First Look
Major indices are relatively unchanged before the open Thursday. Attorney General William Barr is scheduled to hold a press conference at 9:30 a.m. ET before he delivers Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s final report to Congress at noon. While it will be a redacted version of the final report, select members of Congress will get a less-redacted version. According to Bloomberg, U.S. and Chinese officials are scheduling two more rounds of high-level trade talks, with hopes of reaching a deal by the end of May. The S&P 500 is down -0.03%, the Nasdaq is down -0.06%, the Dow Jones is down -0.07%.
Today's Sentiment
BullishQuote of the Day
Grief is the price we pay for love.
Queen Elizabeth II
Daily Action Trade
Stocks on the Move
United Rentals, Inc. (URI), Snap-on Incorporated (SNA) and E*TRADE Financial Corp (ETFC) are moving higher this morning, while J B Hunt Transport Services Inc (JBHT), Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) and American Express Company (AXP) are headed lower. PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP), Snap-on Incorporated (SNA) and J M Smucker Co (SJM) were upgraded by analysts this morning, while Morgan Stanley (MS), Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co (RS) and Barclays PLC (BCS) were downgraded.
International Markets
Stocks in Asia are down. The Nikkei 225 is down -0.84%, the Hang Seng is down -0.54%, the Shanghai SE Composite Index is down -0.4% the Mumbai Sensex is down -0.34% and the Australia ASX All Ordinaries is down -0.01%. In Europe stocks are mixed. The Euro Stoxx 50 is up 0.49%, the DAX is up 0.39%, the CAC 40 is up 0.29% and the FTSE 100 is down -0.18%.
Futures & Currencies
Energy futures are mixed today. The price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil is up 0.25 at 64.01 per barrel. Brent crude is up 0.21 at 71.83 per barrel. Natural Gas is down -0.01 at 2.51. Precious metals are mixed this morning. Gold is up 2.63 at 1276.61 per ounce. Platinum is down -1.67 at 887.55 while silver is up 0.02 at 14.96. The dollar is mixed compared to the major currencies today. The greenback is up against the euro, down against the Yen and up against the Pound.
Put/Call Ratio
Yesterday, 1,268,430 call contracts traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) compared to 692,802 put contracts. The single-session put/call was 0.55 while the 20-day moving average is now at 0.61.
Today's Economic Calendar
| No. | What's Happening? | Period | Release Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Retail Sales | Mar | 08:30 |
| 2 | Initial Claims | 04/13 | 08:30 |
| 3 | Continuing Claims | 04/06 | 08:30 |
| 4 | Philadelphia Fed Index | Apr | 08:30 |
| 5 | Business Inventories | Feb | 10:00 |
| 6 | Leading Indicators | Mar | 10:00 |
| 7 | EIA Natural Gas Inventories | 04/13 | 10:30 |
