Stock Market Blog -Jun 20th

Happy Father's day to all! The market was up again this week though most of the gains came on Tuesday. Best Buy shares fell after reporting earnings on Tuesday; so did Fedex. AAPL broke out to a new all time high, as did Gold.

New all time highs this week: AAPL, ABC, EGO, GLD, NEM, NFLX, GIS


New unemployment claims rose this week, coming in at 472,000 (chart).
This week another bank was shutdown by the FDIC! (list).

Next week: We get a number of Economic reports, along with earnings from ADBE, BBBY, NKE, ORCL, PALM, RIMM, and WAG. The Fed also meets next week. And the G-20 meeting is also on next weekend.

Market commentary: We did get the rally I mentioned last week, and I expect it to continue for a while, maybe after a brief pullback. We are approaching the end of the quarter, which might also help support a rally. One more catalyst might be the Fed meeting on Wednesday. Yet another is China's decision this weekend to ease the yuan's peg to the dollar.

Gold continues to rally too. I'm seeing green!

Commodities:
Oil prices were up, closing just over $77 per barrel.
Natural Gas closed around $5.00.
Gold prices hit another new all time high, closing around $1258.
The US Dollar index continued to drop, closing around 86; this may keep the stock rally going.
The 30 year Bond closed around $124.

News:
Stretching the market rally
China unleashes global rally by unchaining yuan
China to ease yuan-dollar peg; any weakening to be gradual
Stocks, Commodities, U.S. Futures Surge as China Ends Yuan Peg to Dollar
U.S. Treasuries face test from China's yuan move
Reading the Bond Bubble's Pressure Gauge
Cost of Seizing Fannie and Freddie Surges for Taxpayers
Mortgages: underwater and delinquent
ETFs Gone Wild
Gold's 30% Surge Puzzles Bernanke