Futures Forecast Lower Open for Wall Street

Premarket futures were forecasting a lower open for stocks in New York Monday, as financial firms once again took action to dull the impact of impending economic squalor.

Futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.4 points at 862 but were 10 below fair value. Nasdaq futures were lower by 2 points at 1154 and were 27 short of fair value.

On Friday, stocks ended on the downside following the release of the worst retail sales data on record and disheartening corporate earnings statements.

Over the weekend, members of the Group of 20 finance ministers convened in Washington to try to prevent further economic decline. The meeting resulted in a decision not to raise barriers to trade for 2009, to delegate additional money to the International Monetary Fund and to set up regulatory bodies to detect risky investment. ...