US Stock Futures Point to Lower Open

Never mind guessing what will happen overnight did you see what happened at the close? They rang the bell a minute early and all the floor traders booed! Those last 15 minutes are when the big institutions do most of their program trading. Was a huge sell block coming down the pipe? I don't know, but judging by the sound of it someone got screwed. Hope it's not us. If they did try to prop it up it's not working so far. We will look to add to our short position.

http://http//ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gHs5OM3gFG_DytQQZFbWfgPT08MAD8SU4PF00


US Stock Futures Point to Lower Open


Wall Street headed for a lower opening Thursday after the Labor Department reported a moderate rise in consumer price inflation that met market expectations.
The Labor Department's Consumer Price Index rose by 0.3 percent in October, in line with September's increase and analysts' forecast. The increase came as energy prices rose at the fastest pace in five months and food prices continued to tick higher.
Investors also reacted to a Barron's report late Wednesday that a General Electric Asset Management bond fund has suffered losses in mortgage-backed securities. The General Electric Co. unit is offering investors the option to redeem their holdings in the short-term institutional bond fund at 96 cents on the dollar. The losses in the bond fund raised concerns that the squeeze on credit markets could spread and hurt small investors.
Meanwhile, Barclays Capital became the latest financial institution to record a writedown on losses stemming from turbulent credit markets. The unit of Barclays Group PLC took a $2.7 billion charge in the third quarter but the also said Thursday that its profit beat last year's strong performance.
In earnings news, J.C. Penney Co. reported a 9 percent drop in fiscal third-quarter profit on weak sales and cut its fourth-quarter outlook, indicating that housing woes are taking a toll on shoppers as well. Consumers, wrestling with rising food and gas prices, appear to be curtailing retail purchases.
Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 40, or 0.30 percent, to 13,235. Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell 5.10, or 0.35 percent, to 1,473.00. Nasdaq 100 index futures dropped 6.50, or 0.32 percent, to 2,051.00.