7 gut checks pre open

Need to Know AUGUST 22, 2013 7 gut checks before the stock market's opening bell By Shawn Langlois   Shutterstock Good morning. The Fed minutes, abridged: The taper is coming. At some undetermined time. After now, but before much later. Probably. Thank you, bold stewards of the U.S. economy. While the minutes obviously didn't offer a whole lot more than a retread from the last time we heard from the central bank, the stock market still went full schizo. Nobody could have seen those wild swings coming, not even the resident soothsayers at CNBC. As Zero Hedge suggests, "grab the popcorn" and enjoy "the almost-perfect top-tick timing" of this segment . Fortunately, MarketWatch, the paragon of rational markets coverage (right, Paul? ), has never suffered such indignities. At any rate, there's nothing on tap today as sexy as the, uh, Fed minutes, though China and Europe data is triggering some cheers from the aisles. Meanwhile, we'll tuck into a few prevailing themes that will likely stick with us through the summer wind-down, including the newfound love for European stocks and the cataclysmic potential of spiking interest rates (more on both below). Key market gauges: The Indian rupee  just keeps breaking down to new lows. Deutsche Bank predicts that it could drop all the way to 70 rupees to the dollar. Asia stocks came off their lows after a surprise improvement in China's factory data, but India's Sensex  and the rest of Asia all closed lower, with Philippine's main index losing 6%. Europe  is rallying after a combination of upbeat home and Chinese data, while futures on the Dow and the S&P are also paving the way for a move up when the regular U.S. trading session opens. The economy: The number of people filing new applications for unemployment benefits is expected to bounce to 330,000 from 320,000 a week earlier. The level of claims two weeks ago was the lowest since fall 2007. The Labor Department will release the report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Then, a pair of reports are expected to show U.S. manufacturing expanded in August and home prices rose in June. Finally, we'll get a look at the leading economic index. See: Spotlight on economy . Away from the U.S. is where the excitement has been so far. HSBC said Chinese manufacturing rebounded to a four-month high of 50.1 in August, closer to the official data than it has been before. And Europe, the darling of the moment, also pushed out some decent numbers. Business activity in the euro zone expanded at the fastest pace in more than two years, while Germany's composite PMI rose to a seven-month high. Earnings: From the perceived uber-chic to the meh, it's not been great news. Starting with Abercrombie & Fitch , this tweet sums it up pretty good. Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm where are the REST OF ABERCROMBIE'S EARNINGS?? $LOL $ANF — Brian Sozzi (@BrianSozzi) August 22, 2013 The company, which has offended those who aren't svelte, posted some cover-your-eyes bad results, with shares down 19% in premarket. Sozzi also points out that ANF execs have been selling, selling, selling this past quarter. Sears Holdings  is dropping over 5% in premarket as its losses widened. The buzz: Hewlett-Packard  is pulling back premarket after the company reported quarterly results  yesterday that just missed expectations. Still, the stock was up 80% for the year before today's retreat. Hain Celestial  is heading in the other direction following its results . With Marissa Mayer shaking things up, Yahoo  beats out Google  in U.S. traffic, regaining the top spot for the first time since 2011. Yahoo: A Place to Go Two or Three Times a Year When Google Isn't Loading — Eric Ledgin (@iamledgin) August 16, 2013 Agency pushes back on Tesla's  safety-ratings claim. Wells Fargo , the biggest U.S. home lender, will slash 2,300 jobs in mortgage production. This is to more closely align itself with the reality of slumping demand for refinancing, which will likely persist as interest rates rise. The chart of the day: Michael Gayed, one of our top Trading Deck contributors who goes by @pensionpartners on Twitter, tweeted this chart to illustrate the dangers of yield spikes. Here's a look at which major calamities took place each time corporate bond rates jumped to the degree we're seeing now. Cause for concern? GaveKavel The call of the day: The rotation into European stocks isn't just a flight of fancy, according to David Herro, who manages the $21 billion Oakmark International Fund and was previously tagged by Morningstar as the decade's best global stock picker. He told CNBC that the best way to play the recovery overseas is to invest in the region's banks, including names like Credit Suisse , BNP Paribas , Lloyds  and Allianz . Random reads: Feeling blue? A recent study confirms what my college roommates already knew 23 years ago -- marijuana can fix that . Terrible. The German tourist who had her arm bit off a week ago died last night . Thanks to the wonder of Twitter, we now know New Yorkers are generally happier in parks than they are on the subway. The kicker: They're also happier on weekends. For only $35,390 -- or a whole lot of dirhams -- the biggest hotel suite in the United Arab Emirates can be yours for one night. You know when you just about bruise the palm of your hand trying to get that ketchup to pour? Relax, it's probably just rodent fur . Need to Know starts early and is updated as needed until the opening bell, but sign up here  to get it delivered once to your e-mail box. Be sure to check the Need to Know item. The e-mailed version will be sent out at approximately 8:45 a.m. Eastern. Follow @slangwise  on Twitter. 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