MBS Day Ahead: Plenty of Data, but No One Around to Trade It

Today brings a relative deluge of economic data compared to yesterday.  Reports include Durable Goods, Case-Shiller Home Prices, New Home Sales, and Consumer Confidence. 

On most occasions in the past, this line-up of upper-middle tier data would be sure to inform trading to some extent and we could all but count on any big beats or misses to move markets accordingly.  There are two big problems with this at the moment though.

First of all, there's that whole "no one really cares as much about domestic economic data any more in light of the fact that Europe is the primary motivation for global financial markets" thing.  That's a thing, you know. 

Then there's the other thing which isn't nearly as much of an ongoing thing as the European thing.  In the short term, however, it's a much bigger thing as it's already guaranteed to greatly affect market participation today. 

The thing in question is the massive blizzard underway in New York and surrounding areas.  If you're not already up to speed on this, it's a big one.  A state of emergency has been declared for most counties, and many downtown offices will be completely closed.  End of day volume numbers will serve as an excellent reminder of just how much of the market relies on the people that work in NYC. 

Long story short, today becomes a holiday-week day of sorts.  Think of it like the Friday after Thanksgiving.  Markets can certainly still move, but there's no guarantee we'll see the same trading momentum that would be present with fuller staffing levels.