Stocks Move Higher Ahead of Fed

Stocks fluctuated on Monday morning before moving higher as investors tried to digest Friday's sharp 280 point Dow selloff as well as gauge the Fed meeting tomorrow afternoon.  The Fed is expected to keep rates steady at 5.25%, so the markets will be watching closely for the Fed's policy statement concerning inflation and the credit markets.

Real estate investment trust, American Home Mortgage (AHM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating), announced that it filed for bankruptcy amid the sub-prime lending turmoil (full story). More than 50 lenders have filed for bankruptcy so far this year.

Crude oil futures for September delivery fell for the 2nd straight day, losing 2.8% to $73.40 a barrel on concerns that U.S. growth may slow lowering demand for energy.  Gold futures for December delivery were little changed through the morning trading at $682.80 an ounce.

Around Asia, Shanghai's Composite index added 1.5% to 4,628.11, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 2.7% to 21,936.73, and Tokyo's Nikkei lost 0.4% to 16,914.46.

Join TradingMarkets Director of Education, Steve Primo, as he teaches a number of quantitative strategies that can potentially give you an edge in your trading.

Sign up now for one of our free training classes and start learning how to become a better trader.

Darren Wong
Associate Editor
darrenw@tradingmarkets.com

TradingMarkets subscribers have access to 16 quantitative stock indicators and another 17 quantitative market bias indicators. These indicators are derived from our proprietary database that includes millions of trades, and designed to give you a short-term trading edge.

Each day, we provide free open access to one of these proprietary stock indicators. If you would like to access all 16 stock indicators, 17 market bias indicators, along with many other tools, click here for a free 7-day TradingMarkets trial.