27Oct2015 Pre-Market Commentary: Futures Down Fractionally, Oil Prices Sliding, U.S. Dollar Becoming Volatile, FOMC Meeting Starts Today

Written by Gary

U.S. stock future indexes were fractionally down this morning before the so-so financial reports USD Durable Goods Orders (SEP): -1.2% actual vs -1.5% expected, prior revised down to -3.0%. WTI ‘Texas Tea’ has fallen to 43.19 which is generally accepted as the last stop before a complete support failure.

Markets are expected to open lower and volatility is assured today and tomorrow.

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	European markets are lower today with shares in Germany off the most. The DAX is down 0.67% while France’s CAC 40 is off 0.59% and London’s FTSE 100 is lower by 0.45%.

The Fed’s meeting today and tomorrow is expected to keep benchmark interest rates near zero, but is not the one we have been waiting for. It may ‘signal’ whether the Fed will raise rates at its next gathering in December.

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	UPS profit tops estimates as dollar weighs on revenue CHICAGO (Reuters) – Package delivery company United Parcel Service Inc posted a higher quarterly profit on Tuesday, despite its revenue being hurt by the strong U.S. dollar, and reiterated its full-year earnings outlook.
	Ford Motor reports third-quarter higher profit, but misses estimate DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co reported sharply higher quarterly profit on Tuesday, driven by its record quarterly performance in North America, but missed Wall Street estimates because of higher taxes.
	Oil prices fall as glut worries worsen LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices fell on Tuesday, extending losses into a third week, on worries over a supply glut and with U.S. inventory data expected to show another increase in crude stocks.
	Global stocks rally stalls as investors eye Fed, BOJ, Apple LONDON (Reuters) – World stocks and the dollar dipped on Tuesday, as investors locked in some of the sharp gains seen over the last month ahead of the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting and results from gadget giant Apple.
	Stock futures slip ahead of Fed meet; results in focus (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were slightly lower ahead of the start of a Federal Reserve policy meeting and as investors digested a barrage of earnings reports.
	Pfizer profit beats as vaccine sales rise (Reuters) – U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc reported a much better-than-expected quarterly profit, mainly helped by demand for its pneumonia vaccine and breast cancer drug, Ibrance.
	DuPont sees sales falling on strong dollar, weak farm demand (Reuters) – Chemicals and seed producer DuPont said it expects full-year sales to fall by 11-12 percent, hurt by a strong dollar and weak demand for pesticides and insecticides, particularly in Brazil.
	Alibaba revenue rises 32 percent, beating expectations (Reuters) – Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd reported a 32 percent rise in second-quarter revenue, beating analyst estimates, even as the value of goods transacted on its platforms grew at a slower pace.
	Comcast posts in-line results, helped by ‘Minions,’ Internet unit growth NEW YORK (Reuters) – Comcast Corp, the cable and entertainment company, posted in-line third-quarter results on Tuesday, helped by its NBCUniversal’s box-office hit “Minions” and growth in its high-speed Internet and business services divisions.
	Durable Goods Orders Tumble YoY For 6th Consecutive Month As Core Capex Collapses Most Since 2009 After a significant downward revsision to August’s data (to -2.3% MoM), September Durable Goods New Orders dropped 1.2% (better than the expected 1.5% drop only due to historical revisions) for the 5th monthly drop this year. Year-over-Year, Durable Goods orders tumbled 3.6%, accelerating weakness from August amid major revisions. This is the 6th consecutive YoY drop, something not experienced outside a recession. Under the covers it was just as ugly with Non-defense, ex-aircraft orders dropping 0.3% (notably missing expectations) after a huge downward revision for August. What is most worrisome, however, is the collapse in Core Capex YoY down 7.9% NSA – the worst since 2009. As Core Capex collapses… Not a pretty picture to hike rates into…. Charts: Bloomberg
	NatGas Tanks Under $2, Crude Pushes 2-Month Lows After US SPR Decision & BP, Saudi Comments The overnight tumble lows in most ‘risk’ assets is being revisited by oil and gas prices following unhelpful comments from Genel’s Tony Hayward that “the next 6-12 months will become challenging” for many in the industry, more details emerging with regard US selling SPR crude to cover budget needs, and finally OPEC’s Saudi officials proclaiming that crude prices should be set by the market. NatGas (Nov contract) tumbled under $2 and WTI (Dec) cracks to fresh 2-month lows, erasing well more than half of the August month-end panic-buying surge… Genelâ€™s Hayward Says Some Oil Companies Wonâ€™t Survive Next Yr Next 6-12 mos. will â€œbecome challengingâ€ for many in industry, Chairman Tony Hayward says at conference in Cape Town. Capital mkts closed for many participants Mkt oversupplied by 2m-3m b/d Shale oil â€œcompletely overwhelmedâ€ underlying demand Saudi production strategy â€œis working;â€ U.S. rig counts, output dropping Mkt will need 18-30 mos. to clear w/o intervention Supply-side â€œwild cardsâ€ include Iran, Libya: both could ramp up Oil prices will recover; $50 wonâ€™t sustain industry Congressional leaders proposed to sell 58 million barrels of oil from U.S. emergency reserves over six years starting in fiscal 2018 to help pay for a budget deal that ends mandatory spending cuts, according to a copy of the bill posted to a congressional website. Led to an ugly last 24 hours…
	Fed Strives for a Clear Signal on Interest Rates As 2016 approaches, pressure is on the central bank and Janet Yellen to better manage expectations for rates and the U.S. economy.
	Hedge-Fund Priest: Thou Shalt Make Money A Greek Orthodox priest also runs a hedge fund and boasts of his ability to â€œcrashâ€ stocks in between baptisms, funerals and Sunday sermons.
	In China’s Alleyways, Underground Banks Move Money Facing economic uncertainty, many Chinese use underground networks to send cash abroad.
	Early Headlines: U.S. Budget Deal, Asia And Europe Stocks Lower, Asia Growth Mixed, U.S. Sails By Chinese Reefs, 2 Natural Gas, Electricity Death Spiral And More Written by Econintersect Early Bird Headlines 27 October 2015 Econintersect: Here are some of the headlines we found to help you start your day. For more headlines see our afternoon feature for GEI members, What We Read Today, which has many more headlines and a number of article discussions to keep you abreast of what we have found interesting.
	Economic Preview: Thereâ€™s only one question about the Fed meeting Gross domestic product is expected to slow down in the third quarter and the Fed will stay on hold to see if it is temporary.