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Tuesday, December 9, 2014

10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell (DIA, SPY, SPX, QQQ)

Good morning! Here are the major stories in markets that you need to know about on Tuesday. Greece Is Gearing Up For An Early Presidential Election. On Monday, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras announced that Greece's presidential elections would be held Dec. 17, two months earlier than scheduled. If Greece's legislators can't elect a president, parliamentary elections will be triggered, which could usher in Syriza, the radical anti-austerity leftists leading Greek polls. Athens Also Got A 2-Month Bailout Extension From Eurozone Ministers. Eurozone ministers on Monday approved a request from Greece for a two-month extension to its bailout program that was set to end Dec. 31, amid an ongoing budget row between Athens and its EU-IMF creditors. Greece Crashes. The Greek stock market is down by 10% in the wake of all this news. China Tanks. The white-hot Chinese stock market finally pulled back a bit with a violent 5.43% plunge in the Shanghai Composite on Tuesday. Still, the index is up by 39% this year, fueled by the boom in mom-and-pop brokerage accounts. Markets Are Selling Everywhere. US futures are in the red, with Dow futures down 58 points and S&P futures down 6.9 points. Europe is sliding, with Britain's FTSE down 1.2%, France's CAC 40 down 1.3%, and Germany's DAX down 0.9%. Asia closed down, with Japan's Nikkei down 0.6% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng down 2.3%. German Imports Sank In October. Imports dropped 3.1% from September, compared with a 0.5% drop in exports, leaving a trade surplus of €20.6 billion, second only to July's record figure.British Industrial Production Crumbled. UK industrial output dropped 0.1% in October from September, and manufacturing production slumped 0.7% in the same period. Analysts had expected a 0.2% increase in industrial production from September, and a similar increase from manufacturing, which would have left industrial and manufacturing output up 1.8% and 3.2% respectively. The Fed Might Drop Some Of Its Forward Guidance. The Federal Reserve says rates will stay near zero for a "considerable time," language the Wall Street Journal's Jon Hilsenrath believes may be dropped at its meeting next week, with the US economy recovering rapidly. This would be considered a hawkish move as inflation remains incredibly low. Russia Has Started Sending Ukraine Gas Again. Ukraine's gas transport monopoly, Ukrtransgaz, said Russia had resumed gas flows to Ukraine on Tuesday after a six-month gap during a dispute over prices and unpaid debts. The US Is Sueing Deutsche Bank. "The U.S. government filed a lawsuit on Monday accusing Deutsche Bank AG of tax fraud for engaging in a series of transactions designed to evade federal income taxes," Reuters' Jonathan Stempel reports. "The lawsuit seeks more than $190 million in taxes, penalties and interest, according to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan. Several other defendants were also named."Join the conversation about this story »


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT uk.businessinsider.com