Stocks Get Sent on Wild Ride by ADP, FOMC

The Wall Street Casino is a dangerous place to play with money. One would have at least as good a chance f
"winning" at any of the establishments lining the Las Vegas Strip. At least there, high rollers play by the same rules, with the same odds. It's not that way at all on Wall Street, where the chances of stocks, bonds or entire indices are likely predetermined and those deemed "too big to fail" win all the time, mostly at the expense of other players.

Today's excursion into madness began with the release of ADP employment data for July, which showed a gain of 200,000 jobs in the month. Stocks started slowly, but by 10:30 am EDT - just an hour into the trading day - the Dow Jones Industrials were up by 114 points, and that was the high of the day.

With the Fed's FOMC announcement looming at 2:00 pm EDT, the slide back close to unchanged was obvious, the Dow slipping into the red shortly after the Fed announced it was doing nothing, for now, giving no indication of whether it intends to roll back its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases, which many analysts were predicting would begin in September.

The Dow zoomed back up to nearly an 80-point gain by 3:00 pm EDT, but then the selling resumed, taking into negative ground again just prior to the close. The S&P closed fractionally lower, though the NYSE Composite and NASDAQ ended the day in positive territory.

This summer's stock market is about as normal and predictable as a 14-year-old. There's no telling what may happen next, as good news is interpreted as good sometimes and bad others, and vice versa with bad news.

What's certain is that fundamentals don't matter at all and that's a dangerous place to invest, if that's what one wants to call it. Money is safer in one's pocket or lent to a neighbor or friend, even if they are poor risks. On a daily basis, the rug gets pulled out at some point, for some traders.

Best bet is to make sure you're not standing on it.

Dow 15,499.54, -21.05 (0.14%)
NASDAQ 3,626.37, +9.90 (0.27%)
S&P 500 1,685.73, -0.23 (0.01%)
NYSE Composite 9,558.81, +2.64 (0.03%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,870,515,500
NYSE Volume 4,183,349,250
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3425-3078
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 389-92
WTI crude oil: 105.03, +1.95
Gold: 1,312.40, -11.60
Silver: 19.63, -0.052

Dog Days Prompt Little Action in Stocks

Seriously, nothing of any importance occurred on either Monday or Tuesday of this week.

Remain Calm. Tomorrow the FOMC will dominate the financial landscape, but there is likely to be little of value in their statement. Rates will remain unchanged and there will be little change to their language.

Everything is geared toward September, when the president and supine congress attempt to reach compromise on extending the debt ceiling. It will be lots of show, no glory and a possible disaster, but, everybody in America has so little faith in our elected officials, what they do will be of importance only to those who care.

Back tomorrow.

Dow 15,520.59, -1.38 (0.01%)
NASDAQ 3,616.47, +17.33 (0.48%)
S&P 500 1,685.96, +0.63 (0.04%)
NYSE Composite 9,556.17, -15.62 (0.16%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,736,761,125
NYSE Volume 3,552,778,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3262-3235
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 252-57
WTI crude oil: 103.08, -1.47
Gold: 1,324.00, -4.40
Silver: 19.68, -0.184

Fun and Games Friday: Markets Erase Steep Losses, End with Gains

What passes for equity markets in America since 2008 are nothing like the vibrant, progressive institutions prevalent through the halcyon days of the 1990s and prior. Today's casinos are run by big banks and their trick algos, destroying any kind of price discovery in their quest for never-ending profits on the backs of weak companies and even sillier analysts.

Take Amazon (AMZN), for instance. On a day after reporting a loss when they were expected to show a gain for the quarter, along with missing on the revenue side and issuing skeptical guidance, the stock erased early losses and ended the day with a tidy gain. So much for fundamental analysis, price-earnings and other metrics which used to be the norm in real, functioning markets.

Today's casino has no correlation trades except those blessed by upturned-nose analysts from top firms who piece together whatever data they can cherry-pick to make their cases. It's really turned into a situation where it's every man, woman and snooty banker for him/herself.

So it was that the Dow erased all of a 140-point loss incurred in the morning (with all but Merck in negative territory) to finish the day with a modest gain. The NASDAQ was even more extreme, whipping down 20 points in the morning only to gain it all back and turn positive shortly before 2:00 pm EDT and post a 0.22% uptick. There was, as is the usual case, no shaking news or market-moving event, other than that one of the biggest thieves on the planet, Steve Cohen and his firm, SAC Capital, have come under the probing eye of the SEC. Cohen will likely settle before he is even charged and the firm will be liquidated, the money going into the coffers of the federal government, which, of course, needs the money since tax revenues are down severely and the budget process is an absolute mess.

Nothing new on Wall Street this Friday. Just more of the rampant theft and manipulation that has become the trademark of our corrupt, greed-infested markets. That and the reliance of Ben Bernanke's Fed putting a floor under the market is about all one can trust these days.

Good grief. If I hear Maria Bartiromo say, "it looks like it wants to go positive," one more time, there may soon be a busted flat screen left out on my front lawn for the trash man. Today's move was a bad joke. Just look at the A-D line.

Enjoy your weekend in the Hamptons, you rich crooked bums, and don't forget to BTFD.

For the rest of you, more silver, gold, tools, machinery and farm land.

Dow 15,558.83, +3.22 (0.02%)
NASDAQ 3,613.16, +7.98 (0.22%)
S&P 500 1,691.65, +1.40 (0.08%)
NYSE Composite 9,620.42, -14.64 (0.15%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,666,886,250
NYSE Volume 2,991,769,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2758-3710
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 245-63
WTI crude oil: 104.68, -0.81
Gold: 1,321.50, -7.30
Silver: 19.80, -0.35

Stocks Gain After sluggish Start; Amazon Misses

Halfway through earnings season and the Dow has tacked on nearly 600 points since the end of June, so, we're on pace for July - if the trend remains in place - for a gain of over five percent in just this month.

Didn't somebody say, "Sell in May and go away."

In this market, they're dead wrong.

After the close, Amazon (AMZN) reported a two cent loss on expectations of a five cent gain. Revenue was a small miss, but guidance for the next quarter was very soft. The stock was bouncing around in after-hours trade, down as much as four percent.

This remains a very dull market, despite the outsize gains.

Dow 15,555.61, +13.37 (0.09%)
NASDAQ 3,605.19, +25.59 (0.71%)
S&P 500 1,690.25, +4.31 (0.26%)
NYSE Composite 9,635.04, +29.98 (0.31%)
NASDAQ Volume 2,036,177,125
NYSE Volume 3,541,185,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3927-2584
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 371-130
WTI crude oil: 105.49, +0.10
Gold: 1,328.80, +9.10
Silver: 20.15, +0.134

Dow at New Record Close, NASDAQ, S&P Down, Apple Beats, Revenues In-Line

New home sales for June will be out tomorrow at 10:00 am EDT. This follows Monday's release of existing home sales data which was lower than June a year ago.

Also out tomorrow, prior to the bell, are earnings from Boeing (BA), which is trading near all-time highs.

Apple (AAPL) somewhat surprised markets after hours, beating eps estimates of 7.32 per share with a 7.47 show. Revenues were basically in-line, at 35.30 billion, on estimates of 35.02 billion. I-phone sales were well ahead of everyone's estimates and is a real driver for the company, even though same quarter earnings last year were 9.32. Growth is slowing, but Apple is still mightily profitable. As an investment, it may not be such a great performer going forward, much of its growth having been due to founder, Steve Jobs, who passed away October 5, 2011. Apple must stop pretending and create new and exciting products, not an easy task.

Incidentally, Apple's stock leapt in after-hours trading, just seconds before the earnings release, in yet another example of how the market is rigged to insiders and dangerous for individual investors.

For an idea as to how out-of-whack the markets are, consider the new highs to new lows today, at 536 new highs to 38 new lows. That's an extreme reading - sure, we're at all-time highs - but that's when things usually turn, and turn this market will, though probably without much notice. Keep powder dry.

Dow 15,567.74, +22.19 (0.14%)
NASDAQ 3,579.27, -21.11 (0.59%)
S&P 500 1,692.39, -3.14 (0.19%)
NYSE Composite 9,659.63, +9.04 (0.09%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,577,547,250
NYSE Volume 3,369,484,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3435-3033
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 536-38
WTI crude oil: 107.23, +0.23
Gold: 1,342.80, +6.80
Silver: 20.44, -0.064

No Happy Meals For McDonald's Shareholders; Gold, Silver Rise

The signs of collapse are everywhere. You just have to know where to look.

Detroit declared itself a bankrupt city on Friday and on Monday, McDonald's (MCD) - home of the Happy Meal - reported earnings before the opening bell that were short of estimates. When the world's largest purveyor of cheap, unsubstantial, processed, nutrient-deprived food (though Yum Brands is a close second) can't meet the already-lowered bar of wall Street estimates, you know that something bad this way comes.

McDonald's is all about everything that is wrong with our society. Their main profit center is the dollar menu - cheap, boiled or broiled sandwiches or chunks of deep-fried processed chicken with gobs of unsaturated fats included at no extra charge - an affordable alternative to actual, pesticide-free nutrition, that gets goobed-up by the least of our society in massive numbers daily. The problem - in a very heuristic, superfluous, nebulous kind of way - is that numbers of the wretched poor can't even afford to eat this crap any more, so burdened are they by taxes, lack of meaningful and good-paying employment and general economic malaise. It's a much more serious problem than just not making the numbers. The American poor are being slowly, methodologically, starved into submission and death.

America was once the land of milk and honey and other worldly gifts, but, no more. Now, the country is devoid of morals, an aimless gob of humanity looking for a way off the debt treadmill. And Wall Street isn't giving them an escape route.

Bottom lime is that McDonald's food is junk food and their stock is a junk stock, like so many others, profitable upon the backs of cheap labor and unconscionable practices.

The market is dead. Gold - in backwardation since January - shot through $1300 like an unguided missile, dragging silver along for a gain of better than a dollar on the day. Land, precious metals, fuels, tools, skills. That's survival. The rest will vanish.

You thought last week's market was dull. Wait for Thursday. It will be like being struck with the wrong side of an axe. These aren't gains. They are mirages.

Dow 15,545.55, +1.81 (0.01%)
NASDAQ 3,600.39, +12.77 (0.36%)
S&P 500 1,695.53, +3.44 (0.20%)
NYSE Composite 9,650.61, +32.10 (0.33%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,459,571,875
NYSE Volume 3,047,999,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3911-2541
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 607-74
WTI crude oil: 106.91, -1.14
Gold: 1,336.00, +43.10
Silver: 20.51, +1.049

Stocks Spilt to End Uneventful Week

Microsoft and Google both missed the mark on earnings for the second quarter, which is why the NASDAQ was down significantly on the day. Otherwise, the S&P hit a new all-time closing high and the Dow just missed.

While normally, such news would send markets screaming in reverse, the new normal of continued money printing and zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) by the Federal Reserve keeps stocks high, along with WTI crude oil, which has almost reached parity with Brent Crude.

Sell NOW.

Oh, yes, the city of Detroit has filed for bankruptcy, the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the United States. Now that just reeks of "recovery," doesn't it?

Obama continues to backtrack on ObamaCare, because the regulators (mostly the IRS) cannot implement all of the regulations without bankrupting (oops, there's that word again) not only the entire medical industry, but the entire country. Already, employers nationwide are downsizing weekly hours worked for most employees to under 30, in order to avoid compliance with the Affordable Health Care Act (ObamaCare), so, in our new labor normal, 30 is the new 40, as in full-time employment.

Welcome to the American Gulag, comrades.

Dow 15,543.74, -4.80 (0.03%)
NASDAQ 3,587.61, -23.66 (0.66%)
S&P 500 1,692.09, +2.72 (0.16%)
NYSE Composite 9,618.46, +31.26 (0.33%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,775,103,250
NYSE Volume 3,510,552,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3228-3307 (odd, no?)
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 466-27
WTI crude oil: 108.05, +0.01
Gold: 1,292.90, +8.70
Silver: 19.46, +0.071

Dull Session, Profit-Taking, Lack of Interest Sends Stocks Lower

Wow! Stocks closed lower for a change.

Change is good, but this is nothing but a little white noise in the overall scheme.

Considering that this is probably the slowest week of the year, unless something earth-shattering occurs over the next few days, Money Daily will return on Friday.

After all, it is major league baseball's All Star break and since our Fearless Editor is an All Star of sorts, he could use a break, too.

Dow 15,451.85, -32.41 (0.21%)
NASDAQ 3,598.50, -8.99 (0.25%)
S&P 500 1,676.26, -6.24 (0.37%)
NYSE Composite 9,485.55, -35.41 (0.37%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,559,187,125.00
NYSE Volume 3,137,933,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2607-3853
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 430-33
WTI crude oil: 106.00, -0.32
Gold: 1,290.40, +6.90
Silver: 19.94, +0.096

Up, Up, Higher and Higher Go Stocks

Middling economic data. Mixed earnings reports. Anemic volume.

Somehow, all of this amounts to one of the best winning streaks for stocks in decades and record highs on the S&P and the Dow, with multi-year highs (like 12 years) on the NASDAQ.

Let's see: The Dow industrials have been up seven out of the last eight sessions, the only down day being a nine-point loss on July 10.

The S&P 500 has shown day-ending gains eight straight sessions and 13 of the last 15 trading days have ended higher. The only two losing days were disappointments of 6.92 and 0.88.

Likewise the NASDAQ has closed higher eight straight, and 13 of the last 14 sessions have been positive, the only setback was a loss of 0.91 on July 2nd.

Gotta love that computer-driven trading. It's beaten the fundamental traders and skeptical bears into lunch sandwiches.

Bear in mind (no pun intended) that 2nd quarter GDP is estimated to be below one percent, but that data won't be released until the final week of July. This week, there's a slew of earnings and economic data due out, including CPI, Housing Starts, Industrial Production, Initial Unemployment Claims and Leading Indicators, all of which will be interpreted as positive news, even if it's negative.

And so it goes...

Dow 15,484.26, +19.96 (0.13%)
NASDAQ 3,607.49, +7.41 (0.21%)
S&P 500 1,682.50, +2.31 (0.14%)
NYSE Composite 9,523.16, +24.65 (0.26%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,439,276,250
NYSE Volume 2,683,426,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 4249-2288
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 660-31 (yowzah!)
WTI crude oil: 106.32, +0.37
Gold: 1,283.50, +5.90
Silver: 19.84, +0.047

Boffo Week for Stocks; Gas Prices on the Rise

For investors, a week nearly devoid of any actionable news resulted in one of the best weekly gains in stocks of the year.

On the week, stocks roared higher, much of the gains based on Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's dovish comments on unemployment and the economy following the close of trading on Wednesday. Fed governor James Bullard - the most dovish of the flock of doves comprising the Fed governors - chimed in late Friday to add more fuel to the hot money rally.

The weekly gains:
Dow: +328.46 (2.17%)
S&P 500: +48.30 (2.96%)
NASDAQ: +120.70 (3.47%)

That's it in a nutshell. Just remember that nothing matters except the words coming out of Fed members' mouths.

On the downside, oil prices have spiked higher, consequently raising the price of fuel at the pump. According to AAA, gas prices nationally rose an average of 7 1/2 cents this week to $3.550 for unleaded regular, but the price pass-along to stations has only just begun. Drivers should brace for gas at $3.80 to over $4.00, depending on location, long before Labor Day.

Dow 15,464.30, +3.38(0.02%)
NASDAQ 3,600.08, +21.78(0.61%)
S&P 500 1,680.19, +5.17(0.31%)
NYSE Composite 9,493.20, -0.06 (0.00%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,487,364,375
NYSE Volume 3,132,032,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3295-3092
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 543-27
WTI crude oil: 105.95, +1.04
Gold: 1,277.60, -2.30
Silver: 19.79, -0.164

Dovish Bernanke Speaks, Market Goes Full Retard, to Record Highs

Free market and Austrian economists beware!

There is a dangerous monster afoot, who by merely speaking a few words can alter global markets to whatever whim he so desires.

On Wednesday, shortly after the market closed, this monster, this unsightly beast, one Benjamin Shalom (we kid you not) Bernanke, Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve Bank (an international cartel), spoke in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and intoned, in part, that the 7.6% unemployment rate "overstated" the health of the labor market.

Translated into Fed-speak - which is all that matters to equity markets these days - what he meant was that there was no need for investors to panic. The Federal reserve has every intention of keeping monetary policy incredibly loose, so that even if the Fed dials back its $85 billion-a-month bond purchasing program a little, they do not believe that the US or global economy is strong enough to survive without stimulative measures.

The result was a strong gap-up at the open on Thursday and an all-day party for Wall Street bulls with the S%P 500 and the Dow Industrials closing at all-time highs. Bears were once again crushed and the rookie Dow Theorists who surmised that the dip from a few weeks ago was a sure-fire reversal into a bear market (we here at MD did not confirm any such theoretical reversal, though indications were close) were once again proven not only wrong but absolutely clueless when it comes to Dow Theory.

Markets have now been completely voided of any validity to fundamental valuation. All that remains is intonations from the beast of the Fed and his minions, sending markets any which way they choose. These are markets distorted completely out of focus from reality, in 1984-esque fashion, where bad news (Bernanke is correct, 7.6% unemployment is, in itself, a gross distortion of reality - stripping out part-time, temporary and distressed and discouraged workers, unemployment is closer to 20%) is good because the Fed will continue to supply unlimited liquidity.

In the end, be it five days, five weeks, five months, five years or longer, the stimulus will save nothing. Sovereign economies will end in shambles (some, like Greece, Portugal, Cyprus and Ireland already are), but for now, all anybody with as much as half a brain left after all the brain-washing by the media and immoral rounds of bailouts, bail-ins, rescues and refinances can do is play along, go along or go one's own way, the latter of which is highly refreshing and the only proper course of action.

Five years into the global currency melt-down, carnage is everywhere, the rich are even richer, the middle class on the endangered species list and the bottom tier nothing more than debt slaves for life.

This is not your father's America. It is not even the America you grew up into, if you are more than 30 years of age. This is an abomination, a monstrosity of complexity, a leviathan more frightening than even Thomas Hobbes could have dreamt.

Happy sailing, oh rudderless ones!

Dow 15,460.92, +169.26 (1.11%)
NASDAQ 3,578.30, +57.55 (1.63%)
S&P 500 1,675.02, +22.40 (1.36%)
NYSE Composite 9,493.21, +152.52 (1.63%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,680,093,125
NYSE Volume 3,796,463,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 5246-1307
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 772-21 (abominal!)
WTI crude oil: 104.91, -1.61
Gold: 1,279.90, +32.50
Silver: 19.96, +0.791

Here's Your Change: Nothing

Another exciting day of nothingness.

As Steve Martin once intoned, "let's get all excited and go to a yawning party!"

Dow 15,291.66, -8.68 (0.06%)
NASDAQ 3,520.76, +16.50 (0.47%)
S&P 500 1,652.62, +0.30 (0.02%)
NYSE Composite 9,340.69, -0.72 (0.01%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,534,129,000
NYSE Volume 3,346,692,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3530-2857
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 441-50
WTI crude oil: 106.52, +2.99
Gold: 1,247.40, +1.50
Silver: 19.16, +0.027

Thanks to Bernanke, Stocks Can Only Go Up

It was another completely uneventful day on Wall Street - no earnings news outside of Alcoa (trading at a 34 p/e, wow!), no economic data - so the computer algos were free to ramp stocks higher, and they did so.

A small dip around 10:30 am EDT gave the bears some hope, but that faded fast, and stocks resumed their levitation, hovering listlessly around the highs of the session right into the close.

At these levels of (dis)interest and lack of meaningful news flow, the Dow could conceivably gain 1200-1500 points per month for the remainder of the year. Since nobody seems to give a whit about fundamental valuations, unchecked, Dow 20,000 becomes a distinct possibility by the end of the year.

Seriously, that's how warped these markets are.

God bless you, Ben Bernanke. You've brought untold wealth and prosperity to almost seven percent of Americans, those being the already rich and already prosperous, while denying safe investments bearing standard interest to hard-working, middle and lower-class savers. You are a scion. The bankers you've bailed out and bankrolled with ZIRP and QE should kiss your naked feet and bedeck you in roses and lavender.

Dow 15,300.34, +75.65 (0.50%)
NASDAQ 3,504.26, +19.43 (0.56%)
S&P 500 1,652.32, +11.86 (0.72%)
NYSE Composite 9,341.40, +75.11 (0.81%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,588,836,625
NYSE Volume 3,460,031,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 4438-1990
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 585-49
WTI crude oil: 103.53, +0.39
Gold: 1,245.90, +11.00
Silver: 19.14, 0.10

Stocks Gain on 0 News

The was nothing even remotely newsworthy yo kick off the trading week, so, quite un-naturally, stocks gapped higher at the open and maintained a positive bias - except for the NASDAQ, which oddly lagged - for the duration.

Focus was more on the after-hours, when Alcoa (AA) kicked off earnings season for the second quarter, by posting EPS of .07 on expectations of .06, and had in-line revenue.

Dow 15,224.69, +88.85 (0.59%)
NASDAQ 3,484.83, +5.45 (0.16%)
S&P 500 1,640.46, +8.57 (0.53%)
NYSE Composite 9,266.28, +52.10 (0.57%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,476,924,000
NYSE Volume 3,717,259,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3896-2690
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 645-56
WTI crude oil: 103.14, -0.08
Gold: 1,234.90, +22.20
Silver: 19.04, +0.302

Jobs Data Sends Stocks Screaming Higher; 10-Year at 1.71%

This was different.

For a change, good news - an increase of 195,000 jobs in June, according to the monthly BLS non-farm payroll survey - was good news.

Interest rates, on the other hand, took the matter more seriously, with the 10-year note bobbing up to 1.71%, a two-year high, that has some deep thinkers saying 30-year mortgages could reach six percent by the end of the year.

Other optimistic assessments of the economy include unicorns on roller skates and free houses for everyone.

The huge gains notwithstanding, volume was one of the lowest of they year, which, naturally, will be blamed on Friday being part of a four-day weekend. The markets will keep the gains, nonetheless.

Looks like we're off to the races again, with second quarter earnings beginning to trickle in next week, though most forecasters have lowered 2Q GDP estimates to under 1%.

The over-riding theme of the market is that this is a great economy, even if it isn't.

Crude oil is hitting multi-year highs; gold and silver are making multi-year lows.

That makes about as much sense as sending sixth grader to the store for whiskey and smokes.

American markets are the greatest show snow job on earth.

Dow 15,135.84, +147.29 (0.98%)
NASDAQ 3,479.38, +35.71 (1.04%)
S&P 500 1,631.89, +16.48 (1.02%)
NYSE Composite 9,214.17, +79.09 (0.87%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,205,887,125
NYSE Volume 2,960,337,250
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3937-2511
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 493-112
WTI crude oil: 103.22, +1.98
Gold: 1,212.70, -39.20
Silver: 18.74, -0.964

A Buy the Dip Ramp Job

Sure, today's rally was real. Fireworks, Friday.

Enjoy the 4th and celebrate your freedoms... those of which we still have left.

Dow 14,988.55, +56.14 (0.38%)
NASDAQ 3,443.67, +10.27 (0.30%)
S&P 500 1,615.41, +1.33 (0.08%)
NYSE Composite 9,135.09, -9.64 (0.11%)
NASDAQ Volume 914,058,312.50
NYSE Volume 2,174,899,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 1916-3343
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 163-56
WTI crude oil: 101.24, +1.64
Gold: 1,251.90, +8.50
Silver: 19.70, +0.391

Turn-Around Tuesday: Stocks Gain Early, Finish Red

There isn't really much to this stock story. The Bulls and Bears went to the wall today and guess what?

The Bears won.

It's a holiday-shortened week, loaded with economic data, not the least of which are tomorrow's ADP June employment report and Friday's BLS Non-Farm payroll issue. Turmoil in Egypt is causing consternation and earnings releases are right around the corner.

For the short-timers, the payroll data is paramount, but the trend keeps biasing to the downside. It's mid-summer, stocks are expected to report weaker earnings, all the while the US dollar is gaining against almost all other currencies as the cleanest shirt in the laundry bin.

Lots of headwinds and most astute players have already established positions. The only matter may be how far down stocks must dive to flush out the more-hardened holders.

Even though tomorrow is a short session, closing at 1:00 pm EDT, there should be fireworks ahead. Keep a close eye on the 14,850 level on the Dow as key support.

Dow 14,932.41, -42.55 (0.28%)
NASDAQ 3,433.40, -1.09 (0.03%)
S&P 500 1,614.08, -0.88 (0.05%)
NYSE Composite 9,144.59, -23.30 (0.25%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,645,609,250
NYSE Volume 3,621,029,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2778-3734
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 301-48
WTI crude oil: 99.60, +1.61
Gold: 1,243.40, -12.30
Silver: 19.31, -0.269

Stocks Trade Higher, Rally Loses Steam in Afternoon

Stocks came roaring out of the gate on the first day of trading of the second half and third quarter of the year, spirits high after massive gains though the first half of 2013.

Traders were willfully ignorant of data coming out of China, where manufacturing is is not growing, but actually contracting and has been for the past four to six months. Nobody in their right minds believes data coming out of the red state, so can one now suppose that they're lying about things being as bad as they really are?

Regardless, the euphoria over the global economy drifting toward another Lehman-like moment made European bourses uptick and the contagion caught America in full blossom.

It didn't last long, however, as stocks made the day's highs shortly after US ISM data for June limped in at 50.9, but being above the 50.5 estimate, the slick traders boosted stocks beaten down much of the past two weeks. The Dow was up 173 points, but erased more than half of those gains by day's end, in a classic up early, down later bear market pattern.

Dow 14,974.96, +65.36 (0.44%)
NASDAQ 3,434.49, +31.24 (0.92%)
S&P 500 1,614.96, +8.68 (0.54%)
NYSE Composite 9,167.88, +55.18 (0.61%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,572,239,500
NYSE Volume 3,525,776,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 4685-1866
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 404-19
WTI crude oil: 97.99, +1.43
Gold: 1,255.70, +32.00
Silver: 19.58, +0.108