Before the Open (Jun 18)

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.
The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly up. Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea led the way. Europe is currently mixed. Greece is up 2.7%; otherwise there are no big winners or losers. Futures here in the States point towards a flat open for the cash market.

The dollar is down slightly. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down.
Yesterday was a pretty good up day. Some of the indexes closed at their highest levels in five days, but off their intraday highs. Still it was a good day that gave the bulls a little more breathing room. The S&P, for example, closed at 1639, 39 points above its key 1600 level.
The big news this week, of course, is the Fed announcement tomorrow. Nobody expects the targeted overnight rate or the discount rate to change, but everyone will be reading the statement closely for some sort of tapering plan. If the statement doesn’t include such language, Bernanke will no doubt be asked about it in the news conference that follows.
On a side note, Obama dropped a hint that Bernanke would not be back as Fed Chairman by saying he’s already been in the position longer than he wanted or was supposed to. Bernanke’s term ends next summer.
News trumps the charts. Let’s not over analyze things right now because tomorrow could change everything…although it’s expected the Fed will start tapering its bond purchases, so the Fed shouldn’t shock the market tomorrow.
Here are stock-specific stories from barchart.com…
Citing data from NPD, Bloomberg said U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories tumbled 25% to $386.3 million this past May, with overall hardware sales down 31% from last year to $96 million.
Walter Energy (WLT -3.54%) has almost 200% upside, says Morgan Stanley.
AllThingsD reported that Yahoo (YHOO +0.99%) will acquire startup Xobni for $30 to $40 million.
Bombardier Aerospace (BDRBF -0.43%) announced that it has received firm orders for 12 Global 8000 business jets from an undisclosed customer valued at approximately $804 million.
Covance (CVD +3.87%) was downgraded to “Underweight” from “Equal Weight” at Barclays.
STMicroelectronics (STM +2.21%) announced that it has signed a comprehensive agreement with Rambus (RMBS -0.92%) that expands existing licenses between the two companies, settles all outstanding claims, and commits both organizations to explore additional opportunities for collaboration.
New data from the NPD Group showed May marked the 29th consecutive month that the Microsaft (MSFT +1.74%) Xbox 360 was the best-selling console in the U.S. Total retail spend on the Xbox 360 platform in May reached $149.8 million, the most for any console in the U.S.
Boeing (BA +1.18%) was awarded a firm-fixed-price, multi-year contract with the U.S. Army worth $3.41 billion for the production of remanufactured and new-built CH-47F cargo helicopters.
Bloomberg reported that Tyco’s (TYC +0.24%) $13.1 million settlement with the SEC was approved by a federal judge.
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said it lowered the ratings, including the corporate credit rating, on United States Steel (X -2.29%) to ‘BB-‘ from ‘BB’. The outlook is stable.
headlines at Yahoo Finance
headlines at MarketWatch
today’s upgrades/downgrades
this week’s Earnings
this week’s Economic Numbers