Stock Market Blog -Aug 1st

We closed out July with the best monthly gains for the year. The market was down most of the week though, closing mostly unchanged. The GDP report for the second quarter was a disappointing 2.4%, and consumer confidence sank as well.

The US Dollar has been in a steady decline since the beginning of June. Commodity prices have also risen during that time.

New all time highs this week: BIDU, FFIV


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

Next week: We get the usual Economic reports, along with more earnings reports. The big report next week will be the monthly payroll report. Some of the companies reporting earnings:

MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI
	MA	DVN	CBOE
	PG	EP	DTV
	PFE
	PCLN
	WFMI

Market commentary: The market will continue to be driven by earnings again this week, as well as economic reports, including the payroll report on Friday. We could see a nice upturn again after having pulled back last week.

Commodities (charts):
Oil closed near $79 per barrel, mostly unchanged.
Natural Gas was up again, closing around $4.92.
Gold dropped, closing around $1182.
The US Dollar index was down again, closing around 81.70
The 30 year Bond rallied on Friday, closing just under $129.

News:
GDP slows in second quarter to 2.4% annual rate
Consumer Confidence Falls, Lowest Since February
Dollar Declines to Lowest Level in 2010 as U.S. Growth Slows
With Recovery Slowing, the Jobs Outlook Dims
Greenspan Says Decline in U.S. Home Prices Might Bring Return of Recession
China manufacturing growth slows
Tough Times Ahead for Junk Bond Issuers
FDIC Bank Failures

Stock Market Blog -Jul 25th

We saw strong gains in the market this week, with most companies reporting better than expected earnings. The S&P500 closed just over the 1100 level.

AAPL, AXP, CAT, F, KO, MMM, QCOM, T, UPS, VMW, VZ, all rallied on earnings.
AMZN dropped $15 after reporting earnings, but recovered most of the loss.
YHOO also disappointed.

Lots of New All Time Highs this week! AAP, AZO, CRM, CTSH, FFIV -bonds AGG, LQD


New unemployment claims jumped, coming in at 464,000 (chart).
This week, seven banks were shutdown by the FDIC! (list).

Next week: We get the usual Economic reports, along with more earnings reports. Also, the Treasury will sell another $100 billion plus in bonds next week. Some of the companies reporting earnings:

MON	TUE	WED	THU	FRI
	DB	BA	ABX	MRK
	DD	COP	XOM	CVX
	ODP		MOT
	VLO		POT
	BP		SNE

Market commentary: The market will be driven by earnings again this week and we could see the rally continue, up to the mid-June high. The indexes , along with many stocks appear to be in an ABC up pattern.


Commodities (charts):
Oil prices rallied, closing near $79 per barrel.
Natural Gas was up, closing around $4.56.
Gold was mostly unchanged, closing around $1188.
The US Dollar index was up and down, closing around 82.50
The 30 year Bond dropped, closing just over $127.

News:
US Stocks Have Second Best Week of the Year
American Express Q2 Profit Triples, Beats Estimate
Is the Next Leg of the Bull About To Begin?
White House: Unemployment at 9% until 2012
Jobless benefits restored for millions
Federal budget deficit to exceed $1.4 trillion in 2010 and 2011
Commercial Real Estate's Death Knell May Have Been Premature
Bullion buyers bank on gold coins
What the bond guru sees coming

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...