Before the bell 4-12-07: Stock futures lower as retail sales roll in

Stock futures are down in early morning indicating to a similar start for stocks a day after stocks slumped, snapping an 8-day winning streak for the Dow Jones Industrials. March retail sales will be released throughout the morning with some mixed indication already out.

Yesterday, the minutes from the last Federal Reserve policy meeting hinted at possible rate hike, not rate cut as many in the market had expected for later in the year. The economy has weakened, the minutes said, but should recover later in the year, but inflationary pressures remain. Although no different than what Fed Chairman Bernanke has been saying, the minutes, for some reason, made it 'sink in.'

Many are waiting for tomorrow's PPI report, prices at the wholesale level, among other economic data points due tomorrow. Today, the economic calendar is thin with March import and export prices report and weekly jobless claims all due at 8:30 a.m., before the opening bell.

Yesterday the U.S. government reported a decline in domestic stockpiles. The decline was larger than expected and oil prices rose, and continued to do so today. While tensions with Iran have subsided somewhat, the situation still lends support to oil prices. I seems that oil production is also the lowest in over two years.

Several retailers have already reported March sales with mixed results:

• Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST) surpassed Wall Street expectations of 4.7% rise in same-store sales, those from stores open at least a year, rising 6% in March.
• Claire's Stores Inc. (NYSE: CLE) said same-store sales rose 8%, beat the 3.1% expectations
• JoS A. Bank Clothiers Inc. (NASDAQ: JOSB) posted a 1.4% rise in sales that missed projections of 2.7%.
• Pier 1 Imports Inc. (NYSE: PIR) reported a larger quarterly loss and lower sales during the first quarter. The company also reported same-store sales tumbled 11% during the fourth quarter.

Research in Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) shares are down 6.7% in pre-market (7:15 a.m.) after the company reported fourth-quarter profit soared to $187.9 million, or 99 cents per share - in-line with/a penny under analyst estimates, as sales jumped 66% to $930.4 million - below analyst estimates. In addition, the company also said the Securities and Exchange Commission has upgraded an informal inquiry into the company's stock option granting practices to a formal investigation, shares have plunged.