Stock Market Blog -Jun 19th

The market continued its downward trend this week, approaching a potential level of support at 1250 on the S&P 500. We'll probably get a bounce at that level. With all the news about Greece, the Euro dropped, helping to push the US Dollar up, and stocks and commodities down. Oil and Natural Gas saw a big drop this week, while Bonds rallied.

RIMM tumbled some more this week on bad earnings.
AAPL & GOOG dropped on Friday -Options expiration??


New unemployment claims dropped to 414,000 (chart).
This week, two banks were shut down by the FDIC! (list).

Next week: (Economic reports link). We have a Fed meeting next week, along with earnings from ORCL and FDX. We should also get news on the financial crisis in Greece on Monday.

Market commentary: 'Looks like we may be headed down to the next support level near 1250 on the S&P 500' -This was last week's comment. We are almost there. I'm looking for a bounce in that area, but the big picture is still bearish.

This month marks the end of the Fed's QE2 stimulus program. This month also marks the end of the 2nd quarter (mutual funds window dressing?).

This weeks charts:
SPY -S&P 500 -approaching the March bottom
XLK -Technology -already past the March bottom
TLT -Gov bonds -will they go higher?

Commodities (charts):
Oil prices tumbled, closing around $92.90 per barrel.
Natural Gas dropped to near $4.33.
Gold was up a bit, closing near $1540.
The 30 year Bond was up again, closing near $127'06.
The US Dollar was up again, closing near 75.45.

Corn dropped, after rallying to all time highs last week.
Most commodities were down, as the Euro dropped, and the dollar rallied.

News:
Stocks have their first winning week since April
Investors search for signs U.S. will avert a double dip
Fed set to cut growth forecast during meeting
U.S. recovery could take until 2018
Investors Take Warning: Storm Clouds Gathering

Pandora sees quick rise and fall with IPO
Oracle seeks billions from Google over Java patent
J.C. Penney taps Apple’s retail chief as CEO
How long can BofA shareholders tread water?
10 Vintage Stocks Worth a Fortune
Greece poses $41 billion risk to U.S. banks
UK banks abandon eurozone over Greek default fears