Stock Markets Exposed

Before the market is open, what statistics do they use to figure out Dow and Nasdaq and S&P futures?

My dad and I love the stock market, but I'm curious as to what statistics, they use to figure out the futures. Is a big part looking at other countries markets that open before our's. Do they look at the day before and analyze what the buyers and sellers are going to do?

Public Comments

1. The answer to that question, unfortunately, will depend on the analyst-researcher-investor. For example, if she believes in technical analysis, she’ll probably study past patterns (see, for example, http://stockcharts.com/school/doku.php?id=chart_school). On the other hand, if she is a ‘fundamental’, she will probably try to find a link between past and expected macroeconomic information to future prices. More probably, expected information, because past information, some say, is already incorporated into current prices. (By the way, years ago, I read some Peter Lynch’s books, they are simply exemplary). Future prices, per se, contain some information regarding the ‘future’. Whether or not this information is biased, it is, of course, out of the scope of this short, and humble, answer. Research indicates that the US stock market is the leader. But the behavior of the rest of the world is always important. Take for example two weeks ago. Even though Asia is not a leader, its behavior had profound consequences on the US stock market. I hope this helps. Best Wishes!