Seeking Clarity

Good morning. Much like we saw yesterday morning, we're seeing negative sentiment in the premarket trading as investors seek clarity from both Congress and the economy.

The Senate passed its own version of $700 billion bailout plan which will now go to the House of Representatives for a final vote on Friday and the SEC extended its short selling ban on certain stocks through October 17, 2008. Libor is back on the rise again as credit markets remain under pressure after the ECB left rates unchanged at 4.25% and fears over forced liquidations continue. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal says the Fed is weighing further interest rate cuts.

Premarket gainers: NCC, CSIQ, UBS, KBR, AIG, SQNM, SFI, TX, CEG, IDEV, NM, RYAAY, ETFC, WB, DRYS, ESLR, APWR, SOV, KEY, STT, ROS, & CPHD.

Premarket losers: POT, MOS, IPI, SYT, LVS, AKAM, SMSC, CF, GE, MAR, CORS, IPI, TRA, FITB, MON, AGU, MT, ACAS, AAUK, KLAC, EBAY, LECO, WYNN, RNT, & SQM.

At 10:AM we have the factory orders report, but everyone will remain focused on the tomorrow's jobs report and the final vote for the bailout. As for the employment picture, this morning's Monster employment index actually rose to 160 in September vs. 159 in August. Apparently, online job demand was strong in public administration and retail but weak in education and agriculture. Meanwhile, jobless claims rose 1,000 to 497,000 last week. As you probably can expect, I'm hearing that if we see a very negative jobs report tomorrow morning, that the Fed will come in with an emergency rate cut to soften the blow. Again, tomorrow is set to be another interesting day.

Have a terrific Thursday!