Lower prices for commodities from cotton to copper are helping U.S. businesses by reducing their raw-material costs and buoying consumers by keeping a lid on prices paid.Not mentioned in the article, lumber prices are off about 20% from the recent high and oil prices are down over 10% from the February levels.
Copper, used in many goods including electronics, is off nearly 10% this year. Silver, which has various industrial uses, has tumbled more than 25%, and wheat is down more than 10%.
Tuesday economic releases:
• At 9:00 AM ET, S&P/Case-Shiller House Price Index for March. Although this is the March report, it is really a 3 month average of January, February and March. The consensus is for a 10.2% year-over-year increase in the Composite 20 index (NSA) for December. The Zillow forecast is for the Composite 20 to increase 9.8% year-over-year, and for prices to increase 0.9% month-to-month seasonally adjusted.
• At 10:00 AM, the Richmond Fed Survey of Manufacturing Activity for May. The consensus is for a a reading of minus 3 for this survey, up from minus 6 in April (Below zero is contraction).
• Also at 10:00 AM, the Conference Board's consumer confidence index for May. The consensus is for the index to increase to 71.5 from 68.1.
• At 10:30 AM, the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Survey for May. This is the last of regional surveys for May. The consensus is a reading of minus 8, up from minus 15 in April (below zero is contraction).
Weekend:
• Schedule for Week of May 26th
• Public and Private Sector Payroll Jobs: Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama
• States: Mo Money Mo Problems
The Asian markets are mixed tonight with the Nikkei down 0.3%.
From CNBC: Pre-Market Data and Bloomberg futures: the S&P futures are up 9 and Dow futures are up 87 (fair value).
Oil prices are down slightly with WTI futures at $93.84 per barrel and Brent at $102.61 per barrel.
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