Those who waited with baited breath yesterday as the stock market turned positive and interest rates stayed on edge were rewarded late in the day when our new friend (so far!) Fed Chairwoman “in waiting” Janet Yellen’s prepared speech for this morning was released. Know that her comments so far were taken as a sign the stimulus would continue for now, and that sent rates falling to the best levels we’ve had lately.
Now for the real deal though- she speaks before the Senate Banking Committee at 10a and will have to answer some pointed questions that EVERYONE will be listening too. Today may be an interesting day, and it all may happen before rates are even published so just hang on for the ride.
The Jobless Claims report this morning was slightly worse than estimated but continues to show a very, very slow improvement- let’s see how the markets read that news. International Trade data showed a worsened trade imbalance for the US- bad news that should help rates. Oh, and we better mention the nation’s largest retailer- Wal-Mart- posted lower than expected quarterly revenue which should be viewed by the markets as a negative, especially coming into the holiday shopping season. All this is pointing to a slightly positive pre-open for rates but…
…as if all this wasn’t enough, some treasury auctions later in the day will add to the possible volatility today. Need I say it? Keep your rate locks locked and loaded…
…and have an awesome Thursday J
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