Stock Market Blog -May 9th

This week, in 5 days, we gave back most of the gains from that huge 3 month rally that began after the January sell-off. This looks like the beginning of another sell-off. Programmed computer trades sent the market into a deep, momentary dive on Thursday, only to recover a good portion of the drop within minutes. If you blinked, you missed it! (see chart below) Most of the anxiety was blamed on the Greece & European crisis; the Euro currency also tanked, causing the US dollar to spike up.

The monthly unemployment report showed 290,000 jobs added in April, and the unemployment rate rising to 9.9%.

All time highs: In spite of the huge drop in the market this week, EGO managed to hit a new all time high. This is one of the best gold mining stocks.

Gold closed over $1200 per ounce in spite of the dollar rally, while Oil prices tanked!


New unemployment claims declined again this week, coming in at 444,000 (chart).
This week four more banks were shutdown by the FDIC! (list).

Next week: We get more economic reports, and more earnings reports.

Market commentary: We finally got the correction so many traders were looking for, though I think it took everyone by surprise. After the huge sell-off last week, I expect we will see a relief rally, then eventually a resumption of the sell-off taking the major indexes in negative territory for the year.

Also, after the recent spike in Bonds, 'traders' might benefit from a brief pullback this week (the TBT is a good ETF for shorting bonds).

Commodities:
Oil prices tanked, closing around $75 per barrel.
Natural Gas still hovering around $4.00.
Gold prices rallied again, closing around $1210.
The US Dollar index spiked up, and closed near 85.
The 30 year Bond spiked up, closing just over $123.

News:
U.S. stocks fall for session, week as debt concerns gain
The 1,000-point plunge
The Day There Were No Bids
BOJ Pumps 2 Trillion Yen Into System on Greek Crisis
Currency, Treasury volume reached records
Junk Bond Sales Set Record as Investors Waver

April Jobs report: Best gain in four years
U.S. dollar sees best weekly gain since October 2008
Gold prices end at five-month high; silver jumps 5%
Freddie Mac Seeks Billions More After Big Loss
Greece takes $146 billion bailout
A death sentence for your retirement savings