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The Day Ahead

Good morning, on this the 343rd day of 2004.

Housing starts in Canada bounced back in November1. In the US, mortgage applications rose last week2.

Perhaps the housing sector will remain alive for a while yet, given economic results on both sides of the border seem to be signalling a slowdown in growth, rates may remain where they are for a while. Yesterday’s Bank of Canada rate policy announcement3 that held interest rates steady, marked a significant turnabout from only a few weeks ago where a rate hike was expected by virtually all.

That just goes to show that sometimes fundamentals or perceptions of same turn (almost) as fast as our charts do.

In a “shades of Enron” deja vu moment, China Aviation Oil Chief Arrested:

Police on Wednesday arrested the suspended chief executive of the main supplier of jet fuel to China following massive trading losses that led to allegations of insider trading. Chen Jiulin, 43, was detained after flying back to Singapore from China to answer questions from investigators about the biggest financial scandal in the city-state since the collapse of Britain’s Barings Bank in 1995.

What lies ahead in markets for today? After a big down day within a strong uptrend we generally expect either a significant attempt at a reversal, or, a narrow range “pause” day before possible continuation. Of course there is always the outside chance that the market could continue much lower straight away. Today’s market-moving economic news feature is the weekly petroleum status report, due out at 10:30.

US Market Calendar

  • 7:00 am: MBA Mortgage Applications Survey
  • 10:30 am: EIA Weekly Petroleum Status Report
  • 11:00 am: Consumer Comfort Index for the week ended Dec. 3
  • 1:30 pm: Treasury refunding, 5 year note

Canadian Market Calendar

  • 8:15 am: Housing Starts – Nov.
  • 2-year bond auction

Earnings and the Federal Reserve

For earnings highlights, please see today's WSJ Earnings Calendar.

For a list of upcoming speeches, congressional testimony, Federal Open Market Committee material, and statistical releases, please visit the What's Next page of The Federal Reserve Board website. Recently released Federal Reserve Board material, including market moving FOMC decisions and speeches by members, will be found on their What's New page.

1 Housing Starts Bounce Back in November

2 U.S. mortgage applications rise last week-MBA

3 Bank of Canada Leaves Overnight Rate at 2.5 Percent

04.12.08 09:03 #