The Morning Morsel: Zero Rates, Earnings and 1157

Posted by UpsideTrader
on October 5th, 2010

Japan’s central bank cut its key interest rate to virtually zero in a surprise move Tuesday and is looking to set up a $60 billion fund to buy government bonds and other assets as it tries to inject life into a faltering economy. The Bank of Japan voted unanimously to set its overnight call rate target to a range of zero to 0.1 percent, returning to zero rates for the first time in more than four years.

First and foremost for the U.S. markets on Tuesday is the ISM non-manufacturing data for September, scheduled for release at 10 a.m. Eastern time. The consensus estimate is 52.3 vs. 51.5.

Remember Jerome Kerviel, the rogue trader at Soc Gen? Kerviel had placed a €50 billion euros of bet on stock-market futures — more than the entire market capitalization of the bank at the time. Anyway will be making little rocks out of big rocks for the next three years and has been ordered to pay back $6.7 billion. I always laugh at these “paybacks”, like the guy has the money in safekeeping in his Christmas club account.

1128-1130 is current SPX support and the bulls need a close above Thursday’s high of 1157 before they can start pound their chests again. Alcoa kicks thing off Thursday after the close and earnings are right around the corner. 88 days until tax increases kick in.

My Premium Site is off to another great start for October. Some short term profits that have been either partially or fully monetized so far this month include: QSFT +4.1%, CML +4.0%, AAU +12.0%, NXTM +4.5%. For past performance or questions about my site, please email me at upsidetrader@gmail.com

Have a great day trading.

Joe

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The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.