Yesterday was Groundhog Day for stocks as early weakness was again met with buying. Today, stock futures are pointing to a slightly higher open ahead of several economic reports. The numbers scheduled to be released today include weekly jobless claims data, advance retail sales figures, import prices, business inventories, and natural gas inventory levels. Volatility spiked higher in the morning before fading by the end of Wednesday’s session. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) has remained near the $14 level for a month and the consolidation will most likely remain until we see a catalyst. Geopolitical risks remain but investors continue to shun option protection as selling picks up on any upturn in stocks.
Treasuries are little changed, having pared earlier small gains. Bonds overseas are flat to modestly higher as stock are slightly lower. The 10-year Treasury yield is at 2.73% after testing near 2.70% during yesterday’s session. Chinese year over year production and retail sales slowed, and officials suggested more defaults are inevitable but downplayed and noted the government will try to ensure they are not systemic. The Treasury sells $13 B in reopened 30-year bonds at noon today after yesterday’s 10-year auction saw strong demand. The Senate Banking Committee holds hearings on Fed nominees Fischer, Powell, and Brainard, which were postponed from March 4 due to weather.
Stock Stories:
Target (TGT) –Covered up – Information has surfaced that Execs at the retailer were warned about the Credit Card breach but did nothing. The retailer's management in Minneapolis was warned after malware detected a breach and before the critical data was offloaded from Target's servers. Ultimately, as many as 40M credit card numbers and account information on 70M customers ended up flowing out of Target.
