Dartline™ First Look – morning directional planner
February 5, 2010, 7:30 am EST … The Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures down 7.10 to 1054.20, as traders want a big hug after yesterday’s grim Labor Department report that first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose for the fourth time in five weeks. Meanwhile — today’s the day. The Labor Department’s monthly employment report, due at 8:30 a.m. EST., will determine if fourth-quarter growth has carried into the new year. High unemployment — the jobless rate was 10 percent in December — has been the biggest obstacle to a strong, sustained recovery. Dartline projects employers added 10,000 jobs last month, not the 5,000 predicted by economists, while unemployment remains even at 10 percent. … Ahead of the opening bell, the other focus will be on three members of the euro currency bloc — Greece, Spain and Portugal — which have trouble tightening budget controls to manage mounting deficits. The concern are the events will derail a recovery in Europe. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 1.7 percent, Germany’s DAX index dropped 1.4 percent, and France’s CAC-40 tumbled 2.1 percent. gold prices fell. Oil dropped 3 cents to $73.11 a barrel in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while The dollar strengthened and Treasury bond prices rose. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.59 percent from 3.61 percent late Thursday. … … Keep near term resistance at 1115.49 as near term resistance and support at 1080.50. Take advantage of recent declines by entrancing a prudent, long side bias.