Stock Market Update -May 17th

The market finally broke its 2 month up-trend this week, as May options expired on Friday. We'll see how much it continues to pull back in the coming weeks. (I'm still waiting for GM to be booted from the DOW!) Oil prices may have reached a short term top at $60 as well.

New Unemployment claims for the week came in over 600,000 once more! Retail sales were down for April, and we continue to see more foreclosures being reported.

Commodities: Oil prices fell to around $56 per barrel after briefly touching $60. Gold prices rose to around $930, while the US Dollar recovered a bit from the previous downtrend. Bond prices also recovered a bit, as the stock market dropped (typical inverse relationship).

Next week we get earnings reports from Hewlett Packard, Lowe's, and Home Depot among others. Not much else going on.

Market analysis: The recent rally cooled off this week, and we could see more of the same in coming weeks, so it's a good time to take profits or hedge your positions. The 'inverse ETFs' provide a good way to hedge or profit from the downside in the markets (my inverse ETF listings).

What's Hot & Not this past week

Mutual Funds Are On A Tear
Don't Count on Your 401(k)
Nothing Suggests We're Anywhere Near the Bottom
Stock Pullbacks Then and Now: Is History About to Repeat Itself?
Home Prices in U.S. Drop Most on Record in Quarter
Is the State of California Broke?
Is America about to go broke?
The Risk of Debt
America’s triple A rating is at risk

The financial meltdown's unhappy anniversary
The banking industry -Three trillion dollars later...
Fannie Mae taps Treasury again after $23 billion loss
Fannie and Freddie Will Continue to Be Rescued by Taxpayers
Freddie Mac loses $9.9B
GM Follows in Chrysler's Footsteps
GM pulling plug on 1,100 'underperforming' dealers
EU slams Intel with record $1.45 billion fine