U.S. stock futures meandered on Tuesday morning, the one-year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy that marked the financial crisis meltdown. Investors will focus on retail and wholesale inflation data set to be released ahead of the opening bell, as well as a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Several economic reports are due out this morning:
- At 8:30 a.m. Eastern, retail sales data for August will be reported. It is expected the data to show the impact of the Cash for Clunkers program as well as the rise in gas prices. Overall, sales are expected to have risen 2%, according to Thomson Reuters. While excluding autos, sales are forecast to have climbed only 0.4%, it is a reversal of July's 0.6% decline.
- At the same time, August wholesale inflation is due out. The producer price index is expected to show an overall rise of 0.8%, mostly due to gas prices. In July, prices fell 0.9%. Core PPI, which excludes the often volatile food and energy costs, is expected to have risen 0.1%, after declining 0.1% in July.
- Then, at 10:00 a.m., July report on business inventories will be reported and are expected to show a 0.9% decline, according to Briefing.com.
- At the same time, Bernanke is set to speak about the past year in the financial markets, a day after President Obama vowed to push Wall Street reforms.
It also helped that China tried Tuesday to allay fears of a trade war with Washington over tire tariffs, saying it will press a World Trade Organization case against new U.S. duties but wants to avoid harming relations.
Citigroup (NYSE: C), which is trying to cut the U.S. government's 34% stake om the firm, and Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), which saw a judge reject the $33 million settlement it had with the SEC over Merrill's bonuses are two of the stocks in focus this morning.
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