Stronger Dollar = Weak Equities

Good morning. Futures are negative and pointing to a lower open following weakness in overseas markets and strength in the U.S. dollar.

There's quite a bit of noise this morning and the top headlines are:

• FedEx shares gain on sunnier outlook (MarketWatch)

• A decline in comparable store sales at major retail chains (Econoday)

• TransUnion forecasts improvement in both mortgage and credit card delinquencies (TransUnion)

• Meredith Whitney says she believes the government is "out of bullets," and that the "sand could hit the fan" for banks in Q1. Also said the consumer is not improving and S&P will be under pressure (CNBC)

• According to Goldman Sachs, the S&P 500 to rally 13% through 2010 (Bloomberg)

• Manpower expects employers to begin hiring again next quarter (Bloomberg)

• Moody's put U.S. & the U.K on the ratings chopping block unless they reduce their debts (WSJ)

• Bernanke says U.S. economy is improving (Reuters)

• Citigroup and Wells Fargo are said to be in contentious talks with the government over how much capital they need to raise to exit TARP (WSJ)

• Democrats push more mortgage aid (Washington Post)

• Board to propose more flexible accounting rules for banks (New York Times)

• The UK announces one-off shock tax against banker bonuses (Guardian)

• After making threats, AIG executives will get their money after all (Bloomberg)

• SEC probing high-frequency strategies (Reuters)

• Lawmakers are reluctant to crack down on credit rating agencies (New York Times)

• More concerns over commercial debt (Reuters)

• Confidence in Dubai takes a hit after Moody's downgrade and rescue problems (Reuters)

• Japan unveils $81 billion economic stimulus (Reuters)

• China sees V-shaped recovery (Reuters)

There's not a lot on today's calendar except a report on job openings and labor turnover at 10:AM, a hearing on the foreclosure crisis, and President Obama will speak about the economy at 11:25AM.

Read more of my premarket report.