The Stock Market is Broken

Today's trading supplied more than sufficient evidence that the major stock exchanges in the United States are broken.

Following the release of the most important data in a month's time, the monthly US non-farm payroll report, futures fell, and so did stocks at the open, and with good reason.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a July payroll decline of 131,000, mostly due - according to the completely inept and inefficient government - to layoffs of of thousands of census workers, though private sector payrolls were said to have increased by some 70,000.

Overall, it was an inexcusable report, with private payrolls even failing to meet the needed capacity to keep up with population growth. In normal, orderly markets, the Dow Jones Industrials would have declined some 200 to 300 points, possibly more, but, being that Wall Street and Washington are so completely corrupt and in cahoots, stocks only fell during the session, closing with what cannot even be called "modest" losses. The minuscule size of today's declines are not in proper proportion with economic reality.

The maximum the Dow was down on the day was 160 points, with the other indices generally in line. Thanks to a late-day rally which began precisely an hour and fifteen minutes before the markets were to close, stocks ended nearly flat.

An exceptional article by Jim Sinclair sums up the current condition rather succinctly.

Dow 10,653.56, -21.42 (0.20%)
NASDAQ 2,288.47, -4.59 (0.20%)
S&P 500 1,121.64, -4.17 (0.37%)
NYSE Composite 7,153.72, -20.55 (0.29%)

Decliners beat advancing issues, 3590-2804. New highs ramped past new lows, 347-127. Volume was once again on the sorry side of pathetic. Surely there was a great deal of arbitrage within particular stocks, mostly the volume leaders, which is where the hedge funds frolic these days. The overall tone of the market is one in which a few players are actually still interested. It is flat and lacking dynamism and liquidity, due to fail, though apparently not on any genuine bad news.

NASDAQ Volume 1,886,263,625
NYSE Volume 4,467,197,500

The commodity space was much more entertaining today than the equity markets. Oil fell $1.30, to $80.70, in line with the decimation of the US dollar. Gold gained a tidy $6.20, finishing the work-week at $1,203.40. Silver added 15 cents, to $18.46. There seems to be no stopping Forex traders from hammering the dollar versus other currencies. The greenback was slaughtered by the Euro and the Yen, in a nearly honest appreciation of the employment situation in the US.

For investment purposes, stocks should be almost completely shunned at the juncture. With a Fed meeting next week, some are hoping for action, in the form of more quantitative easing, or at least the announcement of such, in response to the horrible economic conditions within the US borders, though none is likely, and, even if it is, will only provide more cover for the clowns in suits who occupy the Fed, Treasury and all three branches of the federal government.

The United States is slowly being bled to death by a thousand paper cuts applied by the government-approved banking/financial cartel.

Markets which cannot properly respond to critical economic data are rouge casinos, not orderly mechanisms for the trade of investment vehicles.

To further illustrate how the stock market is not in sync with reality, bonds tumbled like dominoes. The 10-year yield, already closing in on historic lows, fell 8 basis points to 2.82%. The five-year yield, which only a month ago was 1.78%, fell today to 1.50%. These Treasury bond prices truly reflect the economic condition of a country without support other than that which it commands from within. Fear is writ large in the bond prices. Unless there is a sudden change in political thinking and practicality, the economy will continue to languish.