- Stocks May Rise Further after Fed Waves on 'Risk Trade'
- Week Ahead: Investors Go for Quality, Assess Recovery
- Friday Preview: 'Risk Trade' Stalling; Dollar Watch Continues
- Jobless Claims, Wal-Mart Earnings to Sway Sentiment Thursday
- Major Retail Earnings in Focus Ahead of Shopping Season
- Look Ahead: 'Risk On' Sentiment Could Fuel Rally Further
- Week Ahead: Stocks Search for Catalyst in Quiet Week
- Unemployment May Crack 10%, Job Losses to Bottom
- Look Ahead: Choppy Trade Likely, Cisco to Boost Techs
- Will Fed Change Its Tune?
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- Stocks Overvalued, Recession Will Return: Meredith Whitney
- Has Twitter's Finest Hours (Seconds) Come and Gone?
- BofA Ex-Counsel: I Was 'Stunned' When I Got Fired
- U.S. May Wind Up Green With Envy
- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Almost Doubles Wal-Mart Holdings During Summer
- CNBC Video: Warren Buffett & Bill Gates - Keeping American Great
- Solar Emerges From A Dark Period
- Time Warner to Spin Off AOL on December 9
- Stanford Receiver to Release Funds Of Frozen Acounts
- Millions May Have to Repay Part of Obama Tax Credit
- Answers to Your Questions: A Path to Economic Disaster?
- 5 Ways to Play the Chinese Markets: Analyst
- Meredith Whitney: Turns Bearish
- 3 Stock Plays on Rising College Costs
- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Almost Doubles Wal-Mart Holdings During Summer
- Nov. 16: Unusual Volume Leaders
- Getting to the Heart of the Merck-Abbott Embargo Break
- What MGM's Sale Could Say About Value of Content
- My Ratings on Lowe's & Home Depot: Analyst
- Stocks May Rise Further after Fed Waves on 'Risk Trade'
- Obama in China Grapples with Economic Strains
- Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Boosts Stake in Wal-Mart
- Microsoft Co-founder Allen Diagnosed with Cancer
- Time Warner to Spin Off AOL on December 9
- Gates Boosts Waste Management, Coca Cola Stakes
- What's Kept Stock Rally Going? Fear, Not Confidence
- US Cities With Most Underwater Mortgages
- Citi Shares, A Strange Indicator Of Unemployment?
Market Insider
Text Size 
Stocks could slog around again Wednesday as the final days of summer fade and trading volume fades away as well.
"For the next few days, we'll drift back and forth, and it won't mean a lot," said UBS head equities block trader Robert Harrington.
Tuesday's market was punctuated with more bleak news on housing and banking. The S&P/Case Shiller home price index showed a 15.9 percent drop from a year ago, but some price declines were seen as moderating.
In mid afternoon, the FDIC said that 117 banks were on its watch list at the end of the second quarter, up from 90 at the end of the first quarter. Banks also set aside $50.2 billion in loan loss provisions during the second quarter, up from $11.4 billion in the year earlier period.
On Wednesday's economic calendar, durable goods data is due at 8:30 a.m. Also, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart is scheduled to speak about U.S. inflation at Georgia State at 8:30 a.m.
Market Doldrums
Stocks were slightly higher Tuesday with the Dow finishing up 26 points, the Nasdaq off 3.62 points and the S&P up 4.67. Stock traders are keeping an eye on energy markets, which moved higher as a quickly developing Hurricane Gustav looked set to move into the Gulf of Mexico over the Labor Day weekend, threatening oil and gas production areas. Not surprising, energy stocks were the top performers, gaining 1.8 percent.
Traders say Gustav could be the biggest threat to Gulf oil facilities since hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
"You have a lot of people on vacation. I don't think there's a lot of conviction about what's going to happen in the near term," said Harrington of the stock market. He said the same old issues face the market, including the soured housing and credit markets. Institutions continue to deleverage and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are on the horizon as major issues.
"Money is lining up to buy mortgage assets as cheaply as possible. I still think there's a lot that has to go on there," Harrington said. But he added buyers are moving slowly. "It's hard to come flying in after equities when you know there are these other assets that are rather cheap, and you have people that want to sell them so they can start over again. It's hard for me to get too optimistic about stocks."
Oil Drill
Weekly oil and gasoline inventory data is released at 10:35 a.m. Platts analysts' survey shows crude oil stocks are expected to be up by 1.5 million barrels, and gasoline stocks are expected to have dropped by 2.8 million barrels. Distillate stocks are expected to have risen by 900,000 barrels.
Crude futures [US@CL.1
Loading...
()
] finished up $1.16 per barrel to $116.27, after rising above $117 on Tuesday. Natural gas futures were nearly 6 percent higher, closing at $8.728 per million British thermal units.
The dollar gained 0.74 percent against the euro to a level of $1.4645.
Stocks to Watch
J.Crew [JCG
Loading...
()
], after the bell, saw its stock take a hit after it reported second quarter net of $18.1 million, down from $20.6 million. The company warned its third quarter and full year results would miss targets and said a system upgrade disrupted its phone and internet sales trend.
Borders Group [BGP
Loading...
()
], on the other hand, rose after it reported a narrower loss for the second quarter.
Petrochina [PTR
Loading...
()
] reports earnings overnight, and Dollar Tree reports ahead of the bell.
Questions? Comments?
- Where, what, how.
- CNBC's Jim Goldman asks: Has the sun begun to set on Twitter? Data suggests its best days are over.
- Everyone wanted a piece of Madoff's "Bullship"--the famous buoy sold for $7,500 at auction. You won't believe these prices.
- De Loach Vineyards is selling its pinot noir the old fashioned way, helping to cut energy and transportation costs.
- Why are the Chinese concerned about the progress of U.S. health care legislation?
- CNBC's Maria Bartiromo talks to rapper Snoop Dogg about brand identity in both business and music.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes