Wall Street Greek: News You Need to Know

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The economic data schedule is semi-heavy today. Two economic reports greeted investors before the market open. Durable Goods Orders and Weekly Jobless Claims highlight the wire, with New Home Sales due up later in the AM. Driving trading, look for positive Orders data to match up against rising concern about a pending GM Bankruptcy. We're betting any early rally is quelled quickly as a result.

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News You Need to Know

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Markets were closed today in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. North Korea is also near to being completely shut down, as the nuisance nation continues to push the buttons of its massive neighbors and other much more significant powers.

Durable Goods Orders

Durable Goods Orders data was released at 8:30 this morning. April Orders increased 1.9%, which compared favorably to the economists' consensus for flat order activity. April's growth was also welcomed news when considering the -2.1% order decline seen in March. Ex-Transportation, orders also improved, this time by 0.8%, which compared against an initially reported decline of 0.6% in March (this may have been revised). Excluding Defense, orders rose again, by 1.0%.

Another green shoot here should offer the market reason for rally this morning; where we end is anyone's guess as the market now seeks a proper value mark. Previously, the market gained as complete empire level failure had been priced in. The market is now seeking confirmation that early shoots have not been premature bloomers that will die off with the next frost, and this report offers some of that.

Weekly Initial Jobless Claims

Also reported at 8:30 this morning, the regular Weekly Jobless Claims data offered a mild rub of good news. There has been some moderation in this number of late, but jobs have continued going away persistently and at a troublesome pace. New Unemployment Claims tallied 623K in the week ending May 23. Bloomberg's consensus of economists was looking for a reading of 635K new benefits filers. This week's data also compared well against the prior week period, which noted filers of 636K (revised from 631K).

This week's data offered mild improvement, but keep in mind that a General Motors (NYSE: GM) bankruptcy looms for June 1st (or so). This would bring a flood of new layoffs, plant closings, and generally higher unemployment as even more dealerships and some suppliers are forced to shut down. Thus, we are working toward another harsh monthly Employment Situation Report next week. The one that follows that should not be much better either, considering GM's pending death/reorganization, or whatever you want to call it. 9% to 10+% unemployment looks like a certainty before this cycle trough is through.

New Home Sales

At 10:00 a.m., look for the New Home Sales data for April. This data has also signaled stabilization of late, but there's not a scent of recovery in the wind as yet. At least homebuilder sentiment has improved from suicidal to deep depression. Economists forecast the annual pace of sales could measure 360K in this latest check, compared to the March pace of 356K.

EIA Petroleum & Natural Gas Inventory, and OPEC News

Because of the Memorial Day holiday, the EIA's Petroleum Status Report has been moved to 11 AM Thursday, from its usual Wednesday reporting. The Natural Gas Storage Report will reach the wire at its usual time today (10:30). Last week's Petroleum data showed a crude oil inventory draw of 2.1 million barrels. Oil had been on the rise anyway, but with a rare draw from storage, the black commodity had all the more reason for it. We surpassed the $60 mark on crude, but that's very likely due to its inverse relationship with the dollar and dollar softness. Today, OPEC also chimed in, with news that it would keep production quotas steady.

News from the Capitol

At 5:45 p.m., Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher will address the Washington Association of Money Managers on the topic of the economic crisis. Keeping with Washington, President Obama will hook up with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas today. "The Greek" sees the greatest risk regarding Obama and his foreign policy as the man's honest nature. Ironically, it's also his greatest asset. He does not seem capable of keeping a secret though, and I'm referring to his commentary after first meeting with Israeli officials months ago. We thought he sort of showed too much of his hand back then (look through our archives).

We think his recent offering of an Iranian time-line has given the Iranians, and whoever else may lie in the weeds, opportunity to steal initiative in what seems an inevitable war scenario. Luckily, we suspect the Israelis are well aware of that too...

Ackman vs. Target & Other Corporate News Drivers

Bill Ackman, of Pershing Square Capital, has got his sights set on Target (NYSE: TGT) today, as he seeks board seats at the company's annual shareholders' meeting. Heinz (NYSE: HNZ) will hold its analyst meeting, where it is expected to provide its outlook for fiscal 2010. The FDA may offer important findings on Johnson & Johnson's (NYSE: JNJ) computer-assisted sedation system that might help limit Anesthesiologist error and maybe even malpractice, we speculate.

Thursday's earnings schedule highlights news from Costco (Nasdaq: COST), Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), Angeion (Nasdaq: ANGN), Arctic Cat (Nasdaq: ACAT), Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE: BNS), Big Lots (NYSE: BIG), Canadien Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM), Esterline Tech (NYSE: ESL), Fred's (Nasdaq: FRED), FreeSeas (Nasdaq: FREE), Frontline (NYSE: FRO), Genesco (NYSE: GCO), J. Crew (NYSE: JCG), Jackson Hewitt Tax Service (NYSE: JTX), Jamba Juice (Nasdaq: JMBA), Marvell Tech (Nasdaq: MRVL), Mentor Graphics (Nasdaq: MENT), Munro Muffler (Nasdaq: MNRO), Novell (Nasdaq: NOVL), Omnivision (Nasdaq: OVTI), Perry Ellis (Nasdaq: PERY), Sanderson Farms (Nasdaq: SAFM), Shoe Carnival (Nasdaq: SCVL), Sonic Solutions (Nasdaq: SNIC), Wet Seal (Nasdaq: WTSLA), Toronto Dominion (NYSE: TD), Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) and more.