vladimir Putin is meeting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Belarus today in an attempt to de-escalate the conflict between the two countries.

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