Stock Market Blog -Jul 18th

The market was up for the week until the big sell off on Friday! (see chart below). Bad news on consumer sentiment, and earnings reports from GOOG, and GE, BAC, JPM, and C, all helped to push the DOW down 261 points on Friday (also Options expiration day). The Fed also chimed in with a lowered outlook on the economy.

INTC reported great earnings on Tuesday, but the shares sold off.
GOOG shares were down $34 after reporting earnings.

The National debt just crossed another $250 billion! (now $13.25 trillion)



New unemployment claims fell, coming in at 429,000 (chart).
This week, six banks were shutdown by the FDIC! (list).

Next week: We get the usual Economic reports, along with a barrage of earnings reports. Some of the companies reporting:

MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI
IBM	GS	KO	MMM,T,CAT	F
TXN	JNJ,BSX	EMC	AXP	MCD
HAL	AAPL	FCX	NOK
	YHOO	MS,WFC	AMZN
	JNPR	SBUX	MSFT
	VMW	BIDU	UPS
		EBAY,QCOM
		ISRG

Market commentary: The market will be driven by 'earnings' this week. It could move in either direction, but the charts may be indicating a 'top' here, in a downward channel. It may also be consolidating between 9750 and 10500 in the DOW.

Commodities (charts):
Oil prices were mostly unchanged, closing near $76 per barrel.
Natural Gas was up, closing around $4.50.
Gold was down, closing around $1188.
The US Dollar index continued to drop, closing around 82.66
The 30 year Bond rallied! -closed just over $128.

News:
US Stocks Battered; Financials Lead The Fall; DJIA Off 220
U.S. Consumer Price Index falls 0.1% in June
Google Earnings Miss Wall Street Expectations, Shares Fall
Goldman pays $550 mln to settle CDO suit with SEC
Senate OKs sweeping bank-reform bill; sends it to Obama
The Debt Supercycle

Chinese bank to launch world’s biggest stock offering
Should you buy energy stocks?
Motorola Droid X Sold Out

Stock Market Blog -Jul 11th

We got a nice rally this week, despite the lack of any market moving news. Could be an oversold bounce, or maybe we're in for a better quarter than the last one!

All time highs this week: AZO NEM


New unemployment claims rose again, coming in at 454,000 (chart).
This week, four banks were shutdown by the FDIC! (list).

Next week: We get a few Economic reports, along with earnings season kickoff.
Some of the companies reporting:

MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI
AA	INTC		JPM	BAC
			AMD	C
			GOOG	GE

Don't forget options expiration on Friday!

Market commentary: We did get that 'oversold' bounce I mentioned last week, and I think we can continue to see more upside action this week. Options expire on Friday, and the put/call ratio on the indexes is very high! Earnings will also be a big market driver.

Commodities (charts):
Oil prices moved up, closing near $76 per barrel.
Natural Gas fell, to close around $4.40.
Gold was up slightly, closing around $1209.
The US Dollar index continued to drop, closing around 84.15
The 30 year Bond finally dropped, closing just over $126.

News:
U.S. stocks rise, log best week in nearly a year
US growth gauge falls to lowest since July
Foreclosure Friday: The Top 1 Percent Stick It to the Banks
States of Crisis
Why Pimco Likes Stocks
Good News on the Junk-Bond Market

Microsoft's Bold Attempt to Repair Health Care
China Will Be World's Largest IPO Market This Year, PriceWaterhouse Says
Why China's growth will slow
Central banks are trading their gold for cash. What do they know that we don't?
Goldman, Morgan Stanley EPS Estimates Cut by Whitney

Stock Market Blog -Jul 4th

Happy 4th of July. The market continued to grind lower this week as we got more bad news from China slowing down, a slow housing market, weak consumer confidence, and a lousy jobs number for June on Friday. Unemployment sits at 9.5%.

New all time high this week: DLTR LQD

We just closed out a very ugly quarter!

New unemployment claims rose again, coming in at 472,000 (chart).
This week, no banks were shutdown by the FDIC! (list).

Next week: (short week) We get a few Economic reports, along with earnings from FDO. Then the following week kicks off earnings season once again, along with options expiration on Friday Jul 16th., so start planning ahead.

Market commentary: We got more downside action again this week, and the market did in fact head all the way back down to the 'flash crash' lows! Next week's action is anybody's guess. We are so oversold, we could get a bounce, but the probability of dropping further is just as good, so be careful. I'm looking for a bounce heading into options expiration in just under two weeks (the put/call ratio on the indexes is very high).

The 3rd quarter will bring more of the same (as the 2nd quarter) in my opinion, unless we get a boost from some kind of stimulus. No jobs and more foreclosures = bad economy and bad stock market!

Commodities:
Oil prices dropped, closing near $72 per barrel.
Natural Gas closed around $4.70.
Gold dropped, closing around $1207.
The US Dollar index continued to drop, closing around 84.7
The 30 year Bond continued to rise, closing just over $127.

News:
Stocks Fall After Jobs Miss, Lose 4.5% for Week
Dow Falls 10% for Quarter7.9 million jobs lost - many forever
When Breadth Is This Bad, It Usually Gets Worse
Stimulus: The big bang is over
Will second-quarter GDP be weak?
Consumer Bankruptcy Filings at Highest Level Since 2005
Is There a Bottom in Sight for Commercial Real Estate?

Andy Grove: How America Can Create Jobs

Stock Market Blog -Jun 27th

The market sold off again this week. Disappointing home sales helped push the market down (worst sales report since the 60s!). Also, the big financial regulatory reform bill was completed by Congress on Friday. Hooray for nothing!

RIMM sold off after reporting earnings.

New all time highs this week: AGG, LQD -everyone is flocking to bonds!


Fannie & Freddie were finally de-listed this week!


New unemployment claims fell this week, coming in at 457,000 (chart).
This week, three more banks were shutdown by the FDIC! (list).

Next week: We get a number of Economic reports, along with earnings from MU, GIS, and MON. The big event will be the May employment report on Friday. Next week also marks the end of the second quarter.

Market commentary: We got the pullback this week, though much more than I expected. The market might be headed all the way back down to the 'flash crash' lows again! Friday we get the jobs report, and next month we begin earnings season again. Hopes for a rally are fading.

Commodities:
Oil prices were up, closing near $79 per barrel.
Natural Gas closed around $4.90.
Gold closed near an all time high around $1256.
The US Dollar index continued to drop, closing around 85.5
The 30 year Bond continued to rise, closing just over $125, and pushing long term rates lower.

News:
Stocks: Closing out a rough first half
For investors, the future is on hold
New-home sales plunge 33% to record low in May
Fed Downgrades Outlook on Economy, Housing
Shale Game
Android Phones Burying Blackberry, Not iPhone

Building a Fixed Income portfolio with ETF’s
Why Leveraged ETFs All Go to Zero
Direxion Will Execute A 1-for-5 Reverse Split On These 3X Leveraged ETFs

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

Stock Market Blog -Jun 13th

The market might have hit a bottom this week as it rebounded from Tuesday's lows. The chart below shows all green for the sectors in the S&P500 this week. We'll see if there is any follow through next week. Friday saw a disappointing retail sales report for May.

New all time highs this week: GLD NFLX CRM ESRX
All time low: GAME

New unemployment claims fell this week, coming in at 456,000 (chart).
This week another bank was shutdown by the FDIC! (list).

Next week: We get a number of Economic reports, along with earnings from BBY and FDX. Also Friday is 'triple witch' expiration day for Options and Futures for the second quarter. The market can be unpredictable during quarterly expiration week.

Market commentary: We may have seen a double bottom in the S&P500 this past week, and with sentiment so negative, I expect we could see the market rally some more next week (contrarian view). The US dollar may have topped out for now, which would also support a move up in stocks.

Commodities:
Oil prices were up, closing around $74 per barrel.
The Natural Gas rally held up, closing around $4.80.
Gold prices hit a new all time high, but fell back to around $1229.
The US Dollar index may have topped for now, closing around 87.
The 30 year Bond dropped, closing around $124.

News:
Dow posts 1st weekly gain in a month
The 11-Year Itch: Still Stuck at Dow 10000
How to lose money: Buy banks
Time for investors to wait and watch
Are bonds pricing in another panic?
AN INVERTED DEATH CROSS IN INVESTMENT GRADE CREDIT
Wasn't commercial real estate supposed to crash?
Presidential Spending: Expenditures by Year
Google dumps Windows...

Stock Market Blog -May 30th

More indecision in the markets this week as we close out the month of May. This has been the worst month of May for the DOW in 40 years! (or since 1940?) -either way, it was a bad month. The S&P 500 also took out the lows seen in February. Concerns about Europe's economy still linger, while tensions in Korea didn't help matters either.

Also making news this week is that Apple is now bigger than Microsoft in terms of market value!

All time highs this week: AAP ORLY UHS XEC


New unemployment claims fell this week, coming in at 460,000 (chart).
This week five more banks were shutdown by the FDIC! (list).

Next week: We get a number of Economic reports, along with the much anticipated monthly jobs report on Friday. JOYG and STP also report earnings next week.

Market commentary: The market tried to rally this week, but met with more selling. Next week is a short week (markets closed on Monday), with the monthly jobs report due on Friday, a potentially big market mover. Until then, the short term market direction is undecided. Longer term, it still looks like more downward pressure to come.

Commodities:
Oil prices recovered, closing around $74 per barrel.
Natural Gas was up, closing around $4.35.
Gold prices recovered, closing around $1215.
The US Dollar index was mostly unchanged, closing just over 86.
The 30 year Bond dropped, closing around $123.

News:
Dow ends worst May in 70 years
Indexes lose 8% in month
Evidence of Slower Economic Growth Piles Up
Five-star mutual funds don't live up to their past
Beware of the bubble in bonds
The Time Has Come to Short 10 Year Treasuries

Fitch downgrades Spain from AAA
Number of the Week: 75% Chance of Greek Default
Global Meltdown: Chapter Two
Treasury sells 1.5 billion Citi shares for $6.2 billion
Central banks - crisis creators
Is Gold the Next Bubble?
Apple: iPad sales top 2 million since launch
25 stock picks from 25 great investors

Stock Market Blog -May 23rd

More selling in the market this week as the indexes fell to the 'crash' level we saw two weeks ago! (this was also the early February low). A jump in unemployment claims helped send the market lower on Thursday, and some say that the passing of the Wall Street reform bill by the Senate helped send the markets lower as well.

Much of the selling was also attributed to the fall in the Euro, and concerns about Europe in general. Gold and Oil also sold off as a result, while Bonds rallied.

Dell dropped after reporting earnings.

All time highs this week: AAP AGG(bonds) FDO
All time lows: YRCW GAME

We are now approaching the $13 trillion level on the national debt clock!


New unemployment claims rose unexpectedly this week, coming in at 471,000 (chart).
This week another bank was shutdown by the FDIC! (list).

Next week : We get a number of key Economic reports . The Treasury will also auction another $113 billion in bonds.

Market commentary: The market continued to sell off this week. I think there's a good chance we'll see a bounce next week. We are at very oversold levels. Longer term, the market looks like it want to go down further, as many key stocks have already broken down below the January/February lows, and in some cases broken below the 200 day moving average. Long term investors should use the bounce as an opportunity to lighten up positions or add some protection.

Commodities:
Oil prices continued to fall, closing around $70 per barrel.
Natural Gas also fell, closing around $4.00.
Gold prices tumbled, closing around $1176.
The US Dollar index was down a bit, and closed just over 85.
The 30 year Bond rallied, closing just under $125.

News:
U.S. stocks drop into correction on global growth worries
Global stock markets correct and head for bear territory
Bonds ring economic alarm bells
Surprise jump in jobless claims
Goldman Sachs Hands Clients Losses in ‘Top Trades’
Treasury yields fall to lowest levels of 2010
Bonds ring economic alarm bells
Debt overload, and the hunt for a successor to U.S. bonds

Senate passes sweeping Wall Street reform
Core Inflation at 44-Year Low
Seven worries for Wall Street, and what's next
The Death Cross in China
More homeowners choose to default on loans
Google Now Activating 100,000 Android Devices a Day