Wall Street Greek: Financial News Preview

Visit the front pages of Wall Street Greek and Market Moving News to see our current coverage of economic reports and financial markets.

The day before a three-day weekend kicks off is typically a slow one on Wall Street, especially during the summer months. For the few bankers, analysts, traders and portfolio managers left standing, the day offers a quiet office and a chance to catch up on things left behind. For most on Wall Street and Main Street, however, Friday offers opportunity to get a relaxing weekend started early. A good portion of businesses will let employees leave the office early today, if they have not taken the day off already. This makes for a low volume trading day in the markets, and the economic slate is accommodatingly blank. The financial news wire is likewise quiet.

(Article interests: SHLD, BAIRY.PK, DIA, SPY, QQQQ, NYX, DOG, SDS, QLD, XLF, IWM, TWM, IWD, SDK).

Financial News Preview

The stock market is open all day today, but the bond market closes at 2 p.m.

Bank of Japan Monetary Policy Decision

The cautious Bank of Japan has little room to play with its interest rates, and so the decision to leave rates unchanged came as no surprise to investors this morning. The BOJ kept its unsecured overnight call loan rate unchanged at 0.1%. However, the BOJ offered some reason for joy, as it noted the situation in Japan was deteriorating at a slower pace. This came in stark contrast to last month's dire notation from the bank. The NIKKEI 225 still fell by 0.4% today, but outperformed other major Asian markets. The BOJ also declared it would accept certain foreign government bonds as collateral in its open market operations.

Bernanke & Obama Go to School

Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke will address graduating lawyers at Boston College Law School, while President Obama delivers the commencement address to the graduating class of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.

German Elections

Germany holds presidential elections on Saturday. As pressure builds on European economies and summer warmth brings the unemployed to the streets, expect pressure to likewise build for the turnover of several governments across the pond.

Corporate News Drivers

The day's very light earnings schedule highlights reports from Sears (Nasdaq: SHLD), British Airways (Nasdaq: BAIRY.PK), Hutchison Telecommunications (NYSE: HTX), Indigo Books (IDG.TO), Met-Pro (NYSE: MPR), Mobile Telesystems (NYSE: MBT), Yingli Green Energy (NYSE: YGE) and a few more.