How To Trade Today's Economc Data (USL, JJC, FCX, XRT)

There is a slew of economic data due out at 8:30 today, with initial claims data, April retail sales, and the producer price index being released.

For the week ending May 7, initial claims are expected to fall from last week, going to 423,000, down from 474,000 in the prior week. Continuing claims are also expected to fall, moving from 3.73 million to 3.70 million.

April retail sales are expected to be released at 8:30 this morning. April retail sales are expected to rise from March to 0.6% from 0.5%. Excluding autos, retail sales are expected to fall from March, going to 0.5% from 0.8%.

April PPI and Core PPI are also due at 8:30, and the prices producers paid is expected to fall from March, going from 0.7% to 0.5%. Core PPI is expected to fall from 0.3% to 0.2%.

At 10:00, March business inventories are expected to be released, going from 0.5% to 0.9%.

If traders believe that initial claims will come in better than expected, then going long commodity related names may prove to be a profitable trade, as there are worries on Wall Street that the economy is slowing down again, as evidenced by falling commodity prices and rising claims. Names to consider are United States 12 Month Oil Fund, LP (NYSE: USL), iPath Dow Jones-UBS Copper Subindex Total Return ETN (NYSE: JJC) and Freeport McMoran (NYSE: FCX).

If traders believe that retail sales will come in better than expected, than going long SPDR S&P Retail ETF (NYSE: XRT) may prove to be profitable as well.