Stocks set for continued losses, Fed to the rescue?

S&P 500 futures are 5 points below fair value after a 7.8 point decline on Monday.

JOLTS data is coming up at the top of the hour but comments from the Fed’s Lacker and Kocherlakota could rattle markets later. It’s tough to imagine anything surprising from the always-hawkish Lacker at 1700 GMT but Kocherlakota at 1745 GMT is a wild card.

Kocherlakota’s often the most-dovish Fed member but can quickly change his mind and the better employment picture could lead to a hawkish comment. That would undercut stocks further and give the US dollar a reason to rebound.

The final event to watch is Alcoa earnings after the close. The company is expected to earn 12-cents/share on revenue of $5.64B.