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US stock market, economy and companies update (June 13, 2012)

Contributed by Trade The News

- US equities are back to unchanged after opening in negative territory this morning. The May retail sales data forced down equity futures just before the open, with the headline figure showing contraction for the second consecutive month. Note that the ex-autos figure fell by the largest amount in two years. In Europe, Spanish yield remain sky-high, with the yield on the Spanish 10-year at 6.68%. Focus is shifting back to Greece, where voters go to the polls on Sunday. There was plenty of commentary out of the leading candidates this morning, and there were press report asserting that European officials were prepared to renegotiate the terms of Greece's bailout packages with whomever wins the poll. New Democracy party leader Samaras pledged to conduct strong renegotiations of bailouts, while Syriza's Tsipras reiterated that he was committed to keeping Greece in the euro zone. German press sources asserted that if the terms of the bailout were renegotiated, Greece would need a third bailout to cover the funding gap created by a longer period of austerity and structural realignment.

- Scotts Miracle-Gro warned that it would fall short of its prior FY12 guidance as demand for its potting soil and plant seeds failed to take off during the peak season, as sales grew 3% YTD, down from +8% growth seen coming into the month of May. Shares of SMG are down 10% in mid morning trading, well off the 16.5% decline seen just after the open.

- Steel name Nucor Corp warned that earnings in Q2 would be considerably lower than consensus estimates. The company blamed a surge in imports of cheap sheet steel and rebar for pressuring already-weak prices. "Although the U.S. market continues to show stable to slightly improving demand for steel, this surge in imports has undercut seasonal pricing momentum that is normally experienced early in the calendar year," stated Nucor. Shares of NUE, X, STLD and SCHN all declined about 2% in the wake of the news, before regaining about half their losses in mid-morning trade.

- Dell initiated a new dividend ahead of its annual analyst conference and said it would boost its target for share buybacks to 20-35% of free cash flow. Other that than, the company said that the enterprise side of the business continues to see strong, steady growth, and said the firm is a "solutions company first, vertically focused." Little mention was made of the flagging consumer PC business. Shares of DELL are up 4.5% this morning.

- Shares of US Airways are up nearly 6% in the early going, after the firm filed anti-trust paperwork with the government to support their American Airlines merger proposal. The firms hope to move forward on the deal as soon as July. AMR pilots have in the past expressed concerns about the ability of US Airways to acquire the company.

- FX trading was relatively quiet this morning, with the greenback rising off its best levels as some euro zone meltdown fear trades were unwound. Uncertainty about the European periphery clearly remains, however positioning in EUR/USD might be moving toward a more neutral stance heading into the Greek elections this weekend. EUR/USD remains well within the 1.23-1.26 weekly range. AUD/USD made an attempt at parity following press reports that Germany's Bundesbank might start diversifying some of its reserves into the Aussy. German officials had no comment on the speculation.

***Looking Ahead***
- (DE) German Chancellor Merkel meets with opposition leaders to discuss Fiscal Pact, Financial Tax
- (DE) German Chancellor Merkel at German Family Company Annual Congress: Berlin
- 11:30 (BR) Brazil Central Bank weekly currency flows
- 11:45 (DE) Italy PM Monti, German Fin Min Schaeuble at ESMT Business School Event in Berlin
- 12:00 (US) Former Fed Chairman Greenspan
- 13:00 (US) Treasury to sell $21.0B in 10-Year Notes Reopening
- 14:40 (US_ World Bank President Zoellick
- 15:00 (AR) Argentina May Consumer Price Index M/M: 0.8%et v 0.8% prior; Y/Y: 9.8%e v 9.8% prior
- 15:00 (AR) Argentina May Whole Price Index M/M: No est v 1.0% prior; Y/Y: No est v 12.9% prior
- 17:00 (NZ) New Zealand Central Bank (RBNZ) Interest Rate Decision: Expected to leave the Official Cash Rate unchanged at 2.50%
- 18:00 (CN) WTO continues Trade Policy review of China

***Economic Data***
- (US) MBA Mortgage Applications w/e Jun 8th: 18.0 v 1.3% prior
- (ZA) South Africa Apr Retail Sales M/M: 1.5% v 1.7%e; Y/Y: 1.0% v 4.1%e
- (PL) Poland May CPI M/M: 0.2% v 0.4%e; Y/Y: 3.6% v 3.8%e
- (US) May Producer Price Index M/M: -1.0% v -0.6%e; Y/Y: 0.7% v 1.3%e
- (US) May PPI Ex-Food&Energy M/M: 0.2% v 0.2%e; Y/Y: 2.7% v 2.8%e
- (US) May Advance Retail Sales: -0.2% v -0.2%e; Retail Sales Less Autos: -0.4% v 0.0%e; Retail Sales Ex Auto & Gas: -0.1% v +0.1% prior
- (US) Weekly DOE Crude Oil Inventories: Crude: -190K vs. -2Me; Gasoline: -1.72M vs. +500Ke; Distillate: -65K vs. +1Me; Utilization: 92% v 90.6%e
- (CZ) Czech Republic sold total CZK8.5B in 2021 and 2023 Bonds
- (DE) Germany sold €770M in I/L 0.75% Apr 2018 BOBL; Avg Yield -0.310% v -0.400% prior; Bid-to-cover: 2.20x v 1.20x prior