Chicago Fed National Activity Index

The Past Week, In A Nutshell What Happened: Last week ended negative on weakness concentrated in heavily-weighted index constituents. Remember This: “The Fed essentially acknowledged they were a bit behind the curve with their forecast on the economy, as projections needed tweaking to reflect...

U.S. stocks were higher on Monday as the S&P 500 traded above the 2,000 mark for the first time ever, creating a new historical intra-day high of 2001.94. The S&P 500's milestone came on a relatively quiet day for stocks. A light news-load isn't necessarily a bad thing for the...

U.S. stocks were lower as leaders from Britain, France, Germany and Canada have all made their respective countries position clear that Russia will face further sanctions if air investigators are not given full access to the crash site in Ukraine. Israel continued its ground offensive in the...

U.S. stocks rose as investors as the S&P 500 traded at new historical highs and clearing its 2014 losses. Investors shrugged off disappointing earning reports and economic data and chose to focus on several prominent merger and acquisition activities. The S&P 500 hit a new intra-day...

Major indices crawled higher on light volume, which was to be expected. The Nasdaq to new highs that haven't been seen since September 2000, while the other major indices failed to hold on to earlier gains, but still finished in positive territory. On Thursday, the markets will take a much...

Futures Higher Following Japanese Elections U.S. equity futures rose in early pre-market trade following a positive result from the Japanese elections for the upper house of Parliament over the weekend. The elections now giver Primer Minister Shinzo Abe a majority in both houses and should pave...

Futures Drop On China Fears, Easing Doubts As Chinese Stocks Plummet U.S. equity futures declined in early pre-market trade Monday on continued fears surrounding the Chinese economy. The People's Bank of China issued a statement attempting to reassure markets of the state of the Chinese economy...

Next week, key economic data points will be the focus of markets as the end of quarter earnings lull comes to an end. However, a few key earnings reports are expected and could also move markets. Key Earnings Earnings from key companies next week including Lennar (NYSE: LEN), General Mills (NYSE:...

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index was published Monday morning with a metric that points to a slowdown in growth in April, but a view over the past three months suggests economic growth is continuing around the economy's long run potential growth rate. This measure is a comprehensive look...

In the upcoming week, market focus shifts back to the Fed as the FOMC minutes of the latest meeting are released. Also, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is set to speak as earnings season slows down, although there are still some key earnings set to be released. Key Earnings This week, the earnings...

Futures Higher Following Asian, Yen Strength U.S. equity futures rose sharply pre-market following strength abroad overnight as Asian and European shares rallied alongside the yen slide. Yen weakness was a key driver of the risk-on environment as the USD/JPY closed in on the key 100 level once...

Next week, earnings season continues as investors eye key earnings from technology behemoths Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) and chip maker Texas Instruments (NASDAQ: TXN). Texas Instruments' earnings and guidance is considered a key indicator for the semiconductor, and the broader technology industry by...

Futures Rise on Cyprus Deal U.S. equity futures rose in early pre-market trade as Cyprus and the Troika of creditors reached an agreement to bail out the nation with $13 billion in exchange for drastically reducing the size of its banking sector and freezing deposits greater than 100 thousand...

Futures Rise Despite U.K. Downgrade, Weak China Manufacturing Data U.S. equity futures rose slightly in pre-market trading despite the downgrade of the U.K.'s sovereign credit rating to Aa1 from AAA by Moody's. Also, the China HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI for February was released at 50.4, weaker...

Futures Flat on Bank of Japan Stimulus U.S. equity futures were flat overnight despite new pledges by the Bank of Japan to adopt a 2 percent inflation target and print unlimited amounts of new money to reach this target. The move signals a bold stance by Japanese economic authorities that they are...