It's beginning to look a lot like some market players are already on holiday. Take a look at Europe. Markets there are flat to lower, and trading volume is thin. US stocks look set to open higher as of now, and there should be some news to keep traders interested today. Tokyo stocks edged up overnight to a seven month high on a weakening yen.
The flow of corporate news is likely to start waning today ahead of what could be a quiet session tomorrow. Making headlines today will be the Philadelphia Fed when its survey is released at noon. Our Steve Liesman will cover all the news from Philly on Power Lunch. Other data this morning includes leading economic indicators and final Q3 GDP but a big focus in our coverage will be the third and final CNBC holiday central survey. Liesman will dissect the findings and tell us what the surprising latest survey says about the consumer, economy and retailers this holiday season.
Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker speaks today on the economic outlook. We'll be watching to see what he says about inflation after the conflicting readings we had in the past week from PPI and CPI.
CORPORATE NEWS
Raytheon was in the final stages of firming a deal to sell its aircraft manufacturing unit to Canadian buyout firm Onex and Goldman Sachs Capital partners for $3.1 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Journal also reports that Highland Capital, a hedge fund with a stake in Delphi Corp, plans to send a letter on its own recapitalization plan for the company to Delphi's board. The plan would counter a proposal from a group of investors led by Appaloosa Management and Cerberus Capital.
The CEO of French advertising group Publicis CEO visits Squawk Box today after the company made a $1.3 billion bid for online advertising and marketing firm Digitas.
Buyers are circling India's fourth biggest mobile phone operator, including Vodafone which plans to meet Thursday on a $13 billion bid for India's Hutchison Essar.
SIGN OF THE TIMESIBM said it will no longer grant outside directors stock options. The IBM directors will now be paid a $200,000 retainer that they can take in cash or IBM shares.