Trader Talk

A healthcare reform vote in the House tomorrow; why are HMOs trading up? You'd think the likelihood of a vote—and better than even chance of passage—would be a negative for HMOs. » Read more

S&P Futures dropped about 10 points as the October Unemployment rate hit 10.2 percent, the highest since April 1983. While this will be the headline in the papers, bear in mind that unemployment in the 1982 recession peaked at 10.8 percent at the end of 1982. » Read more

Friday: all about the unemployment rate. That's a bit different than usual, since traders typically focus more on job creation and destruction—the nonfarm payroll report—rather than the unemployment rate. » Read more

October retail sales. Now that all the analysts have finished opining to their clients, it's clear there's good and bad news about the direction of retail sales. » Read more

Stocks at their highest level in 6 trading sessions....what's up? It's simple: the economic data continues to improve. » Read more

October retail sales generally positive, not as robust as last month, but we don't have the back to school stimulus that we had last month. » Read more

Retailers report tomorrow and an upside surprise possible. We will get the bulk of October retail same store sales tomorrow, and likely some updated fourth quarter guidance from a handful of retailers. » Read more

Politics the hot topic on trading desks this morning. Democrats lost gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey. TraderTalk is that: 1) this will change the tenor of the healthcare debate, and 2) put more onus on the Fed to help the economy because the fiscal side of economic assistance—another stimulus plan, for example—is now out the window. » Read more