Morning Outlook

Stocks are looking toward a lower opening on the Street a once again the circus that is Greece is causing global concern. I say who cares, the exposure is minimal and we should be focusing on the host of economic data points today as well as continued earnings. After a lull the first two thirds of the week, the economic calendar is full with housing, inflation and jobs data. In addition, we will be hearing from Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and American Express Co. (AXP). So far in premarket action, Dow Jones industrial average futures are down 43, or 0.4 percent, to 11,016. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 6.80, or 0.6 percent, to 1,193.60, while Nasdaq 100 index futures lost 13.50, or 0.7 percent, to 2,012.00.

Wall Street is coming off of a mixed session Wednesday. The blue chips rose for the 3rd consecutive session, advancing 7.86 points, or 0.07 percent to 11,124.92. The S&P 500 Index declined 1.24 points to 1,205.93, a 0.10 percent drop, while the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 4.3, or 0.17 percent to 2,504.61.

Currencies and Commodities

The dollar fell 0.2093% at 92.9950 yen in the currency market. The euro depreciating 0.3955% at $1.3336 while the pound declined 0.0746% to $1.54. Gold dropped $6.50 at $1142.30, while silver lost 0.57% at $17.97. Light, sweet crude fell 76 cents to $82.92 per barrel on the NYMEX; a 0.91% decline.

Economic Calendar

8:30 AM
Producer Price Index: The PPI is a measure of the average price level for a fixed basket of capital and consumer goods received by producers. This is a great indicator of the future CPI as producers will eventually pass the costs onto the consumer. The consensus for the month of March was for an increase of 0.4%, with a 0.1% increase excluding food and energy. February’s PPI reading came in at a decline of 0.6%.

8:30 AM
Jobless Claims: New unemployment claims for the week of April 17th, showing the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time. The fewer people filing for unemployment benefits, the more that have jobs, the more income in the consumer’s pocket, as well as a forecast on the strength of the economy. The consensus is for an increase of 460,000 for first time jobless claims, down from last week’s surprising spike of 484,000. The Labor Department attributed the rise in claims not to economic factors but to continuing administrative snags as offices catch up with claims during the shortened Easter week.

10:00 AM
Existing Home Sales: The number of previously constructed homes, condominium and co-ops in which a sale closed during the month. The consensus for March is a 5.25 million unit annual rate, which is an increase from a pace of 5.02 million in February, where sales fell 0.6% in the month. As a result, months’ supply jumped to 8.6 months from 7.8 in January and 7.2 in December. Big number coming today ahead of the tax credit deadline.