Market Update Report 3/19/2014

The KUIK Market Update for Wednesday, March 19:
Markets are mixed.
Index Direction Change Units Last Time Change
Dow Up                     14 points           16,350 8:05 AM
S&P500 Up 0.03% percent             1,873             0.57
Nasdaq Composite Down -0.14% percent             4,327            (6.06)
30 Year Treasury Up                       1 Basis Points               3.63 Annual Yield
The Federal Open Market Committee winds up its two day meeting today and announces its monetary policy guidance at 11:00 am Pacific time.  Janet Yellen will hold her first press conference as Fed chairman at 11:30.  She will probably face questions on the reduction in bond purchases and recent deterioration in economic conditions.
J.P. Morgan Chase  is the latest bank to scale back its commodities business, striking a deal to sell its physical assets and trading arm to Swiss trading firm Mercuria Energy Group for $3.5 billion in cash.
High-frequency trading is back in the spotlight.  New York State’s Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced he will be taking a deeper look at the “unfair advantages” they have over regular investors. He said U.S. exchanges allow traders to obtain pricing information fractions of a second earlier, through technology, giving them an edge. They use sophisticated computer trading strategies to move in and out of positions in fractions of a second, and were blamed for the “flash crash” in 2010 when the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged about 1,000 points in just minutes, then quickly recovered.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for AM 1360 KUIK.
http://live.wsj.com/video/what-to-watch-from-the-fed-meeting-2014-03-19/20BB8704-019C-4747-8646-2E7A1F84A3AC.html#!20BB8704-019C-4747-8646-2E7A1F84A3AC
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jp-morgan-to-sell-commodities-business-for-35b-2014-03-19
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/schneiderman-on-the-speed-bumps-he-wants-for-hfts-2014-03-19
For today’s Market Update Report click to listen->