Four-Day Trading Week

Good morning. Premarket futures are pointing to a mixed start as oil prices rally on Nigerian attacks, recession talk by both Warren Buffett and Alan Greenspan, and M&A chatter surrounding Anheuser-Busch (BUD) & Chemtura (CEM). In addition, after UBS warned yesterday of more losses, analysts have been cutting the earnings outlook for some key names in the financials this morning.

Premarket gainers: ASTI, NGAS, CSUN, ESLR, SPF, AKNS, SOLF, CEDC, CEM, SUTR, STP, TASR, KONG, SEED, BUD, OMNI, & ANIK.

Premarket losers: FVRL, UBS, LEH, FTK, IOSP, AMCP, MRVL, NOK, VVUS, CHL, CPSL, IFX, QGEN, ERIC, & SINO.

At 10:AM we have reports on consumer confidence and new home sales. Weakness in either report will not be of any great surprise. There also are speeches from Federal Reserve Governor Randall Kroszner, speaking on banking and financial risk in Brazil, while non-voting San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen is speaking on the economic outlook.

In my experience, four-day trading weeks are always challenging and this one looks to be no different. The bulls need to show some confidence and take back control or just about all of the positive mojo earned from the counter trend rally will be lost. End of the month window dressing may very well help especially if we move into oversold territory early in the week, but I suspect they'll also need some positive news to work with regarding the economy as well.

Let's make it a great week!

* Again, many thanks for all of you who emailed and expressed concern for us. Our property losses are relatively insignificant (although our home looks like someone fired a shotgun at it). My plan this week is to dedicate as much time as I can to working with community leaders to help my hometown recover.