Wow!
Not just erased
They're throwing in a Cadillac and a lifetime supply of Baklava to the first 1 million callers
With as much sh(t as he gives away to his audience, Ben should consider hosting his own talk show once he collects his Best Actor award for playing a humble civil servant in "The Color Green"
Look how quickly Tuesday has been transformed into a one off event. An uninvited guest who has been shown the door.
March 8, 2012, 6:16 a.m. EST
U.S. stock futures advance; ECB, Greece in focus Weekly jobless claims, central bank meetings ahead
By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch)—U.S. stock futures were pointing higher Thursday as a global rally continued in Asia and Europe, with investors awaiting jobless claims, central bank meetings in Europe and the outcome of the Greek debt swap.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (CBE:DJH2) rose 86 points, or 0.7%, to 12,927. Futures for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (GLC:SPH2) added 10.3 points, or 0.8%, to 1,363.20.
Nasdaq 100 futures (GLC:NDH2) rose 18 points, or 0.7%, to 2,626.75.
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Stocks ride strong data higher Stocks rebounded Wednesday from Tuesday's slump after reports Federal Reserve officials are considering new steps to boost the economy.
Asia stocks rallied to end a three-day losing streak, while the Stoxx Europe 600 index (STX:XX:SXXP) surged 1.2%, on the heels of a rebound for Wall Street Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI:DJIA) rose 78.18 points, or 0.6%, to 12,837.33—a day after it dropped 200 points for the worst one-session fall of the year. A report suggesting the Federal Reserve could be eyeing a new form of assets purchases, combined with upbeat data, lifted stocks.
Investors are also clearly less panicked about the outcome of the Greek debt-swap program, whose deadline is 10 p.m. Athens time, or 3 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday. Bloomberg reported that investors holding around 60% of Greek government bonds eligible for the swap have indicated they will take part. Official results of the swap will be released Friday morning.
It’s also central bank day for Europe, but no change is expected from meetings of either the European Central Bank or the Bank of England. The BOE will announce its decision at 7:00 a.m., while the ECB will announce its at 7:45 a.m., both times are Eastern.
Comments from ECB President Mario Draghi, who will hold his monthly news conference at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, will be closely followed by markets.
The data calendar in the U.S. is scant, with just weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Economists polled by MarketWatch are forecasting the number of first-time claims for jobless benefits to rise to 355,000 from the prior-week number of 351,000.
On the corporate front, Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN) , Williams-Sonoma Inc. (NYSE:WSM) and Navistar International Corp. (NYSE:NAV) are all due to report results ahead of the opening bell. McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE:MCD) is also expected to release monthly sales.
Gold futures for April delivery (CNS:GCJ2) rose $18.90 to $1,702.50 an ounce, while the ICE dollar index (NYE:DXY) , which measures the dollar against a basket of six currencies, fell to 79.409 from 79.692 in late trading on Wednesday.
Crude-oil futures for April delivery (NMN:CLJ2) rose 81 cents to $106.97 a barrel.
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