Premarket futures were indicating a slightly lower open for U.S. stocks Tuesday as investors awaited the release of data concerning the housing sector and a read on the state of U.S. inflation.
Futures for the
S&P 500 were down 6 points at 1276 and were 3 points below fair value.
Nasdaq futures were losing 8 points at 1936 and were 1 point under fair value.
On Monday, the major indices took a tumble after an article in
Barron's suggested that the government would need to bail out housing- and financial-sector lynchpins
Fannie Mae (FNM) and
Freddie Mac (FRE).
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Ahead of the new session,
The Wall Street Journal reported that brokerage
Lehman Brothers (LEH) is looking to sell portions of its investment-management segment, including Neuberger Berman, to a several buyers.
Separately, JPMorgan said that, thanks to a continually deteriorating market, Lehman is due to write off another $4 billion in credit assets in the third quarter.
In a broader development concerning the financials, a former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund, Kenneth Rogoff, said he expects a large U.S. bank to go under in the coming months. Rogoff said that further consolidation among the financials will have to take place before the credit crisis abates.
Retailer
Home Depot (HD) announced a declining quarterly profit, but beat analysts' expectations and reaffirmed its guidance for the full year.
Traders are also expecting to hear financial results from fellow retailers
Target (TGT) and
Saks (SKS). Medical-equipment maker
Medtronic (MDT) is also due to report.
In mergers and acquisitions, aerospace firm
General Dynamics (GD) is set to buy Swiss company
Jet Aviation for $2.25 billion.
Chicago commodities exchange owner
CME Group (CME) succeeded in acquiring
Nymex (NMX) as shareholders in the New York trading floor agreed to the purchase.
Meanwhile,
Bay Harbour Management may be set to buy recently bankrupt clothing vendor
Steve & Barry's, according to
The Wall Street Journal.
Away from stocks, longer-dated U.S. Treasuries were adding value. The 10-year note was up 6/32 to yield 3.79%. The 30-year was up 4/32, yielding 4.43%. The dollar was rising vs. the euro and pound, but getting weaker against the yen.
As for commodities, the price of crude oil was declining 85 cents to $112.02 a barrel. Gold was losing $6.50 at $799.20.
On the economic-data front, investors will be eyeing the Bureau of Labor Statistics' July producer price index in addition to the Census Bureau's July housing permits and housing starts data.
Global exchanges were broadly selling off. London's FTSE, Frankfurt's DAX, Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng were all trading lower.
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