Stock Market Update -Oct 25th

The market gave up all of the gains from the previous week! Asian and European market weakness, plus weak earnings reports helped to bring down the markets. Volatility levels hit an all time high, though it didn't feel like it.

In spite of OPEC output cuts, Oil continued to fall. Gold dipped below $700. Currencies came crashing down once again versus the US Dollar (except for the Yen). National City Bank (long on the list of failing banks) was finally gobbled up by PNC; another bank was shut down in Atlanta as well. It was not a good week.

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Next week we have a Fed meeting, with an interest rate announcement on Wednesday -could be a market mover. Also, earnings continue to roll in, and we get the GDP report on Thursday I believe, and an election in 2 weeks! For traders, I'm still looking for a turning point in the market in this area; always manage your risk on every trade though! For longer term investors, we are still a long way from any reversal signal at this point.

OPEC Says It Will Cut Oil Output
PNC Buys National City in Bank Shakeout
Currencies Fall as Fears Spread and Stocks Slip
Asian Stocks Plunge on Profit Declines; Kospi Sinks, Yen Jumps
Indexes fall hard on bloody Friday
Capital Flight Into Yen Is Path of Least Resistance

Greenspan Concedes Error on Regulation
Moody's, S&P Employees Doubted Ratings, E-Mails Say
Throwing the bathroom sink at the economy
Fed heads toward uncharted territory
GDP expected to show contraction
Mounting Layoffs: Why They're Different This Time
"Under water" mortgages are growing threat to U.S.
Foreclosure crisis vexes government
Foreclosures Rise 21% from Year Ago: RealtyTrac
For housing, no easy fix

Interesting...
Apple could buy Dell with cash
Stocks and Indexes mentioned in this blog are for educational and illustration purposes only.

Stock Market Update -Oct 19th

The week started off on Monday with the biggest jump in the DOW ever! We closed the week with a welcome gain, though not without the highest level of volatility ever seen. As the US Dollar climbs, Oil prices continue to drop ($71), along with Gold and other commodities.

The government announced that they would be buying ownership in banks to help ease the credit crisis. Google announced great earnings, helping the tech sector to recover a bit, while the financials gave up most of their Monday rally. The debt clock stands at $10.355 trillion this week.

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Big earnings week ahead with reports from companies like AAPL, MSFT, AXP, MCD, CAT, PFE, MRK, and MO. I continue to believe that we are near a turning point in the market at these levels. Interesting to note, the market topped on 10/10 last year, and it looks like it bottomed on 10/10 of this year!

Europe comes to the rescue
Europe puts more on the line for banks than US
Bush to announce expanded bank bailout details
Circuit City may shut stores to avoid filing
Dow off 127; have stocks bottomed?
Google Crushes Wall Street Estimates
Buffett says buy

Be ready for the commodity comeback
The next crisis: The economy
Housing starts hit another 17-year low
Mortgage rates headed to 7%
Coming Soon: The $600 Trillion Derivatives Emergency Meeting
AIG takes $122.8 billion of taxpayer money, enjoys luxury resorts
Stocks and Indexes mentioned in this blog are for educational and illustration purposes only.

Stock Market Update -Oct 12th

Last week I said we could be in for a rough October, but I didn't expect the worst week in the history of the stock market! They sold everything last week, not just in the US, but worldwide. Bank stocks fell again. Iceland even got caught up in the web and is now on the verge of bankruptcy. Global leaders are meeting this weekend to try and come up with solutions. Interest rates were cut worldwide in the middle of the week, but it seems like hardly anyone noticed. The Fed announced that they would backstop the commercial paper market too, an unprecedented move -but that didn't seem to make much difference either. Meanwhile Oil prices continue to fall (closing at around $80 per barrel), Gold dropped $65 on Friday, and the US Dollar continues to rise. A week earlier, the commodities index had its worst weekly decline in history. The debt clock stands at $10.290 trillion this week.

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Among the list of troubled companies, GM closed at $4.89 on Friday, while Ford closed at $1.99 per share. I've been posting information on the deteriorating situation at GM since early in the year when the stock was trading at around $26, after falling from around $40 a few months earlier (Feb 16th they posted a loss of $38 billion). Another example of how investors always have opportunities to exit losing positions before those losses get even bigger. Psychologically it's a very difficult thing to do, but it's the smart thing to do. (remember Fannie, Freddie, Bear Stearns, Lehman, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, AIG, WaMu, Wachovia, etc. -also Apple, Google, RIMM, POT, FXI (China), EWZ (Brazil), RSX (Russia), FSLR, DRYS -all examples of high fliers earlier this year which have now dropped significantly, or have gone out of business).

Next week we get the CPI report, along with a slew of earnings reports from major companies (like JNJ, KO, INTC, GOOG, IBM), as well as some of the big financial companies (C, JPM, MER, WFC). The Bond markets are closed on Monday for Columbus day.

I believe the market is close to a turning point here after the massive 22% selloff in the past two weeks, on top of another 20% loss over the past year. Keep in mind though that markets like China and Brazil have already lost about 60% in the past year, and that our markets could also fall further.

Stocks end worst week mixed after wild session
Wall Street's 8 brutal days
The Sky Falls on Wall Street
Fed to start buying commercial paper
U.S. Treasury Considers Buying Stakes in Banks
Housing Pain Gauge: Nearly 1 in 6 Owners 'Under Water'
Insurance on Lehman Debt Is the Industry’s Next Test
Bank of America profits plunge 68%
Why GE's in trouble

The Stunning Collapse of Iceland
Britain's bank bailout worth hundreds of billions
Russian markets go into free-fall, trading halted
Moscow to pump $37bn into biggest state institutions
Indonesian stock exchange remains closed
Brazil currency, stocks sink, halting trade twice
America's No. 1 Export: Debt
Stocks and Indexes mentioned in this blog are for educational and illustration purposes only.