Morning Call by Traders University

In the US stocks retreated more than 2 percent on Wednesday and bond prices rose after two reports suggested the economy is not bouncing back as quickly as investors hoped. The Dow fell 184.22, or 2.2 percent, to 8,284.89, while broader stock indicators sank even more sharply. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 24.43, or 2.7 percent, to 883.92, while the Nasdaq composite index declined 51.73, or 3 percent, to 1,664.19. The decline put the S&P 500 back into the negative for the year to date. The Commerce Department said retail sales unexpectedly fell in April for the second straight month. Economists predicted April retail sales would be flat, but instead they fell, and March’s sales decline was revised to an even larger drop. RealtyTrac Inc. reported a troubling rise in home foreclosures. RealtyTrac data said April’s foreclosures were up 32 percent from a year ago, and up slightly from March. It was the second straight month that more than 340,000 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing. In Forex related news yesterday we had BOE Governor Mervyn King delivering a rather downbeat Inflation Report in the UK yesterday which ended the GBP’s recent gains. In the US we had Core Retail Sales m/m and Retail Sales m/m come in lower than expected. We also had EU Industrial Production m/m falling below expectations. Britain’s top share index closed down 2 percent on Wednesday, following disappointing U.S. retail sales figures, banks knocked by profit taking and mining stocks weighed down by weak commodity prices. The FTSE 100 ended down 94points at 4,331 retreating for the third straight session. The benchmark index is down 2.3 percent so far this year but up 25.2 percent since hitting a six-year low on March 9. Global market strategists believe that this setback is probably due to profits being taken after a long rally like this. No new stock trades