Stocks Antsy Ahead of Bernanke

Stocks are antsy ahead of the Federal Reserve’s big announce- ments. We are waiting on a new FOMC Monetary Policy Statement, updated Fed economic forecasts and a press conference from the Fed chief within which he may announce his retirement. There is an awful lot to worry about, so stocks are rightly antsy today. For more in-depth analysis and research visit our stock market blog.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Market ETF	June 18	Year-to-Date
SPDR S&P 500 (SPY)	-0.1%	+16.3%
SPDR Dow Jones (DIA)	-0.1%	+17.2%
PowerShares (QQQ)	-0.1%	+12.9%

Economic Events

It’s Fed day, with the FOMC Monetary Policy Statement due for report at 2:00 PM ET. Given recent talk of tapering, the market is on edge, waiting for any information that will either clear up concern or exacerbate it. The Fed will also make its quarterly update to its economic forecasts, including estimates for GDP, employment and inflation.

In a recent report, I said the Fed had better fix this mess, regarding the tapering issue it has created, which in turn has led to mortgage rate rise. As far as the economic forecasts go, I suggest that the Fed could produce an economic shocker for the market to digest today when it lowers its economic forecasts to more appropriate levels. The monetary policy release and economic forecasts will be followed by a press conference by Chairman Bernanke, in which I’m sure he will be asked when he’s leaving thanks to the goof of President Obama the other day. President Obama made it clear that the Fed Chief would be leaving soon; if it happens today, the market will be very upset.

Last week’s mortgage activity report covering the period ending June 7 showed mortgage applications increased, but my article entitled, Sell Real Estate Securities as False Hope Built Today on Imperfect Data, showed that the Memorial Day holiday weekend likely perverted the result. This week, I was proven right. For the period ending June 14, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey showed the Market Composite Index fell by 3.3%. Mortgage rates were mixed, but mostly rose, though to a lesser degree than in recent weeks. The Refinance Index and the Purchase Index each fell by 3.0%. What happens next depends on the Fed.

Overseas Markets

EUROPE	9:04 AM ET	ASIA/PACIFIC	CLOSE
EURO STOXX 50	-0.3%	NIKKEI 225	+1.8%
German DAX	-0.1%	Hang Seng	-1.1%
CAC 40	-0.3%	S&P/ASX 200	+1.0%
FTSE 100	-0.4%	Korean KOSPI	-0.6%
Greek ASE	+0.1%	BSE India SENSEX	+0.1%

Commodity Markets (8:50 AM ET)

WTI Crude	+0.0%
Brent Crude	+0.2%
NYMEX Natural Gas	+0.8%
RBOB Gasoline	+0.4%
Gold Spot	+0.3%
Silver Spot	+0.1%
COMEX Copper	-0.2%
CBOT Corn	-0.2%
CBOT Wheat	-0.3%
CBOT Soybeans	-0.0%
ICE Cocoa	+0.3%
ICE Sugar	+0.1%
ICE Orange Juice Conc.	-1.7%
CME Live Cattle	+0.2%

The regular Petroleum Status Report is due at 10:30 AM ET. Last week’s report covering the week ending June 7 showed crude oil inventory increased by 2.5 million barrels, and remained above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year. Total motor gasoline inventory increased by 2.7 million barrels and rose to above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year.

While I do not usually reference psychic analysis as a factor in decision making, I had a dream last night that the price of orange juice doubled… make of it what you will, but it was the weirdest thing.

Corporate Events

The corporate wire has Wharton’s “leadership conference,” with participants including CEOs from Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ). EADS (Nasdaq: EADSY.PK) is hosting a breakfast meeting with investors in Paris, at the Paris Air Show of course. Flower Foods (NYSE: FLO) is splitting 3-for-2. PTC Therapeutics is expected to price 6.9 million shares at $13 to $16 per in its offering.

The Wells Fargo Health Care Conference offers the presentations of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE: ABT), Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG) and Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (Nasdaq: MDRX). The Jefferies Global Consumer Conference presents Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO).

Look for earnings from Actuant (NYSE: ATU), China Hydroelectric (NYSE: CHC), ChinaEdu (Nasdaq: CEDU), Cinedigm Digital Cinema (Nasdaq: CIDM), CLARCOR (NYSE: CLC), Crown Crafts (Nasdaq: CRWS), FedEx (NYSE: FDX), Finisar (Nasdaq: FNSR), Jabil Circuit (NYSE: JBL), Micron Technology (NYSE: MU), Red Hat (NYSE: RHT) and Steelcase (NYSE: SCS).

Today’s biggest gainers and losers were:

BIGGEST GAINERS	% Gain	BIGGEST LOSERS	% Drop
MedicNova (Nasdaq: MNOV)	+23%	Orchard Supply (NYSE: OSH)	-47%
Oxygen Bio (Nasdaq: OXBT)	+20%	Kingtone Wireless (Nasdaq: KONE)	-NA%
RIT Technologies (Nasdaq: RITT)	+11%	Vanda Pharma (Nasdaq: VNDA)	-15%
AV Homes (Nasdaq: AVHI)	+10%	Tetra Tech (Nasdaq: TTEK)	-15%
Linktone (Nasdaq: LTON)	+6%	Entertainment Gaming (NYSE: EGT)	-9%
Gevo (Nasdaq: GEVO)	+9%	Net Element (Nasdaq: NETE)	-NA%
Promotora (Nasdaq: PRIS)	+16%	Power Solutions (Nasdaq: PSIX)	-6%
Amtech (Nasdaq: ASYS)	+NA%	Vitesse Semi (Nasdaq: VTSS)	-10%
Sarepta (Nasdaq: SRPT)	+8%	ETRACS Monthly (Nasdaq: RWXL)	-NA%
Erickson Air-Crane (NYSE: EAC)	+6%	Oramed (Nasdaq: ORMP)	-5%

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Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.