This morning, the S&P 500 Index e-mini futures (ES-U3) are trading higher by 5.50 points to 1693.75 per contract. Corporate earnings reports continue to dominate the headlines. Earnings reports from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT), Panera Bread Co (NASDAQ:PNRA), and countless others should cause some morning volatility. Traders will also want to follow the action in the USD/JPY chart. Usually, a stronger USD/JPY will help to keep the major stock indexes higher. We often see the USD/JPY catch a bid when bond yields on the 10-year U.S. Treasury Note are higher and that is the case today. Yields on the 10-year note are higher by 0.058 to 2.567%. Remember, higher bond yields are not good for the stock market. After all, look at the flip flop Ben Bernanke just did when he saw bond yields spike last month. The central bankers do not want higher yields at this time.
