Nine Numbers Announce 1 October 2009

Hang Seng (Hong Kong): closed today.

Australia: -0.57% today.

Nikkei 225 (Japan): -1.53% today.

Europe at mid-morning:

FTSE 100 (UK): -0.21% at 11:00 AM.

DAX (Germany): +0.09% at 12:00 PM

CAC 40 (France): -0.31% at 12:00 PM

SPY pre market open: -0.3% at 105.25 at 6:00 AM EST

QQQQ pre market open: -0.5% at 6:00 AM

Economic Indicators: Personal income and personal spending changes for August are announced at 8:29 AM EST. Personal income is expected to show an increase of 0.1% over July, while spending is expected to show an increase of 1.1% month over month. Most of this increase is from the cash for clunkers program.

Initial claims for unemployment insurance for last week is announced at 8:30. It is expected to be 535K after 530K the week before. Small businesses are finding it hard to borrow, especially with CIT’s troubles. That could increase the flow of unemployed. Continuing claims is still growing, expected to be 6.1 million when announced today.

The Institute of Supply Managers (ISM) is expected to continue to show that manufacturing is expanding with a 54 reading for September at 9:59 AM.

Construction spending for August is expected to show a decline of 0.1% over July. While it is 10% lower than last year. Commercial construction is down 10% from a year ago, while residential spending is down 30% year over year.

Pending home sales for August is expected to be 1% higher than July.

Car sales and truck sales for September are announced at 2 PM.

Earnings Announcements: Constellation Brands (STZ) wine and beer and spirits seller, announces earnings before the market opens.

Charles River Associates (CRAI) litigation and regulatory consultants, announces earnings during the day.

After The Market Closes: Accenture (ACN) a management consultancy, Smart Modular Technology (SMOD) makes memory boards and sells them to equipment manufacturers, Global Payments (GPN) processes electronic payments, announce earnings after the market closes today.

Yesterday’s Surprises: Second quarter GDP was better than expected. Instead of -1.1% it was -0.7% annualized.

The Chicago purchasing manager’s index was expected to show expansion at 52, instead it slipped to contraction at 46.1