By James Langton
(August 9 – 09:00 ET) – There are no major releases out this morning, the Bank of Canada Quarterly Review is due for release at 10:45 ET, everyone will glance at it, but it isn’t expect to impact trading. Most economists don’t believe the Fed is moving, and that even if it did, the Bank of Canada may not.
In the U.S. the Fed’s Beige book is due out at 14:00 ET. It is expected to detail continued labour market scarcity, tempered by falling demand and economic slowing. Fed president Poole is speaking later tonight, and that will keep economists watching for hints, too.
Stocks are bouncing in Europe this morning, with techs leading the way on the heels of strong earnings reported by Cisco Systems after the bell last night. Nasdaq futures are up sharply, as Cisco is considered by some to be a bellweather for the Nasdaq.
Meanwhile, the FTSE is up 94 points to 6,452. The CAC 40 has gained 73 points to 6,605. The DAX is up 133 to 7,257.
In M&A news and gossip, Phone.com Inc. is buying Software.com for US$6.4 billion in stock. Barclays plc is in talks to buy mortgage company Woolwich plc. Nomura Securities Co. has raised its bid for Welsh water utility Hyder plc to US$3.8 billion.
In other business news, retailing benchmark Wal-Mart reported second-quarter profit up 28%. Crude oil prices are up more than 4% after U.S. inventories reportedly declined to their lowest level in more than 20 years last week.
Overnight in Asia stocks were mixed, with Cisco supporting the market again. The Nikkei gained 215 points to 16,034. The Hang Seng only dropped 30 points to 17,182, after taking heavy beatings in the past few days.
In earnings news, Skyjack Inc. says its profit rose to 57¢ a share, up from 46¢ last year. Mosaic Group Inc. is reporting earnings per share of 9¢, up 80% from the second quarter of 1999.
Cognos Inc. is announcing a “multi-million dollar deal” to sell its analysis tools to General Electric Co.’s Employers Reinsurance Corp. The value of the deal was not disclosed.