Good morning. Premarket futures are positive after Merrill Lynch said the worst of the credit markets' turmoil is now over and news that Washington Mutual (WM) is about to get a $5 billion capital influsion from investors. Also in focus is a proxy battle between Yahoo! (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT).
Along with strength in overseas markets, commodities and alternative energy companies in particular are under some accumulation in premarket trading.
Premarket gainers: WM, LIFC, ESLR, AKNS, EMKR, DRYS, CROX, HOKU, SOLF, UBS, CSUN, SEED, AAUK, ENER, LDK, CSIQ, JASO, LMC, SPWR, FFIV, AAPL, ASTI, CC, JRJC, POT, MSFT, DNDN, FCEL, MICC, and ERIC.
Premarket losers: SCSC, VIGN, YHOO, and ASML.
We have a relatively quiet trading day ahead with no economic reports. The first significant report of the week comes tomorrow with the release of the FOMC minutes. Following Friday's weak unemployment report, the market currently expects yet another 50 basis point rate cut when it next meets at the end of April.
Have a great Monday!
