Powering Up Today on Two Points

Two positive economic reports are powering up stocks this morning, with the SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA) and the PowerShares QQQ (Nasdaq: QQQ) up from 0.4% to 0.6%. Greatly improved Consumer Sentiment and Leading Economic Indicator data points have patched up a mostly distressing week. However, Ben Bernanke speaks on Saturday, so investors may hedge bets before the close; that said, expectations will be for a dovish discussion.

Economic Events

The Thomson Reuters/ University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index improved to 83.7 at its mid-May reading, up from 76.4 in the final reading for April. The improvement was also well above the economists’ consensus expectation for a read of 78.0. As discussed in our weekly preview, this report comes a few days after retail sales data was reported for the month of April. That data was likewise better than economists expected, and so offers lift for stocks this morning.

The Conference Board published its monthly Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) Index this morning. The LEI improved by 0.6% in April, better than the economists’ consensus expectation for a 0.3% improvement. In March, this measure fell by 0.1%. Another positive data point matched against a mostly poor weekly flow of economic data supports stocks at the close of the week.

Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Narayana Kocherlakota sits on a panel at the University of Chicago Booth School, discussing monetary policy and financial regulation. On Saturday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is speaking about America’s long-term economic prospects.

Commodity Markets (9:40 AM ET)

WTI Crude	+0.8%
Brent Crude	+0.1%
NYMEX Natural Gas	+0.43%
RBOB Gasoline	+1.32%
Gold Spot	-0.48%
Silver Spot	-0.10%
COMEX Copper	+1.02%
CBOT Corn	-0.12%
CBOT Wheat	-0.51%
CBOT Soybeans	+0.14%
ICE Cocoa	+0.7%
ICE Sugar	+0.1%
ICE Orange Juice Conc.	-1.5%
CME Live Cattle	-0.02%

Overseas Markets

EUROPE	9:50 AM	ASIA/PACIFIC	CLOSE
EURO STOXX 50	+0.15%	NIKKEI 225	+0.67%
German DAX	+0.07%	Hang Seng	+0.17%
CAC 40	+0.47%	S&P/ASX 200	+0.29%
FTSE 100	+0.31%	Korean KOSPI	+0.79%
Greek ASE	+0.94%	BSE India SENSEX	+0.19%

Markets are closed in Hong Kong and South Korea for Buddha’s birthday.

Corporate Events

The day offers the likely loud annual meetings of J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP), Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG), Aetna (NYSE: AET), Aon (NYSE: AON), Pepco (NYSE: POM) and Macy’s (NYSE: M). The day’s earnings slate includes China Auto Logistics (Nasdaq: CALI), Euroseas (Nasdaq: ESEA), iSoftStone (NYSE: ISS), Donaldson Co. (NYSE: DCI), FNB United (Nasdaq: FNBN), Rit Technologies (Nasdaq: RITT) and Stage Stores (NYSE: SSI).

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