The Jersey City electronic market making firm had a technical glitch that affected owners of 140 different stocks.  Initially, in premarket trading, analysts expected the damages to total $140 million. Knight executed about $20 billion a day in trades in June.

David Cornes holds a degree in economics from the University of Montana.

As for the announcements today, here is the schedule:
• Chain Store Sales
• Challenger Job-Cut Report at 7:30am
• Jobless Claims at 8:30am
• Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index at 9:45am
• Factory Orders at 10:00am
• EIA Natural Gas Report at 10:30am
• Fed Balance Sheet at 4:30pm
• Money Supply at 4:30pm

The S&P 500 will open on a decline of 0.29% while 10-year treasuries are up 2.63%.
Oil is up as well at 0.37%. The dollar is struggling, opening at a decline of 0.62%.

GM announced its earnings today of 90 cents a share, beating analysts expectations
of 75 cents a share. Even with the better than expected earnings the company is not
doing well, losing $361 million to the European crisis. Profits are expected around
$1.69 billion for the third and fourth quarters.

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The Hang Seng underperformed its peer today losing .7%, being drug down by losses from property
developers. China Over Seas Land & Development, China Resources Land and Evergrande all took a dive
down 3.4, 4.6 and 5% respectively. On the Shanghai Composite, which was down .6%, Poly Real Estate
had the same story dragging the index down as it lost 9.2%. Property has been very weak and Unstable
in China and the China Security Regulatory Commission has urged companies multiple times to buy back
their shares in hopes of improving market sentiment.

European shares have pushed their way up ahead of the ECB meeting as the FTSEurofirst is currently
above .6%. Beiersdorf, makers of Nivea, takes the lead today up 4.8% as it increases its 2012 profit
outlook. Veolia was the worst performer of the index dropping 9% after results missed expectations.
Merrill-Lynch cut the stocks rating to “neutral” and said its results estimates could also yet be reduced.

Switzerland had a 50% rise in fx reserves last quarter taking its holdings to a massive 62% of GDP. This
may yet be very controversial in months to come.

In Q2, for the first time ever, volume of North Sea Brent exceeded that of WTI on NYMEX, reflecting
London may be just as important as New York for global oil trading.

Commodities begin the day mixed with crude up as natural gas, gold and silver all begin in the red.

Contributer Chris Rygh is currently pursuing his MBA in Wisconsin and has a passion for the Market.
Comments can be directed to ryghcw19@uww.edu

Following the announcement from the Fed, the dollar rose to the day’s highs with the euro falling to $1.2227. Some investors had expected Fed Chairman Bernanke to announce new stimulus measures after the central bank acknowledged that U.S. economic growth has “decelerated” and said that the Fed was “prepared to take further action.” Others, however, were skeptical that the Fed would act.

European markets finished the day broadly higher, with the Stoxx Europe 600 adding 0.5% and Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average lost 0.6% to snap a four-day win streak while the Shanghai Composite bucked the trend by rising 0.9%.

However, the US manufacturing sector contracted for the second straight month as the global slowdown pulled down export orders. 

Adding to the alarm today, Knight Capital had a problem with their algorithmic based high frequency trading platforms. Knight Capital (KCG) experienced unusual price swings as their systems blasted buy and sell orders at around 100x the usual frequency. This news is breaking at the moment, but it appears that the NYSE and SEC will be reviewing trades in nearly 150 symbols executed between 9:30 and 10:15 ET. Following the 2010 flash crash, regulators have been examining the validity and effectiveness of high frequency trading systems. 

Across the pond, the Stoxx Europe rose 0.5%, as investors continue to shrug off poor manufacturing data across the continent. Crude oil futures have gained near 1% to $89 a barrel while gold futures lose -0.4%, to fall to $1,610 an ounce. 

In corporate news, MasterCard fell after the credit-card company topped earnings expectations after a previously disclosed pretax charge, but missed on revenue estimates. Avon Products lost ground after the beauty products seller reported second-quarter earnings and revenue that fell a bit shy of analyst estimates. Finally, Allstate, the largest publicly traded home-and-auto insurer in the U.S., climbed after the company raised rates and reported lower catastrophe losses.

“Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted,” one of two feature films released by DWA this year generated $501 million, an impressive number, but with less than expected demand numbers outside of the U.S. Apparently the title of this film revealed a deeper signal.

David Cornes holds a degree in economics from the University of Montana.