(As of 7:30 am pacific)
The Dow and S&P are trading lower this morning with
the Nasdaq hanging on to slight gains with Apple carrying the index. Shares
of the tech giant are up over 2% in early trading after a Federal Court ruling
Friday awarded Apple over $1 billion in damages due to a patent infringement
from rival Samsung.
Economic news is light this morning with no reports due out today but
then picking up later in the week with the Case-Shiller Home Prices Index as
well as reports on personal income and spending. The week caps off with the Fed’s annual economic
conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday with investors looking to the
meeting for signs of stimulus action. What could make the largest economic impact
this week is tropical storm Isaac which is headed toward the Northern Gulf
Coast expected to make landfall near New Orleans on Tuesday. Oil traders are keeping a close eye on the
storm as 10% of the rigs in the Gulf have already been evacuated and over 24%
of oil production has been taken offline.
The region accounts for nearly 44% of US oil refining capacity. Prices of oil are down this morning. Gold is flat and the US dollar is mixed. Interest rates continue to drift back down
and volatility is up this morning. We
should start to see volume pick up throughout the week and into early September
as traders return from vacation and central bank meetings come under full
spotlight.
