Flat Open on Anniversary of Bear-Market Low

Markets finished with decidedly mixed results at the closing bell Monday. The NASDAQ was the only index that finished up on the day (0.25 percent, 5.86 points), while the others finished slightly down. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.13 percent (13.68 points), while the S&P 500 dropped 0.02 percent (0.19 points).

According to Reuters, futures indicate that stocks will likely drop in the morning session today. This week marks the one-year anniversary of Wall Street markets hitting a 12-year low. Since hitting bottom one year ago each index has rallied more than 50 percent, but the long-term trend does not necessarily mean we will see more rallies throughout trading today.

Markets in Europe are largely down on the day, signaling what could be a sizable drop on Wall Street. According to Bloomberg News, the MSCI World Index was down this morning as a result of poor earnings showings overseas.

One of the biggest factors was the wider-than-expected annual loss reported by the European Aeronautic, Defense & Space Co. (EADS).

According to Reuters, the losses by EADS stem from Airbus being ruled out for a bid for a lucrative aerial refueling tanker project for the United States Department of Defense. Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS, had previously won the bid in 2008 before the Government Accountability Office ruled out the entire bidding process.

In other news, in their continued attempt to find a way to save the Greek government from its deregulation and debt accumulation, European leaders are calling for tighter restrictions of credit-default swaps in a move to shore up the euro zone.

According to Bloomberg, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker are leading the charge on CDS market regulation. Merkel believes that European governments must finally enact real, strong reforms on unfettered speculation if they hope to survive this and other crises. In particular, Merkel singled out the United States as a nation that must become a willing participant in regulatory reforms – thus far the banking cohort in Washington has done essentially nothing to curb speculation in the American marketplace.