Good morning. Here's what you need to know.
- Asian markets were mostly lower in overnight trading with the Nikkei down 0.35 percent after the Japanese central bank announced unlimited easing. The yen is up on the news. Europe is selling off and U.S. stocks have opened flat.
- The Bank of Japan announced an open-ended asset purchase plan set to begin January 2014. The central bank will purchase 2 trillion yen worth of Japanese government bonds and 10 trillion yen worth of T-bills per month. It also adopted a 2 percent inflation target. Why the Bank of Japan's move could be another big flop >
- At his second inaugural address President Obama addressed some of his plans for the second term. These included gay rights, gun control, climate change, and immigration, and Obama showed that he was willing to take on the Republicans. He didn't spend a lot of time addressing the deficit or a "grand bargain".
- German investor confidence surged to 31.5 in January, from 6.9 in December, the highest level in 2.5 years. The Bundesbank has said that there are signs that the economic recovery has begun.
- In earnings news, Johnson & Johnson is expected to announce fourth quarter earnings of $1.17 per share. Google is expected to announce Q4 earnings of $10.58 per share. Google's earnings have been bad news for its stock lately >
- Existing home sales for December and the Richmond Fed manufacturing index for January will be out at 10 a.m. ET. Analysts polled by Bloomberg are looking for existing home sales to rise to a 5.1 million annual rate, and for the manufacturing index to hold steady at 5. Follow the release at Business Insider >
- Research in Motion's stock is up nearly 9 percent in pre-market trading, after CEO Thorstein Heins told German publication Die Welt that the company will look into alliances with other tech companies after the release of its Blackberry 10 models, according to Reuters. He said RIM could sell its hardware production or licenses to its software.
- India raised its import tax on gold and platinum to 6 percent, from 4 percent, effective immediately. India has said that about 80 percent of its current account deficit is because of gold and has been enacting measures to reduce demand for the precious metal. 10 countries hoarding enormous stockpiles of gold >
- The UK budget deficit ex-support for banks, widened to £15.4 billion in December, compared with £14.8 billion a year ago. Spending increased 5.4 percent, and revenue was up 3.6 percent.
- The World Economic Forum's five-day gathering of executives, policymakers, and academics, begins in Davos this week. Ahead of the meeting, a Bloomberg Global poll found that international investors are most bullish on stocks in 3.5 years. Dylan Grice: Here are 22 books everyone must read >
- Bonus - Olivia Wilde tweeted "I sincerely hope it was Mimosa Monday at the WH today. I would be shitting myself anyway, but still, a bubbly beta blocker is in order".
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