Stocks made reasonable gains on Thursday in advance of the monthly non-farm payroll data released Friday prior to the market open.
The news was solid for US employment, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported 225,000 new jobs in the month of January, far outpacing expectations of 165,000.
Entering into the job market in January were 500,000 looking for work, though not all of them found it. The influx of new job seekers boosted the jobless rate to 3.6 percent, from a 50-year low of 3.5 percent in December.
On mainland China, both the death count and number of new cases of coronavirus, or Wuhan Flu, as it is now becoming known more colloquially, continued to rise, but the Chinese government announced that the number of people under observation was declining. This, according to Chinese officials, is an important turning point in efforts to control the spread of the virus. How well that prediction works out for the country of 1.2 billion people remains to be seen.
The roller coaster ride that has recently been Tesla stock abated, at least for a day, with shares of the electric car company settling around a price of $750 per unit. Whether that level proves to be support or resistance is another guessing game. Many are still short the stock, believing that the company is built largely on sand and promises, while rumors of a secondary offering continue to swirl.
President Trump lambasted his foes and praised his friends in a pair of very pubic appearances on Thursday, the day after the Senate voted overwhelmingly (2/3rds vote needed) in favor of acquittal from the charges of impeachment leveled against him by a partisan, Democrat-led House of Representatives. At a prayer breakfast, Trump had no kind words for Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, nor Mitt Romney, the only Republican to cast a vote of guilty against him.
Later in the day, Trump assembled members of the House, Senate, his legal team and others, in a round of congratulations and thanks that lasted well over an hour. Singling out many of his political allies with stories and minutia, Trump laid the groundwork for what is likely to be a counter-attack against the Democrats who tried to have him removed from office and public life, setting the stage for a wide open election campaign that will hold nothing back.
Politics, like money, is a hardball business and the Trump team intends to use the best equipment and the best players to take it to the opposition in the fall.
At the Close, Thursday, February 6, 2020:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 29,379.77, +88.92 (+0.30%)
NASDAQ: 9,572.15, +63.47 (+0.67%)
S&P 500: 3,345.78, +11.09 (+0.33%)
NYSE: 14,034.95, +10.09 (+0.07%)
Showing posts with label Mitt Romney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mitt Romney. Show all posts
Friday, February 7, 2020
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Stocks Get Whacked Again; Dow Down 100+; Support on Major Indices Breached
Make no doubt about it, there's real fear on Wall Street.
For the second day in a row, stocks spent the day wallowing in negative territory, amid fears of the fiscal cliff - higher taxes, imposed budget cuts, more - the souring condition of the European Union, notably Greece and, yes, Germany, post-election hand wringing, and generally overpriced stocks in a market that is supposed to be buoyed by unlimited bond purchases by the Federal Reserve.
Word to the Street: It's not working.
Stock market participants who were brave enough to bid stocks up at the open (aka, suckers) were immediately punished for thinking that after the worst down day in a year on the Dow, stocks were ready to rebound, as all the major averages got a brief boost at the open but fell back into the red shortly after the first half hour of trading.
Trading volumes were brisk and stocks continued to gyrate lower, finally ending with a rush to finish at the lows of the day right at the closing bell, hardly an encouraging sign for those who believe this recent pull-back was nothing but blues for Mr. Romney's loss in the presidential sweepstakes.
All of the major indices closed below their 200-day moving averages, the first time this has happened since the end of May, beginning of June, when investors were worried that the Fed would not extend its easing measures (they did, of course).
In the current environment, traders are more or less on their own. Many funds have closed their books for the year and are taking on losses as sharp-nosed hedge fund managers skewer the slow-footed and long-term types with shorting and controlled demolitions of individual stocks and groups. High beta stocks, which posted the greatest gains over the past 10 months, are being hammered relentlessly as profit-taking has become more akin to skinning tomatoes, a slippery job at best and a troublesome trade at worst.
There are scant buyers, though the "semi-invisible" hand of the Plunge Protection Team (PPT) may actually be keeping stocks from falling directly into the East River or beyond.
Foreign markets have been hard hit as well, with almost all Asian, European and Latin American markets feeling the pinch the past two days.
In Europe, the truly laughable situation that the ECB finds itself in is truly one for he history books, as Greece steps closer to civil war after voting once again for austerity measures and another round of cash from the monetary authorities in Brussels and Germany. Thing are relatively quiet in the other Southern European detor nations, though Spanish bond yields are beginning to rise, frightening everybody from Angela Merkel - who wants more time (sorry, honey, you've had enough) - to Mario Draghi, who has expressed openly that the lone bright spot in the EU - Germany - is beginning to lose its luster.
Thankfully for most traders, tomorrow is Friday, making the end of what will likely go down as one of the worst weeks of the year, with the Dow down more than 400 points thus far, and the issues presented to the market anything but resolved.
It's been said many times that the market hates uncertainty, and that's all they've got in front of them presently. Worse yet, the underlying conditions set by global central bankers are proving more destructive and costly than anyone could possibly have imagined (except for a few select bloggers and out-of-the-mainstream market watchers). The favored positions of bailing out banks, major companies and sovereign nations with increased easing of monetary policy and near-zero interest rates has created an environment with no escape hatch.
The hands of the central bankers are tied, and with them, all appendages of the trading community. If there was ever a time to book profits (what's left of them), it's now, or rather, it was Tuesday. Since the massive ramp job in anticipation of a Romney victory, stocks have been beaten and battered to a point at which the Dow now sports a gain of less than 600 points on the year, roughly a five percent move from the close of 12217.56 on December 30, 2011.
The NASDAQ being the hardest-hit in the recent downtrend, had the most to give up and is still holding onto a gain of nearly 300 points, having begun the year off the close at 2605.15 at the end of last year. Starting the year at 1257, the S&P 500 is still holding onto a 120-point gain, just less than 10% higher on the year, which, in normal times, would be considered excellent, but those gains seem to be eroding faster than the confidence that the Democrats and Republicans in Washington can find an ultimate solution (they can't; they're broke themselves).
New highs have been subsumed by new lows, 91-185, the second straight day in which the lows have registered a win. It, however, this is just the beginning of a correction of seven to fifteen percent, there's further to fall, something many on wall Street don't want to think about until maybe Monday, when all hell may break loose.
There's still one more day to get through this week and all pretense has been removed. There's a general fear about being in the market at all presently and the last man standing is not the preferred position, nor is the act of catching a falling knife, currently the only places left on the market floor.
From a chartists' perspective, the move lower was nearly overdue, but the timing could not have been more predictable after the major indices made new highs in early October, fall back, and failed to achieve those same levels later in the month, at which point began the eventual fall-out. The bull market which began in March of 2009 is now getting a little long in the tooth, at 44 months, and it could be all she wrote as third quarter results were messy to horrifying and Wall Street's dirty little secret - that stocks are not growing their earnings - is beginning to get out.
Tomorrow could see a bit of a snap-back, dead cat bounce, but all indications are that more pain is ahead and that period could extend through the remainder of 2012 and into next year.
There were winners, ominous ones at that: gold and silver.
Dow 12,811.32, -121.41 (0.94%)
NASDAQ 2,895.58, -41.71 (1.42%)
S&P 500 1,377.51, -17.02 (1.22%)
NYSE Composite 8,050.83, -87.98 (1.08%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,876,133,130
NYSE Volume 3,759,670,250
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 1462-4062
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 185-91
WTI crude oil: 85.09, +0.65
Gold: 1,726.00, +12.00
Silver: 32.24, +0.579
For the second day in a row, stocks spent the day wallowing in negative territory, amid fears of the fiscal cliff - higher taxes, imposed budget cuts, more - the souring condition of the European Union, notably Greece and, yes, Germany, post-election hand wringing, and generally overpriced stocks in a market that is supposed to be buoyed by unlimited bond purchases by the Federal Reserve.
Word to the Street: It's not working.
Stock market participants who were brave enough to bid stocks up at the open (aka, suckers) were immediately punished for thinking that after the worst down day in a year on the Dow, stocks were ready to rebound, as all the major averages got a brief boost at the open but fell back into the red shortly after the first half hour of trading.
Trading volumes were brisk and stocks continued to gyrate lower, finally ending with a rush to finish at the lows of the day right at the closing bell, hardly an encouraging sign for those who believe this recent pull-back was nothing but blues for Mr. Romney's loss in the presidential sweepstakes.
All of the major indices closed below their 200-day moving averages, the first time this has happened since the end of May, beginning of June, when investors were worried that the Fed would not extend its easing measures (they did, of course).
In the current environment, traders are more or less on their own. Many funds have closed their books for the year and are taking on losses as sharp-nosed hedge fund managers skewer the slow-footed and long-term types with shorting and controlled demolitions of individual stocks and groups. High beta stocks, which posted the greatest gains over the past 10 months, are being hammered relentlessly as profit-taking has become more akin to skinning tomatoes, a slippery job at best and a troublesome trade at worst.
There are scant buyers, though the "semi-invisible" hand of the Plunge Protection Team (PPT) may actually be keeping stocks from falling directly into the East River or beyond.
Foreign markets have been hard hit as well, with almost all Asian, European and Latin American markets feeling the pinch the past two days.
In Europe, the truly laughable situation that the ECB finds itself in is truly one for he history books, as Greece steps closer to civil war after voting once again for austerity measures and another round of cash from the monetary authorities in Brussels and Germany. Thing are relatively quiet in the other Southern European detor nations, though Spanish bond yields are beginning to rise, frightening everybody from Angela Merkel - who wants more time (sorry, honey, you've had enough) - to Mario Draghi, who has expressed openly that the lone bright spot in the EU - Germany - is beginning to lose its luster.
Thankfully for most traders, tomorrow is Friday, making the end of what will likely go down as one of the worst weeks of the year, with the Dow down more than 400 points thus far, and the issues presented to the market anything but resolved.
It's been said many times that the market hates uncertainty, and that's all they've got in front of them presently. Worse yet, the underlying conditions set by global central bankers are proving more destructive and costly than anyone could possibly have imagined (except for a few select bloggers and out-of-the-mainstream market watchers). The favored positions of bailing out banks, major companies and sovereign nations with increased easing of monetary policy and near-zero interest rates has created an environment with no escape hatch.
The hands of the central bankers are tied, and with them, all appendages of the trading community. If there was ever a time to book profits (what's left of them), it's now, or rather, it was Tuesday. Since the massive ramp job in anticipation of a Romney victory, stocks have been beaten and battered to a point at which the Dow now sports a gain of less than 600 points on the year, roughly a five percent move from the close of 12217.56 on December 30, 2011.
The NASDAQ being the hardest-hit in the recent downtrend, had the most to give up and is still holding onto a gain of nearly 300 points, having begun the year off the close at 2605.15 at the end of last year. Starting the year at 1257, the S&P 500 is still holding onto a 120-point gain, just less than 10% higher on the year, which, in normal times, would be considered excellent, but those gains seem to be eroding faster than the confidence that the Democrats and Republicans in Washington can find an ultimate solution (they can't; they're broke themselves).
New highs have been subsumed by new lows, 91-185, the second straight day in which the lows have registered a win. It, however, this is just the beginning of a correction of seven to fifteen percent, there's further to fall, something many on wall Street don't want to think about until maybe Monday, when all hell may break loose.
There's still one more day to get through this week and all pretense has been removed. There's a general fear about being in the market at all presently and the last man standing is not the preferred position, nor is the act of catching a falling knife, currently the only places left on the market floor.
From a chartists' perspective, the move lower was nearly overdue, but the timing could not have been more predictable after the major indices made new highs in early October, fall back, and failed to achieve those same levels later in the month, at which point began the eventual fall-out. The bull market which began in March of 2009 is now getting a little long in the tooth, at 44 months, and it could be all she wrote as third quarter results were messy to horrifying and Wall Street's dirty little secret - that stocks are not growing their earnings - is beginning to get out.
Tomorrow could see a bit of a snap-back, dead cat bounce, but all indications are that more pain is ahead and that period could extend through the remainder of 2012 and into next year.
There were winners, ominous ones at that: gold and silver.
Dow 12,811.32, -121.41 (0.94%)
NASDAQ 2,895.58, -41.71 (1.42%)
S&P 500 1,377.51, -17.02 (1.22%)
NYSE Composite 8,050.83, -87.98 (1.08%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,876,133,130
NYSE Volume 3,759,670,250
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 1462-4062
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 185-91
WTI crude oil: 85.09, +0.65
Gold: 1,726.00, +12.00
Silver: 32.24, +0.579
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Obama Wins; Stock Market Sinks on Tax Hike, Fiscal Cliff Fears, Europe
Tuesday was an early night in terms of presidential politics as President Barack Obama was elected overwhelmingly to a second term, whipping Republican challenger in almost every battleground state and winning the popular vote handily.
With the vote in Florida still being tallied (anybody surprised?), the Sunshine State turned out to be mostly inconsequential as the president swept the key states of Virginia, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania (which never really was in play), New Hampshire, Colorado and Nevada. Romney's sole win in the so-called "swing states" was in North Carolina, a state which Obama took by a narrow 0.3% in 2008.
Once the midwest states of Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio were declared for Obama, the race was over, but it wasn't until after midnight in the East that Mitt Romney gave his concession speech and later, President Obama gave a ripping, rhetorical speech extolling the virtues of freedom of choice, tolerance and working together toward shared goals and the great creation of our founders, the United States of America, individual states bound together by social compact.
In the House and Senate races, the makeup of congress remained largely the same, with Republicans dominating the House and Democrats strengthening their grip on the senate, winning key races in Virginia, Florida, and, especially, Massachusetts, where Elizabeth Warren, the fiery consumer rights advocate, took the seat away from Republican incumbent Scott Brown, in a major setback for big banks.
Warren, who worked on TARP and other reforms in Washington, especially the implementation of a consumer protection division at the Federal Reserve, will likely end up on the Senate banking Committee, possibly winning the chairmanship.
Another critical Senate race was won in Connecticut by Christopher Murphy, who defeated Linda McMahon, who wrestling millionaire who spent $100 million on her own campaign.
Jon Tester retained his Senate seat from Montana in a close race with Republican challenger Denny Rehberg, keeping the balance of power firmly in their control with 55 seats, along with one independent, Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The Democrats likely gained another ally when former governor, independent Angus King of Maine, won an open Senate seat that had been held by Republican Olympia Snowe. King has not indicated which party he would caucus with, though most believe it will be with Democrats. King won on the simple idea of making filibusters less of an effective measure in killing legislation, believing that excessive filibustering by Senate Republicans had blocked almost all significant legislation over the past four years.
There was little change in the House, as Reublicans retained control with 232 seats to 191 held by Democrats with a number of vacancies.
It wasn't long before other voices began to be heard, especially those on Wall Street who had been counting on a win by Republican Romney. Before the market opened, futures began a steep decline, though the catalyst may have nad more to do with comments by ECB president Mario Draghi and some dismal production figures from Germany, regarded as a stronghold in the recession-plagued continent.
Shortly after Germany's industrial production was reported to have fallen 1.2% in September, Draghi said that the crisis in Europe was beginning to take its toll on the industrial powerhouse that is the German economy.
Heading into the first post-election session, Dow futures were pointing toward a loss of more than 100 points at the open, and the result was worse, with the 132-point gain from Tuesday wiped out in the opening minute.
Stocks continued their descent until bottoming out just before noon, down 369 points, the biggest decline of the year, though some strengthening took all of the indices off their lows as the day progressed.
Still, the losses were dramatic and especially in the banking sector, where ank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), JP Morgan Chase (JPM) and other big bank concerns were off more than five percent. All 10 S&P sectors finished in the red, the S&P could not defend the 1400 level and nearly bounced off its 200-day moving averages, the NASDAQ - aided by Apple's continued decline into bear market territory - broke down below its 200-DMA and the Dow closed below its 200-DMA for the first time since the beginning of June.
In Greece, rioters threw fire bombs at police in anticipation of another vote on austerity measures designed to pave the way for another round of financing from the troika of the IMF, EU and ECB. The vote, scheduled for midnight in Greece (5:00 pm ET), is expected to pass, though the populace has seemingly had enough of policies dictated by outsiders.
For Wall Street, the day presented a perfect storm of disappointment, fears of higher taxes on dividends, tighter regulations of banks, uncertainty over tax and spending policies heading into 2013, and renewed concerns over our trading partners in Europe.
The steep declines may have only been a beginning, however, as no policies have changed, and, actually, the political makeup in Washington remained the same as it had been the day before. The continued gridlock coming from the White House and Capitol Hill may be the most disconcerting factor of all.
Some internal damage was done to markets, with the advance-decline line showing a nearly 5-1 edge for losers and new highs being surpassed by new lows, 94-174.
With none of the important initiatives nearing resolution, there seems to be nowhere for the market to go but down, now that the election is over, earnings season is just about finished and the market must focus on fundamentals and locking in gains for the year. The remainder of 2012 may prove to be quite challenging to investors.
Dow 12,932.73, -312.95 (2.36%)
NASDAQ 2,937.29, -74.64 (2.48%)
S&P 500 1,394.53, -33.86 (2.37%)
NYSE Composite 8,138.80, -173.55 (2.09%)
NASDAQ Volume 4,322,112,500
NYSE Volume 2,059,028,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 961-4613
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 94-174
WTI crude oil: 84.44, -4.27
Gold: 1,714.00, -1.00
Silver: 31.66, -0.373
With the vote in Florida still being tallied (anybody surprised?), the Sunshine State turned out to be mostly inconsequential as the president swept the key states of Virginia, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Pennsylvania (which never really was in play), New Hampshire, Colorado and Nevada. Romney's sole win in the so-called "swing states" was in North Carolina, a state which Obama took by a narrow 0.3% in 2008.
Once the midwest states of Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio were declared for Obama, the race was over, but it wasn't until after midnight in the East that Mitt Romney gave his concession speech and later, President Obama gave a ripping, rhetorical speech extolling the virtues of freedom of choice, tolerance and working together toward shared goals and the great creation of our founders, the United States of America, individual states bound together by social compact.
In the House and Senate races, the makeup of congress remained largely the same, with Republicans dominating the House and Democrats strengthening their grip on the senate, winning key races in Virginia, Florida, and, especially, Massachusetts, where Elizabeth Warren, the fiery consumer rights advocate, took the seat away from Republican incumbent Scott Brown, in a major setback for big banks.
Warren, who worked on TARP and other reforms in Washington, especially the implementation of a consumer protection division at the Federal Reserve, will likely end up on the Senate banking Committee, possibly winning the chairmanship.
Another critical Senate race was won in Connecticut by Christopher Murphy, who defeated Linda McMahon, who wrestling millionaire who spent $100 million on her own campaign.
Jon Tester retained his Senate seat from Montana in a close race with Republican challenger Denny Rehberg, keeping the balance of power firmly in their control with 55 seats, along with one independent, Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The Democrats likely gained another ally when former governor, independent Angus King of Maine, won an open Senate seat that had been held by Republican Olympia Snowe. King has not indicated which party he would caucus with, though most believe it will be with Democrats. King won on the simple idea of making filibusters less of an effective measure in killing legislation, believing that excessive filibustering by Senate Republicans had blocked almost all significant legislation over the past four years.
There was little change in the House, as Reublicans retained control with 232 seats to 191 held by Democrats with a number of vacancies.
It wasn't long before other voices began to be heard, especially those on Wall Street who had been counting on a win by Republican Romney. Before the market opened, futures began a steep decline, though the catalyst may have nad more to do with comments by ECB president Mario Draghi and some dismal production figures from Germany, regarded as a stronghold in the recession-plagued continent.
Shortly after Germany's industrial production was reported to have fallen 1.2% in September, Draghi said that the crisis in Europe was beginning to take its toll on the industrial powerhouse that is the German economy.
Heading into the first post-election session, Dow futures were pointing toward a loss of more than 100 points at the open, and the result was worse, with the 132-point gain from Tuesday wiped out in the opening minute.
Stocks continued their descent until bottoming out just before noon, down 369 points, the biggest decline of the year, though some strengthening took all of the indices off their lows as the day progressed.
Still, the losses were dramatic and especially in the banking sector, where ank of America (BAC), Goldman Sachs (GS), JP Morgan Chase (JPM) and other big bank concerns were off more than five percent. All 10 S&P sectors finished in the red, the S&P could not defend the 1400 level and nearly bounced off its 200-day moving averages, the NASDAQ - aided by Apple's continued decline into bear market territory - broke down below its 200-DMA and the Dow closed below its 200-DMA for the first time since the beginning of June.
In Greece, rioters threw fire bombs at police in anticipation of another vote on austerity measures designed to pave the way for another round of financing from the troika of the IMF, EU and ECB. The vote, scheduled for midnight in Greece (5:00 pm ET), is expected to pass, though the populace has seemingly had enough of policies dictated by outsiders.
For Wall Street, the day presented a perfect storm of disappointment, fears of higher taxes on dividends, tighter regulations of banks, uncertainty over tax and spending policies heading into 2013, and renewed concerns over our trading partners in Europe.
The steep declines may have only been a beginning, however, as no policies have changed, and, actually, the political makeup in Washington remained the same as it had been the day before. The continued gridlock coming from the White House and Capitol Hill may be the most disconcerting factor of all.
Some internal damage was done to markets, with the advance-decline line showing a nearly 5-1 edge for losers and new highs being surpassed by new lows, 94-174.
With none of the important initiatives nearing resolution, there seems to be nowhere for the market to go but down, now that the election is over, earnings season is just about finished and the market must focus on fundamentals and locking in gains for the year. The remainder of 2012 may prove to be quite challenging to investors.
Dow 12,932.73, -312.95 (2.36%)
NASDAQ 2,937.29, -74.64 (2.48%)
S&P 500 1,394.53, -33.86 (2.37%)
NYSE Composite 8,138.80, -173.55 (2.09%)
NASDAQ Volume 4,322,112,500
NYSE Volume 2,059,028,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 961-4613
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 94-174
WTI crude oil: 84.44, -4.27
Gold: 1,714.00, -1.00
Silver: 31.66, -0.373
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Romney Rally Fades Into Close; Gold Silver Up Sharply
Wall Street is still largely clinging to the belief that their one-percent incarnation, Mitt Romney, can somehow pull rabbits out of hats or extra votes out of swing states and capture the 2012 presidential election.
Cynicism, in opposition to this view runs high, as Wall Street has proven, time and again, that it doesn't care, nor does it matter, who holds the reigns of power; they will buy them off at any cost, usually one much lower than they're willing to pay.
Based upon the wide-eyed optimism over a Romney presidency = which would fit neatly with a Republican-led House of Representatives - stocks bolted higher at the open, boosted again just prior to the noon hour and faded slightly into the close. The Dow was up 178 points at the day's heights, closing weakly on moderate volume.
All of the major indices showed strong gains, led by the Industrials, which added just more than one percent. Iy was the third point movement of between 130 and 140 points in the last six sessions.
Recently beaten-down commodities also posted impressive gains. Gold raced back above the $1700 mark, oil and silver also made significant headway.
The big prize comes tonight, with polls in Eastern states closing beginning at 7:00 pm. The first big tests will be Virginia and Ohio, with plenty of twists and turns to the political narrative in store as the night wears on.
Dow 13,245.68, +133.24 (1.02%)
NASDAQ 3,011.93, +12.27 (0.41%)
S&P 500 1,428.39, +11.13 (0.79%)
NYSE Composite 8,311.67, +71.42 (0.87%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,744,160,250
NYSE Volume 3,261,801,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3724-1748
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 198-61
WTI crude oil: 88.71, +3.06
Gold: 1,715.00, +31.80
Silver: 32.03, +0.906
Cynicism, in opposition to this view runs high, as Wall Street has proven, time and again, that it doesn't care, nor does it matter, who holds the reigns of power; they will buy them off at any cost, usually one much lower than they're willing to pay.
Based upon the wide-eyed optimism over a Romney presidency = which would fit neatly with a Republican-led House of Representatives - stocks bolted higher at the open, boosted again just prior to the noon hour and faded slightly into the close. The Dow was up 178 points at the day's heights, closing weakly on moderate volume.
All of the major indices showed strong gains, led by the Industrials, which added just more than one percent. Iy was the third point movement of between 130 and 140 points in the last six sessions.
Recently beaten-down commodities also posted impressive gains. Gold raced back above the $1700 mark, oil and silver also made significant headway.
The big prize comes tonight, with polls in Eastern states closing beginning at 7:00 pm. The first big tests will be Virginia and Ohio, with plenty of twists and turns to the political narrative in store as the night wears on.
Dow 13,245.68, +133.24 (1.02%)
NASDAQ 3,011.93, +12.27 (0.41%)
S&P 500 1,428.39, +11.13 (0.79%)
NYSE Composite 8,311.67, +71.42 (0.87%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,744,160,250
NYSE Volume 3,261,801,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3724-1748
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 198-61
WTI crude oil: 88.71, +3.06
Gold: 1,715.00, +31.80
Silver: 32.03, +0.906
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Stocks Socked Again on Earnings, Revenue Misses
Today's decline had no end-of-day rally from which to save itself. Stocks were down from open to close, and hard, owing mostly to a continuing spate of earnings disappointments and negative guidance outlooks.
Today's main culprits were a trio of Dow components, DuPont (DD), 3M (MMM) and United Technologies (UTX), though DuPont was clearly the worst of the bunch, recording a third quarter profit of just one cent per share, far below analyst estimates of 46 cents per share.
That report, early in the morning, hours before the market opened, sent futures crashing, so that the Dow opened with a triple digit loss in the first minutes of trading. Stocks could not recover, as it is quickly becoming clear that corporate earnings and revenues are lacking - 60% of companies reporting thus far have missed revenue estimates, many of which have been radically lowered. Meanwhile, Europe's woes continue to weight on markets globally, as the bourses across the continent showed heavy losses again.
The race for president also added to investor dismay, the predominant thinking that President Obama clearly outclassed challenger Mitt Romney in Monday night's final debate, focused on foreign policy, an obvious weak spot for the Republican. According to the best guesses on investor sentiment concerning the election, an Obama victory would be bad for stocks, because Obama favors more regulation and higher taxes for high wage earners, while Romney would likely favor policies which generally leave the status quo alone, allowing the abuses of the rich to continue and the wealth gap to widen.
All politics aside, it is actually fundamentals - for a welcome change - that are driving the most recent declines. Companies are reporting an assortment of earnings misses and sour outlooks for the remainder of 2012 and 2013, based almost entirely on current conditions, which have consumers strapped, governments broke and debt levels for all, unsustainable.
Where stocks will go from here is unknown, though all of the major indices have broken below their 50-day moving averages, generally a sign of more bad days to come.
Additionally, the advance-decline line has deteriorated badly over the past week, as has new highs-new lows, finally capitulating, with new 52-week lows outpacing new highs, 129-53
Dow components reporting on Wednesday include AT&T (T) and Boeing (BA), just a pair in a slew of over 400 companies that will be reporting throughout the day. Both of the Dow components report prior to the market open.
The silver lining in the recent declines is the slump in oil and gas prices. Motorists are already seeing 12-15 cent reductions in the price of a gallon of regular gas, with more easing to come, as crude oil is in the midst of a severe mean reversion, which could bring the cost of a gallon of gas to below $3.00 in some areas.
A reduction in the price of gas could be just what the market needs in time for the holidays, critically important to markets and, well, kids.
Dow 13,102.53, -243.36 (1.82%)
NASDAQ 2,990.46, -26.50 (0.88%)
S&P 500 1,413.11, -20.71 (1.44%)
NYSE Composite 8,197.14, -132.05 (1.59%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,780,896,750
NYSE Volume 3,233,623,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 1709-3814
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 53-129
WTI crude oil: 86.67, -1.98
Gold: 1,709.40, -16.90
Silver: 31.79, -0.459
Today's main culprits were a trio of Dow components, DuPont (DD), 3M (MMM) and United Technologies (UTX), though DuPont was clearly the worst of the bunch, recording a third quarter profit of just one cent per share, far below analyst estimates of 46 cents per share.
That report, early in the morning, hours before the market opened, sent futures crashing, so that the Dow opened with a triple digit loss in the first minutes of trading. Stocks could not recover, as it is quickly becoming clear that corporate earnings and revenues are lacking - 60% of companies reporting thus far have missed revenue estimates, many of which have been radically lowered. Meanwhile, Europe's woes continue to weight on markets globally, as the bourses across the continent showed heavy losses again.
The race for president also added to investor dismay, the predominant thinking that President Obama clearly outclassed challenger Mitt Romney in Monday night's final debate, focused on foreign policy, an obvious weak spot for the Republican. According to the best guesses on investor sentiment concerning the election, an Obama victory would be bad for stocks, because Obama favors more regulation and higher taxes for high wage earners, while Romney would likely favor policies which generally leave the status quo alone, allowing the abuses of the rich to continue and the wealth gap to widen.
All politics aside, it is actually fundamentals - for a welcome change - that are driving the most recent declines. Companies are reporting an assortment of earnings misses and sour outlooks for the remainder of 2012 and 2013, based almost entirely on current conditions, which have consumers strapped, governments broke and debt levels for all, unsustainable.
Where stocks will go from here is unknown, though all of the major indices have broken below their 50-day moving averages, generally a sign of more bad days to come.
Additionally, the advance-decline line has deteriorated badly over the past week, as has new highs-new lows, finally capitulating, with new 52-week lows outpacing new highs, 129-53
Dow components reporting on Wednesday include AT&T (T) and Boeing (BA), just a pair in a slew of over 400 companies that will be reporting throughout the day. Both of the Dow components report prior to the market open.
The silver lining in the recent declines is the slump in oil and gas prices. Motorists are already seeing 12-15 cent reductions in the price of a gallon of regular gas, with more easing to come, as crude oil is in the midst of a severe mean reversion, which could bring the cost of a gallon of gas to below $3.00 in some areas.
A reduction in the price of gas could be just what the market needs in time for the holidays, critically important to markets and, well, kids.
Dow 13,102.53, -243.36 (1.82%)
NASDAQ 2,990.46, -26.50 (0.88%)
S&P 500 1,413.11, -20.71 (1.44%)
NYSE Composite 8,197.14, -132.05 (1.59%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,780,896,750
NYSE Volume 3,233,623,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 1709-3814
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 53-129
WTI crude oil: 86.67, -1.98
Gold: 1,709.40, -16.90
Silver: 31.79, -0.459
Monday, October 15, 2012
Did Retail Sales Power a Rare Monday Rally?
Retail sales for September, as reported on Monday prior to the opening bell, were up sharply year-over-year and were up 1.1% after a 1.2% rise in August.
So, did the retail sector fuel the rare Monday rally, which was only the third time stocks had shown gains on a Monday in the past 20 weeks?
Well, yes they did, as the Consumer Cyclical space gained 1.11%, the best sector gain of the day. Following were Health Care and Financials, the latter based largely on an earnings beat by Citicroup (C), which beat solidly on revenue as well.
The timing could not have been better for options players as October monthly options settle this week, on Friday, just in time for stocks to head to new highs and savvy options professionals cash in on their bets.
Trading on this Monday was a radical departure from last week's broad decline, with the advance-decline line repairing itself and new highs beating new lows by a 2-1 ratio.
Oddly enough, the market wins either way in the currently-convoluted presidential debate regime that is market psychology. With retail and stocks doing well, one would envisage an Obama victory on November 6, anathema to the markets, but, good numbers are good numbers, so, stock traders went along for the ride.
Sticking with the current thinking, even if retail sales had been poor, stocks would probably have risen anyway, because the poor numbers would indicate a Romney victory, which the market is said to love.
In either case, stocks win, even on a day when commodities were hit hard across the board, especially in the precious metals segment, as gold and silver were pounded lower right from the opening of trading.
That seems to be the game plan, at least for today, by the central bank stock market cartel controlling markets worldwide. Buy riskier assets and sell off those things that are proven to be a reliable store of value.
It's working, as stocks are within 5-8% of all time highs on the S&P and the Dow. It's a very interesting time for both political junkies and market watchers, but should get even more intense during the week and after options expiry on Friday. There's still unfinished business in Europe, mostly regarding Greece and Spain, and a shock from the land of the socialists could easily upset any balancing act currently taking place in the markets.
Most of the attention is focused on Tuesday night's presidential debate, the current wisdom saying that another poor performance by president Obama would practically hand the election over to Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger, making the event must-see TV for all, despite the thinly-veiled sarcasm in that statement.
The debates are largely political porn, with many voters having already made up their minds. If Obama purposely throws Tuesday's debate, as he did the first one, it would give Romney an edge, so, considering how the media whores need to keep the American public on the edge of their seats right up until - and beyond - election day, count on the President to deliver some serious body blows Tuesday night, followed by a negative market reaction Wednesday.
With the election just three weeks away, expect the rhetoric and noise to rise to a crescendo in coming weeks. Along with it could be a climactic rise in stocks, with the Dow touching off new all-time highs and the S&P hot on its heels, or, a dramatic turndown heading into the big fiasco that is election day in America.
Dow 13,424.23, +95.38 (0.72%)
NASDAQ 3,064.18, +20.07 (0.66%)
S&P 500 1,440.13, +11.54 (0.81%)
NYSE Composite 8,296.97, +69.89 (0.85%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,536,536,250
NYSE Volume 3,257,196,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3596-1897
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 133-65
WTI crude oil: 91.85, -0.01
Gold: 1,737.60, -22.10
Silver: 32.74, -0.926
So, did the retail sector fuel the rare Monday rally, which was only the third time stocks had shown gains on a Monday in the past 20 weeks?
Well, yes they did, as the Consumer Cyclical space gained 1.11%, the best sector gain of the day. Following were Health Care and Financials, the latter based largely on an earnings beat by Citicroup (C), which beat solidly on revenue as well.
The timing could not have been better for options players as October monthly options settle this week, on Friday, just in time for stocks to head to new highs and savvy options professionals cash in on their bets.
Trading on this Monday was a radical departure from last week's broad decline, with the advance-decline line repairing itself and new highs beating new lows by a 2-1 ratio.
Oddly enough, the market wins either way in the currently-convoluted presidential debate regime that is market psychology. With retail and stocks doing well, one would envisage an Obama victory on November 6, anathema to the markets, but, good numbers are good numbers, so, stock traders went along for the ride.
Sticking with the current thinking, even if retail sales had been poor, stocks would probably have risen anyway, because the poor numbers would indicate a Romney victory, which the market is said to love.
In either case, stocks win, even on a day when commodities were hit hard across the board, especially in the precious metals segment, as gold and silver were pounded lower right from the opening of trading.
That seems to be the game plan, at least for today, by the central bank stock market cartel controlling markets worldwide. Buy riskier assets and sell off those things that are proven to be a reliable store of value.
It's working, as stocks are within 5-8% of all time highs on the S&P and the Dow. It's a very interesting time for both political junkies and market watchers, but should get even more intense during the week and after options expiry on Friday. There's still unfinished business in Europe, mostly regarding Greece and Spain, and a shock from the land of the socialists could easily upset any balancing act currently taking place in the markets.
Most of the attention is focused on Tuesday night's presidential debate, the current wisdom saying that another poor performance by president Obama would practically hand the election over to Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger, making the event must-see TV for all, despite the thinly-veiled sarcasm in that statement.
The debates are largely political porn, with many voters having already made up their minds. If Obama purposely throws Tuesday's debate, as he did the first one, it would give Romney an edge, so, considering how the media whores need to keep the American public on the edge of their seats right up until - and beyond - election day, count on the President to deliver some serious body blows Tuesday night, followed by a negative market reaction Wednesday.
With the election just three weeks away, expect the rhetoric and noise to rise to a crescendo in coming weeks. Along with it could be a climactic rise in stocks, with the Dow touching off new all-time highs and the S&P hot on its heels, or, a dramatic turndown heading into the big fiasco that is election day in America.
Dow 13,424.23, +95.38 (0.72%)
NASDAQ 3,064.18, +20.07 (0.66%)
S&P 500 1,440.13, +11.54 (0.81%)
NYSE Composite 8,296.97, +69.89 (0.85%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,536,536,250
NYSE Volume 3,257,196,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3596-1897
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 133-65
WTI crude oil: 91.85, -0.01
Gold: 1,737.60, -22.10
Silver: 32.74, -0.926
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Supreme Court Affirms Health Care Mandate; Stocks Erase Losses on European Rumors
Kiss the US constitution goodbye... or, rather, what's left of it.
When the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court breaks ranks with his fellow conservative justices to affirm that all Americans must purchase health care insurance or be fined, siding with four liberal justices - who, by the way, should be stripped of their robes - in a matter of such great economic and political importance, then there's no hope left for the system left by our founding fathers.
Count Chief Justice John Roberts as just another Washington politician either bought and sold by special interests, playing presidential politics serving a master other than the people of the United States. Whatever the case, the law be damned with this horrendous decision, which accomplishes nothing other than to feed more fodder into the cannons of the upcoming political debate.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney immediately went on the offensive, while the White House checked off a mark in the victory column. Choosing to evade the issue of whether the mandate violated the commerce clause, by calling the "penalty" a tax, the five affirming justices simply kicked the can down the road a pace, a maneuver that's well-learned in the halls of power these days.
Next, they'll be telling Americans to quit smoking or be fined, stop eating fatty foods or go to jail or by whatever "legal" means strip common citizens of even more rights while emptying their pockets of any available cash.
It's a sham, much like most of what comes out of Washington, DC, these days. The best solution, on an individual basis, is to ignore the law and resist any and all attempts to circumvent the constitution with passive opposition, or, failing that, take to the streets and fight (the author is dreaming).
After the initial shock and awe over the Supreme Court shocker, stocks continued to trend lower, as they had all day, until, with less than an hour left in the session, news from Europe that Angela Merkel had cancelled a conference call scheduled for tonight had stocks moving well off their lows, finishing with comfortable losses rather than worrisome ones.
The official story of the Dow erasing most of a 177-point decline is, of course, bunk. This was an orchestrated move to get stocks back into a more tenable range of trading as the second quarter comes to an end with Friday's closing bell and make today's closing numbers look more appealing to the herd of sheeple that populate the nation.
Not a thing is going to be resolved in Europe at the latest in a series of meaningless summits, so, for whatever reason, the HFT mechanisms which control 85% of the trading on Wall Street simply went into overdrive on a "risk-on" scenario late in the day.
The move, like most of what passes for economy and trading these days, was another pathetic example of why most individual investors have pulled their money out of stocks altogether and will remain on the sidelines until some semblance of balance and fair play is returned to the equity markets (more wishful thinking).
Meanwhile, commodities were lambasted, with oil down sharply, silver closing at its lowest level of 2012 and gold dropping close to its lower support.
For whatever it's worth, a growing number of Americans and professionals in the fields of finance and economics think the Wall Street casino is a complete and total farce.
Those embracing that line of reasoning are surely on to something.
Dow 12,602.26, -24.75 (0.20%)
NASDAQ 2,849.49, -25.83 (0.90%)
S&P 500 1,329.04, -2.81 (0.21%)
NYSE Composite 7,597.50, -0.55 (0.01%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,753,433,750
NYSE Volume 3,867,150,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2697-2879
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 122-99
WTI crude oil: 77.69, -2.62
Gold: 1,550.40, -28.00
Silver: 26.25, -0.70
When the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court breaks ranks with his fellow conservative justices to affirm that all Americans must purchase health care insurance or be fined, siding with four liberal justices - who, by the way, should be stripped of their robes - in a matter of such great economic and political importance, then there's no hope left for the system left by our founding fathers.
Count Chief Justice John Roberts as just another Washington politician either bought and sold by special interests, playing presidential politics serving a master other than the people of the United States. Whatever the case, the law be damned with this horrendous decision, which accomplishes nothing other than to feed more fodder into the cannons of the upcoming political debate.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney immediately went on the offensive, while the White House checked off a mark in the victory column. Choosing to evade the issue of whether the mandate violated the commerce clause, by calling the "penalty" a tax, the five affirming justices simply kicked the can down the road a pace, a maneuver that's well-learned in the halls of power these days.
Next, they'll be telling Americans to quit smoking or be fined, stop eating fatty foods or go to jail or by whatever "legal" means strip common citizens of even more rights while emptying their pockets of any available cash.
It's a sham, much like most of what comes out of Washington, DC, these days. The best solution, on an individual basis, is to ignore the law and resist any and all attempts to circumvent the constitution with passive opposition, or, failing that, take to the streets and fight (the author is dreaming).
After the initial shock and awe over the Supreme Court shocker, stocks continued to trend lower, as they had all day, until, with less than an hour left in the session, news from Europe that Angela Merkel had cancelled a conference call scheduled for tonight had stocks moving well off their lows, finishing with comfortable losses rather than worrisome ones.
The official story of the Dow erasing most of a 177-point decline is, of course, bunk. This was an orchestrated move to get stocks back into a more tenable range of trading as the second quarter comes to an end with Friday's closing bell and make today's closing numbers look more appealing to the herd of sheeple that populate the nation.
Not a thing is going to be resolved in Europe at the latest in a series of meaningless summits, so, for whatever reason, the HFT mechanisms which control 85% of the trading on Wall Street simply went into overdrive on a "risk-on" scenario late in the day.
The move, like most of what passes for economy and trading these days, was another pathetic example of why most individual investors have pulled their money out of stocks altogether and will remain on the sidelines until some semblance of balance and fair play is returned to the equity markets (more wishful thinking).
Meanwhile, commodities were lambasted, with oil down sharply, silver closing at its lowest level of 2012 and gold dropping close to its lower support.
For whatever it's worth, a growing number of Americans and professionals in the fields of finance and economics think the Wall Street casino is a complete and total farce.
Those embracing that line of reasoning are surely on to something.
Dow 12,602.26, -24.75 (0.20%)
NASDAQ 2,849.49, -25.83 (0.90%)
S&P 500 1,329.04, -2.81 (0.21%)
NYSE Composite 7,597.50, -0.55 (0.01%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,753,433,750
NYSE Volume 3,867,150,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2697-2879
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 122-99
WTI crude oil: 77.69, -2.62
Gold: 1,550.40, -28.00
Silver: 26.25, -0.70
Monday, June 4, 2012
Markets Take a Breather, But Issues Remain Unresolved
US markets took a bit of a breather on Monday as news flow from Europe was more a trickle rather than a deluge and the only data that moved US indices was factory orders for April, which came in below forecast at -0.6% on expectations of a move lower of -0.3%. March was revised lower - from -1.9% to -2.1% - which made the current numbers look better by comparison.
After opening briefly to the upside, stocks quickly turned red, even before the first half hour of trading, a signal that the more experienced traders were still trimming their risk exposure, but stocks stabilized, traded in a narrow range, bottomed between noon and 2:00 pm before rallying fairly strongly into the close.
If today was something resembling a dead cat bounce, the kitty remained room temperature, and the bounce was more of a flopping over on one side, that being the upside on the NASDAQ. Essentially, following the worst decline of the year this past Friday, traders might actually be encouraged with a session in which the Dow fell by less than 20 points and the NASDAQ actually ended slightly higher with the S&P unchanged. In the current environment, that kind of performance is about the best one could hope to see.
The somnabulent tone of trading did not prevent another negative read on the advance-decline line nor a persistent gap between new highs and new lows, both of which continue to indicate worsening conditions.
It was a lackluster session on average volume in a wait-and-see scenario. Elections in Greece are the main focus of global markets, with the nation going to the polls on June 17 to try and elect a new government after the previous round could not produce a ruling coalition.
Hope is that the Greek people will do the right thing, which, to the technocratic base of european politics, would be to form a government that favors remaining in the Eurozone and swallowing the bitter pill of austerity, though even the most ardent supporters of the unified currency will concede that the continent faces further problems and keeping the union intact is only a first step.
While Greek voters may indeed vote for a continuation of the current ruinous policies, there is a heightened awareness that the tide of populism in Athens could produce a more radical government that eventually rejects the euro and favors a return to the drachma as the nation's official currency. Such an outcome would likely produce massive dislocations of capital not only in Europe, but worldwide.
Another topic of discussion on the street is one of whether or not the Federal Reserve will signal or engage in another round of QE, which would provide temporary relief to markets, though, as has been seen with the previous two rounds, it would probably amount to nothing more than a sugar coating over economic conditions that are unstable at best and deflationary and point to recession at worst.
The FOMC is set to meet again on June 19 and 20 with a press conference with FED chairman Ben Bernanke and a summary of Economic Projections following the policy decision, Prior to that, Bernanke is set to testify before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee on Thursday of this week and the calendar is full of other Fed speakers who might give a clue to the next move by the nation's central bankers.
Speculation is rising that the Fed will be forced into a position favoring more easing, since without it, stocks and the general economy don't appear to have enough momentum to continue growing on their own. The same logic applies to Europe, where the message is to bail out, loan and print as much as is needed to keep the titanic economy from listing and sinking.
The main problem is that the issues that contributed to the crisis - now nearly four years old - have still not been resolved, the main point being the necessary deflation of the global credit bubble, which has not occurred. Instead policy has pointed to even more credit creation, prompting the need for more and more of the same policies that will not provide a long term solution. The entire vicious cycle is spelled out in some detail by Charles Hughes Smith on his Of Two Minds blog, an essential read for those not quite equipped to handle the myriad details of credit, collateral and derivatives.
Basically, Smith opines that the problems of the crisis have remained unfixed and continuation of current policies only are buying time before an ultimate collapse. Along similar lines, investor George Soros recently quipped that Europe has only three months in which to get its act together, a time frame that coincides almost neatly with the upcoming US elections in November. Should Europe stumble, fall, crash and burn within the near term, the tide will almost certainly turn against president Obama and toward Republican candidate Mitt (Adolph) Romney.
That seems to be the preferred strategy of the clandestine rulers of US politics, as any further slippage into the abyss of global depression could then be blamed on Mr. Romney's predecessor, just has Obama, even three-and-a-half years into his term of office, continues to lay blame on former president Bush.
The truth is that each president has had his own set of blunders and misfortune, and not all of the economic distress can be placed upon their shoulders. Congressional dithering and inaction and the global banking cartel are responsible for at least two thirds of the malaise, if not all of it.
The coming two weeks will be ones of nail-biting and indecision, with a fairly light schedule of news and data flow, all of which seems to in the range from bad to horrifying of late. The Greeks, Bernanke, and to some extent, the parliamentary elections in France on June 10 and 17 should be the major catalysts for market in the near term.
Much of what's already occurred and what will happen is still murky, and, since markets hate uncertainty, the chances for a rally in the near term are quite slim. A continued correction and possible bear market conditions (down 20% or more from recent highs) have become distinct possibilities.
Dow 12,101.46, -17.11 (0.14%)
NASDAQ 2,760.01, +12.53 (0.46%)
S&P 500 1,278.18, +0.14 (0.01%)
NYSE Composite 7,286.74, -5.49 (0.08%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,661,424,125
NYSE Volume 3,922,442,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2564-3054
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 36-293
WTI crude oil: 83.98, +0.75
Gold: 1,613.90, -8.20
Silver: 28.01, -0.51
After opening briefly to the upside, stocks quickly turned red, even before the first half hour of trading, a signal that the more experienced traders were still trimming their risk exposure, but stocks stabilized, traded in a narrow range, bottomed between noon and 2:00 pm before rallying fairly strongly into the close.
If today was something resembling a dead cat bounce, the kitty remained room temperature, and the bounce was more of a flopping over on one side, that being the upside on the NASDAQ. Essentially, following the worst decline of the year this past Friday, traders might actually be encouraged with a session in which the Dow fell by less than 20 points and the NASDAQ actually ended slightly higher with the S&P unchanged. In the current environment, that kind of performance is about the best one could hope to see.
The somnabulent tone of trading did not prevent another negative read on the advance-decline line nor a persistent gap between new highs and new lows, both of which continue to indicate worsening conditions.
It was a lackluster session on average volume in a wait-and-see scenario. Elections in Greece are the main focus of global markets, with the nation going to the polls on June 17 to try and elect a new government after the previous round could not produce a ruling coalition.
Hope is that the Greek people will do the right thing, which, to the technocratic base of european politics, would be to form a government that favors remaining in the Eurozone and swallowing the bitter pill of austerity, though even the most ardent supporters of the unified currency will concede that the continent faces further problems and keeping the union intact is only a first step.
While Greek voters may indeed vote for a continuation of the current ruinous policies, there is a heightened awareness that the tide of populism in Athens could produce a more radical government that eventually rejects the euro and favors a return to the drachma as the nation's official currency. Such an outcome would likely produce massive dislocations of capital not only in Europe, but worldwide.
Another topic of discussion on the street is one of whether or not the Federal Reserve will signal or engage in another round of QE, which would provide temporary relief to markets, though, as has been seen with the previous two rounds, it would probably amount to nothing more than a sugar coating over economic conditions that are unstable at best and deflationary and point to recession at worst.
The FOMC is set to meet again on June 19 and 20 with a press conference with FED chairman Ben Bernanke and a summary of Economic Projections following the policy decision, Prior to that, Bernanke is set to testify before the Congressional Joint Economic Committee on Thursday of this week and the calendar is full of other Fed speakers who might give a clue to the next move by the nation's central bankers.
Speculation is rising that the Fed will be forced into a position favoring more easing, since without it, stocks and the general economy don't appear to have enough momentum to continue growing on their own. The same logic applies to Europe, where the message is to bail out, loan and print as much as is needed to keep the titanic economy from listing and sinking.
The main problem is that the issues that contributed to the crisis - now nearly four years old - have still not been resolved, the main point being the necessary deflation of the global credit bubble, which has not occurred. Instead policy has pointed to even more credit creation, prompting the need for more and more of the same policies that will not provide a long term solution. The entire vicious cycle is spelled out in some detail by Charles Hughes Smith on his Of Two Minds blog, an essential read for those not quite equipped to handle the myriad details of credit, collateral and derivatives.
Basically, Smith opines that the problems of the crisis have remained unfixed and continuation of current policies only are buying time before an ultimate collapse. Along similar lines, investor George Soros recently quipped that Europe has only three months in which to get its act together, a time frame that coincides almost neatly with the upcoming US elections in November. Should Europe stumble, fall, crash and burn within the near term, the tide will almost certainly turn against president Obama and toward Republican candidate Mitt (Adolph) Romney.
That seems to be the preferred strategy of the clandestine rulers of US politics, as any further slippage into the abyss of global depression could then be blamed on Mr. Romney's predecessor, just has Obama, even three-and-a-half years into his term of office, continues to lay blame on former president Bush.
The truth is that each president has had his own set of blunders and misfortune, and not all of the economic distress can be placed upon their shoulders. Congressional dithering and inaction and the global banking cartel are responsible for at least two thirds of the malaise, if not all of it.
The coming two weeks will be ones of nail-biting and indecision, with a fairly light schedule of news and data flow, all of which seems to in the range from bad to horrifying of late. The Greeks, Bernanke, and to some extent, the parliamentary elections in France on June 10 and 17 should be the major catalysts for market in the near term.
Much of what's already occurred and what will happen is still murky, and, since markets hate uncertainty, the chances for a rally in the near term are quite slim. A continued correction and possible bear market conditions (down 20% or more from recent highs) have become distinct possibilities.
Dow 12,101.46, -17.11 (0.14%)
NASDAQ 2,760.01, +12.53 (0.46%)
S&P 500 1,278.18, +0.14 (0.01%)
NYSE Composite 7,286.74, -5.49 (0.08%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,661,424,125
NYSE Volume 3,922,442,750
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2564-3054
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 36-293
WTI crude oil: 83.98, +0.75
Gold: 1,613.90, -8.20
Silver: 28.01, -0.51
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Commodities, Stocks Continue to Slide in Deflationary Downturn
It's time to look at some numbers in a broad macro view to get a handle of where the global economy is heading over the next six to twelve months.
In less than six months, Americans will head to the polls to either elect a new president or give Barack Obama the benefit of the doubt and return him for a second term. There are also key Senate races and all members of the House of Representatives are up for re-election. The implications of who becomes president and which party controls congress will have profound implications for the US economy going forward.
However, the presidency is the most important piece of the puzzle. In a nutshell, if Obama wins, we will have a continuation of the descent into a welfare state. If Romney takes it, bet on police state, with brutal, militarized police forces mobilized to quell citizen uprisings throughout the country.
Either way, the USA is in a tough spot, because neither the Republicans or Democrats will do anything remotely positive to improve conditions for millions of Americans.
Let's look at the numbers:
America's current deficit is $1.3 trillion for 2012.
The total US debt is beyond $15 trillion, and, if you add in unfunded liabilities - pensions, Social Security and Medicare - that number grows to somewhere between $125 and $150 trillion. That's a number that cannot be paid out or paid back easily.
In just the past 15 days, reality seems to have struck all the way from Washington to Wall Street. The economy is just barely limping along; in some areas of the country, local economies are dead or nearing a fatal state. More than half the US states face budget shortfalls for fiscal 2013 (starting July 1), the worst being California, Massachusetts (thank you, Mitt!), Illinois and Louisiana. The total gap for the states is estimated at $49 billion and that may be low.
Since the states have to balance their budgets, there will be layoffs and cuts in services. These will be anything but bullish for the general economy.
Retail sales have slowed for four straight months. In related news, JC Penny's (JCP) just today reported second quarter (non) earnings. They lost 0.25 cents per share on estimates of an 11-cent loss. Top-line revenue also missed the projected target of $3.41 billion, coming in at a squeamish $3.15 billion.
CEO Ron Johnson, who took over the reigns of the struggling merchandiser recently and had been widely praised as the master planner of Apple's signature stores, has a difficult road ahead. His Apple experience cannot be rightly compared to what he is dealing with at JC Penny's . Apple's stores were designed to sell only Apple products, which are unique and the envy of the retail world. Penny's deals with thousands of products from a multitude of vendors. It's not the same, and, even though Mr. Johnson is a bright fellow, he's in over his head in an environment that is not favorable to retailers.
Penny's also announced they were discontinuing their dividend of 80 cents per share. The stock was trading down more than 10% in the after-hours.
There are more than 44 million Americans - nearly one in six - receiving food stamps.
New home sales in 2011 had their worst year since 1961.
Stocks on the major averages are down between 4.5 and 5% in just the last 10 trading days. The Dow lost ground on nine of the last ten days; the S&P and NASDAQ have finished in the red eight of the last 10 sessions.
Meanwhile, the dollar index has soared, from 78.71 on April 27, to 81.26 at the close today. Meanwhile the Euro has collapsed to under 1.28 against the US dollar, finishing at 1.2729 at today's close. The move up in the value of the dollar has sent commodities screaming lower, with gold, oil and silver all suffering steep losses in the month of May. That's actually good news for Americans, particularly because lower oil prices eventually will translate into lower gas prices at the pump.
So, what is all of this data telling us? Surprisingly, despite tens of trillions of dollars pumped into the economy since 2008 by the Fed and the federal government, the wailing tone of deflation is unmistakable. Prices are falling rapidly, though incomes are stagnant or declining. There simply are not enough people working and making sufficient money to keep price levels high.
Anecdotally, food prices are coming down. Real estate remains in a moribund, deep slump and home foreclosures are once again rising. Everything will get cheaper as the economy continues down the inescapable path of deflation because the Federal Reserve's money spigot has directed all the flows to the banks, and they are not lending, mainly because they're still repairing their badly damaged balance sheets, and, even when they do cough up some dough, the borrower has to have absolutely pristine credit, a circumstance which is becoming something of a rarity.
Some say the US economy will be destroyed because its unpayable debts will undermine the value of the dollar and cause hyper-inflation. That may be so, though it's difficult to see inflation in anything when 15-20% of Americans are living in what's essentially a day-to-day fight for survival.
If hyper-inflation does one day come about and the dollar is smashed to a fraction of its former value, a deflationary depression will occur first. The government needs low interest rates to continue paying off the massive debt it has created, and will do everything it can to keep rates low.
But, because the Federal reserve has failed so miserably on the second part of its mandate - employment - all the money in the world (and the Fed has most of it now) cannot make people spend when they have no jobs, no prospects, and are worried about having enough food to eat tomorrow. Food prices are likely to stabilize, but, for the most part, the rest of the economy is toast, though it is still marginally better than that of Europe, of which half the countries are already in recession.
The money that was furnished to the banks by the American taxpayer, courtesy of the Fed and Treasury, went straight to financial institutions, and we know that they are profligate gamblers and thieves who will only enrich themselves, leaving Main Street, small business and the American public to fend for themselves in a mostly cash system which is quietly, albeit quickly, turning into a massive black market, underground economy.
Eventually, the government will fail horribly, and many will suffer. Those with wits, skills, cunning and a propensity to see the future and break rules, will prosper. Europe will fall first, but you can bet your bottom dollar (if you still have any) that their problems will come to roost on the shimmering shores of America.
Dow 12,632.00, -63.35 (0.50%)
NASDAQ 2,893.76, -8.82 (0.30%)
S&P 500 1,330.66, -7.69 (0.57%)
NYSE Composite 7,635.81, -69.64 (0.90%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,835,801,375
NYSE Volume 4,114,145,250
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2214-3408
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 77-236 (gap widening)
WTI crude oil: 93.98, -0.80
Gold: 1,557.10, -3.90
Silver: 28.08, -0.27
In less than six months, Americans will head to the polls to either elect a new president or give Barack Obama the benefit of the doubt and return him for a second term. There are also key Senate races and all members of the House of Representatives are up for re-election. The implications of who becomes president and which party controls congress will have profound implications for the US economy going forward.
However, the presidency is the most important piece of the puzzle. In a nutshell, if Obama wins, we will have a continuation of the descent into a welfare state. If Romney takes it, bet on police state, with brutal, militarized police forces mobilized to quell citizen uprisings throughout the country.
Either way, the USA is in a tough spot, because neither the Republicans or Democrats will do anything remotely positive to improve conditions for millions of Americans.
Let's look at the numbers:
America's current deficit is $1.3 trillion for 2012.
The total US debt is beyond $15 trillion, and, if you add in unfunded liabilities - pensions, Social Security and Medicare - that number grows to somewhere between $125 and $150 trillion. That's a number that cannot be paid out or paid back easily.
In just the past 15 days, reality seems to have struck all the way from Washington to Wall Street. The economy is just barely limping along; in some areas of the country, local economies are dead or nearing a fatal state. More than half the US states face budget shortfalls for fiscal 2013 (starting July 1), the worst being California, Massachusetts (thank you, Mitt!), Illinois and Louisiana. The total gap for the states is estimated at $49 billion and that may be low.
Since the states have to balance their budgets, there will be layoffs and cuts in services. These will be anything but bullish for the general economy.
Retail sales have slowed for four straight months. In related news, JC Penny's (JCP) just today reported second quarter (non) earnings. They lost 0.25 cents per share on estimates of an 11-cent loss. Top-line revenue also missed the projected target of $3.41 billion, coming in at a squeamish $3.15 billion.
CEO Ron Johnson, who took over the reigns of the struggling merchandiser recently and had been widely praised as the master planner of Apple's signature stores, has a difficult road ahead. His Apple experience cannot be rightly compared to what he is dealing with at JC Penny's . Apple's stores were designed to sell only Apple products, which are unique and the envy of the retail world. Penny's deals with thousands of products from a multitude of vendors. It's not the same, and, even though Mr. Johnson is a bright fellow, he's in over his head in an environment that is not favorable to retailers.
Penny's also announced they were discontinuing their dividend of 80 cents per share. The stock was trading down more than 10% in the after-hours.
There are more than 44 million Americans - nearly one in six - receiving food stamps.
New home sales in 2011 had their worst year since 1961.
Stocks on the major averages are down between 4.5 and 5% in just the last 10 trading days. The Dow lost ground on nine of the last ten days; the S&P and NASDAQ have finished in the red eight of the last 10 sessions.
Meanwhile, the dollar index has soared, from 78.71 on April 27, to 81.26 at the close today. Meanwhile the Euro has collapsed to under 1.28 against the US dollar, finishing at 1.2729 at today's close. The move up in the value of the dollar has sent commodities screaming lower, with gold, oil and silver all suffering steep losses in the month of May. That's actually good news for Americans, particularly because lower oil prices eventually will translate into lower gas prices at the pump.
So, what is all of this data telling us? Surprisingly, despite tens of trillions of dollars pumped into the economy since 2008 by the Fed and the federal government, the wailing tone of deflation is unmistakable. Prices are falling rapidly, though incomes are stagnant or declining. There simply are not enough people working and making sufficient money to keep price levels high.
Anecdotally, food prices are coming down. Real estate remains in a moribund, deep slump and home foreclosures are once again rising. Everything will get cheaper as the economy continues down the inescapable path of deflation because the Federal Reserve's money spigot has directed all the flows to the banks, and they are not lending, mainly because they're still repairing their badly damaged balance sheets, and, even when they do cough up some dough, the borrower has to have absolutely pristine credit, a circumstance which is becoming something of a rarity.
Some say the US economy will be destroyed because its unpayable debts will undermine the value of the dollar and cause hyper-inflation. That may be so, though it's difficult to see inflation in anything when 15-20% of Americans are living in what's essentially a day-to-day fight for survival.
If hyper-inflation does one day come about and the dollar is smashed to a fraction of its former value, a deflationary depression will occur first. The government needs low interest rates to continue paying off the massive debt it has created, and will do everything it can to keep rates low.
But, because the Federal reserve has failed so miserably on the second part of its mandate - employment - all the money in the world (and the Fed has most of it now) cannot make people spend when they have no jobs, no prospects, and are worried about having enough food to eat tomorrow. Food prices are likely to stabilize, but, for the most part, the rest of the economy is toast, though it is still marginally better than that of Europe, of which half the countries are already in recession.
The money that was furnished to the banks by the American taxpayer, courtesy of the Fed and Treasury, went straight to financial institutions, and we know that they are profligate gamblers and thieves who will only enrich themselves, leaving Main Street, small business and the American public to fend for themselves in a mostly cash system which is quietly, albeit quickly, turning into a massive black market, underground economy.
Eventually, the government will fail horribly, and many will suffer. Those with wits, skills, cunning and a propensity to see the future and break rules, will prosper. Europe will fall first, but you can bet your bottom dollar (if you still have any) that their problems will come to roost on the shimmering shores of America.
Dow 12,632.00, -63.35 (0.50%)
NASDAQ 2,893.76, -8.82 (0.30%)
S&P 500 1,330.66, -7.69 (0.57%)
NYSE Composite 7,635.81, -69.64 (0.90%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,835,801,375
NYSE Volume 4,114,145,250
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2214-3408
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 77-236 (gap widening)
WTI crude oil: 93.98, -0.80
Gold: 1,557.10, -3.90
Silver: 28.08, -0.27
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Amazing Stock Market Rally Rolls Along
One of the oldest adages of stock market investing is the time-honored, "the markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent," or something to that effect.
This is particularly poignant in the midst of the current Wall Street "melt-up" which has been ongoing since the middle of December and shows little sign of letting up.
While corporate earnings continue to flow, the latest being from two big banks, Morgan Stanley (MS) and Bank of America (BAC), both of which met or exceeded expectations, though the accounting tricks and tactics employed by the mega-banks leave much to the imagination.
As far as Bank of America is concerned, their beat of expectations of 13 cents per share with a reported 15 cents included a bunch of one-time items and useful reserve and loan loss calculations, embedded deep within their monstrous 110-page quarterly report. Despite the discrepancies in the quarterly, Bank of America bounced higher again today, closing at 6.95, a 15 cent gain, after popping above $7 per share for the first time since Warren Buffett invested $5 billion in the bank in early 2011.
Morgan Stanley actually lost money for the quarter, but lost quite a bit less than expected. The firm’s net loss was $250 million, or 15 cents a share, compared with profit of $836 million, or 41 cents, a year earlier. The consensus expectation was for a loss of 57 cents per share. Traders took the data in stride, boosting the stock to its highest level since October. In this case, even P.T. Barnum would be proud, noting that "there's a sucker born every minute." All the better for momentum chasers in this beat-up financial.
There was a dose of economic data that surprised some and annoyed others, notably bearish investors. Initial unemployment claims came in at a sparkling 352,000 - the lowest number in months - after last week's upwardly revised 402,000. The unemployment figures continue to be a topic of some debate, in that the "seasonally-adjusted" model used by the BLS seems to have forgotten that December was holiday season, chock full of part time and temporary hires. Whatever the case, traders seemed less-than-satisfied with the numbers, as the markets began slowly but ground slowly higher through the session.
December CPI came in flat, after yesterday's -0.1% drop in the PPI, sparking fears of "disinflation" (a Federal reserve governor term) or deflation, the bogey man that haunts Fed chairman Ben Benanke.
Housing starts and building permits were flat to lower, though new home builders have been leading this rally, up more than 10% as a group since the first of the year.
How much longer can the rally last? Tomorrow being options expiration, one would think a major sell-off is in the cards for either Friday afternoon or Monday, though, as stated at the top of this piece, rationality is generally not a hallmark of recent rallies.
If you've not already taken part in this wild market ride, it may be a little late. Stocks are getting extremely overbought, as the advance-decline and new highs vs. new lows figures have been telegraphing lately.
Adding to the upside has been the unusually quiet tones coming out of Europe, as opposed to the rather hysterical daily dispatches that typified the latter half of 2011. Nothing's really changed over there, except perception, perhaps. Europe is mostly headed for a recession, which will hit the middle classes, though Greece, in particular, in already in the throes of a fiscal straightjacket which some might say is emulating a full-blown depression. To the Greeks, most of europe is saying "pay up," to which the Greeks respond with "shut up" or some other suitable and more demonstrable phraseology.
The long and short of it, if one is of the camp that believes a strong stock market is a proxy for a strong general economy, 2012 is shaping up to be a banner year or at least a good effort at kicking the can of economic woes down the road until after the elections in November.
Throwing a bit of cold water on the rally parade, as expected, Eastman Kodak (EK) filed for bankruptcy protection today, and Republican presidential nominee hopeful Mitt Romney has been found to have a number of accounts and holdings in off-shore banks, notably in the Cayman Islands, setting the stage - if he's the nominee - for a battle of ideologies between him as the ultimate one percenter and President Obama as the champion of the 99%.
While that may make for great TV, it's hardly honest, as President O'banker is about as 1% elitist as one can get without actually admitting to it.
Dow 12,625.19, +46.24 (0.37%)
NASDAQ 2,788.33, +18.62 (0.67%)
S&P 500 1,314.50, +6.46 (0.49%)
NYSE Composite 7,819.36, +52.41 (0.67%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,974,862,250
NYSE Volume 4,442,754,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3454-2119
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 261-26 (yes, 10-1 is a bit extreme)
WTI crude oil: 100.39, -0.20
Gold: 1,654.50, -5.40
Silver: 30.51, -0.03
This is particularly poignant in the midst of the current Wall Street "melt-up" which has been ongoing since the middle of December and shows little sign of letting up.
While corporate earnings continue to flow, the latest being from two big banks, Morgan Stanley (MS) and Bank of America (BAC), both of which met or exceeded expectations, though the accounting tricks and tactics employed by the mega-banks leave much to the imagination.
As far as Bank of America is concerned, their beat of expectations of 13 cents per share with a reported 15 cents included a bunch of one-time items and useful reserve and loan loss calculations, embedded deep within their monstrous 110-page quarterly report. Despite the discrepancies in the quarterly, Bank of America bounced higher again today, closing at 6.95, a 15 cent gain, after popping above $7 per share for the first time since Warren Buffett invested $5 billion in the bank in early 2011.
Morgan Stanley actually lost money for the quarter, but lost quite a bit less than expected. The firm’s net loss was $250 million, or 15 cents a share, compared with profit of $836 million, or 41 cents, a year earlier. The consensus expectation was for a loss of 57 cents per share. Traders took the data in stride, boosting the stock to its highest level since October. In this case, even P.T. Barnum would be proud, noting that "there's a sucker born every minute." All the better for momentum chasers in this beat-up financial.
There was a dose of economic data that surprised some and annoyed others, notably bearish investors. Initial unemployment claims came in at a sparkling 352,000 - the lowest number in months - after last week's upwardly revised 402,000. The unemployment figures continue to be a topic of some debate, in that the "seasonally-adjusted" model used by the BLS seems to have forgotten that December was holiday season, chock full of part time and temporary hires. Whatever the case, traders seemed less-than-satisfied with the numbers, as the markets began slowly but ground slowly higher through the session.
December CPI came in flat, after yesterday's -0.1% drop in the PPI, sparking fears of "disinflation" (a Federal reserve governor term) or deflation, the bogey man that haunts Fed chairman Ben Benanke.
Housing starts and building permits were flat to lower, though new home builders have been leading this rally, up more than 10% as a group since the first of the year.
How much longer can the rally last? Tomorrow being options expiration, one would think a major sell-off is in the cards for either Friday afternoon or Monday, though, as stated at the top of this piece, rationality is generally not a hallmark of recent rallies.
If you've not already taken part in this wild market ride, it may be a little late. Stocks are getting extremely overbought, as the advance-decline and new highs vs. new lows figures have been telegraphing lately.
Adding to the upside has been the unusually quiet tones coming out of Europe, as opposed to the rather hysterical daily dispatches that typified the latter half of 2011. Nothing's really changed over there, except perception, perhaps. Europe is mostly headed for a recession, which will hit the middle classes, though Greece, in particular, in already in the throes of a fiscal straightjacket which some might say is emulating a full-blown depression. To the Greeks, most of europe is saying "pay up," to which the Greeks respond with "shut up" or some other suitable and more demonstrable phraseology.
The long and short of it, if one is of the camp that believes a strong stock market is a proxy for a strong general economy, 2012 is shaping up to be a banner year or at least a good effort at kicking the can of economic woes down the road until after the elections in November.
Throwing a bit of cold water on the rally parade, as expected, Eastman Kodak (EK) filed for bankruptcy protection today, and Republican presidential nominee hopeful Mitt Romney has been found to have a number of accounts and holdings in off-shore banks, notably in the Cayman Islands, setting the stage - if he's the nominee - for a battle of ideologies between him as the ultimate one percenter and President Obama as the champion of the 99%.
While that may make for great TV, it's hardly honest, as President O'banker is about as 1% elitist as one can get without actually admitting to it.
Dow 12,625.19, +46.24 (0.37%)
NASDAQ 2,788.33, +18.62 (0.67%)
S&P 500 1,314.50, +6.46 (0.49%)
NYSE Composite 7,819.36, +52.41 (0.67%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,974,862,250
NYSE Volume 4,442,754,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3454-2119
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 261-26 (yes, 10-1 is a bit extreme)
WTI crude oil: 100.39, -0.20
Gold: 1,654.50, -5.40
Silver: 30.51, -0.03
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
New Year Rally Continues, But Financial Stocks Fade
Another three-day weekend has passed, another European crisis barely averted and, lo and behold, another Tuesday rally fueled by speculation in pre-market futures. To say that US markets - and, by inference, global markets - are being propped up on false hope and denial of reality would be a gross understatement.
A little history suffices to show that last year, January was a positive one for the markets, with the S&P 500 gaining 29 points, pointing the way toward - according to the mighty January Barometer - a solid year, and we all know how that turned out, with the market's absolute top occurring in late April.
This is a replay of just about the same scenario with one big difference. Stocks are probably a little better than fairly valued, but corporate profits are not expected to set new records (after 2011's record earnings). Rather, competition and currency exchange concerns will likely limit what most of the big, multinational firms will make in 2012, to say nothing of the impending default of Greece and the recent downgrading of about half of the nations comprising the Eurozone.
Here in the US, focus will be on the presidential race, which looks exceedingly like it will come down to a very disturbing and divisive fight between the incumbent Democrat, Barack Obama and the Republican Mitt Romney, who looks quite a bit like what "occupy" movement supporters deride as a fat-cat, political and capitalist sociopath.
In essence and for the practical purposes of governing, Romney's not much different from Obama, leaving Americans with the usual unpalatable choice of the lesser of two evils. The press, for the fourth presidential election in a row, will hail this as "the most important election of your life," which, of course, it certainly is not, though the amount of money pumped into the campaigns by super-PACs will be the stuff of legend.
With any luck, the preponderance of political advertising will result in more Americans revisiting old habits and older friends, and tuning out the mainstream propaganda machine full time.
As for this current vapor-rally on minimal volume (a tell-tale sign of weakness), it may just come to an abrupt end with the expiration of options on Friday, or, being that the powers behind the Ponzi fiat money scheme need to keep up appearances, it could just saunter along for a few more months. Since the Republicans in congress wish to unseat Mr. Obama at almost all costs, expect gridlock in Washington for the rest of 2012, though geo-political events (think Europe, Iran and the Middle East) could certainly send stocks spiraling lower, just as they did in late 2007 and through much of 2008.
Some interesting macro-economic facts came to light over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, such as ratings agency Standard & Poor's commencing to downgrade the EU's main liquidity funding mechanism, the ESFS, a notch, from AAA to AA+, putting even more stress on the Continent's debt issues.
As mentioned Friday, talks about restructuring private Greek debt have fallen apart and an outright default before March 20 appears to be all but certain.
Back in the US, the average age of vehicles on the road has reached a new high of 10.8 years as strapped consumers delay the purchase of new cars indefinitely. So much for the government's bailout of GM and Chrysler. Shares of General Motors are up about four points this year, reaching 24.20 as of today, but are still well below the IPO price of $35 per share.
Two of the nation's largest banks issued 4th quarter earnings reports prior to the opening bell. Wells-Fargo (WFC), now the largest bank in the US by market cap, met expectations, but Citigroup missed badly, with reported earnings of 38 cents a share, missing rosy estimates of 51 cents per share and well below last year's fourth quarter of 43 cents. Shares of Citigroup were bashed, losing 2.53, to 28.22, a loss of more than eight percent.
Today's market was punctuated within the first 20 minutes of trading, hitting the highs for the day, with the Dow up 161 points before the day-long selling commenced. Optimistic gapped-up opens followed by floundering into a weak close is a sure sign of an over-hyped market, though the Dow has sported gains in six of ten sessions this year.
Bull markets don't last forever, especially secular bulls, such as this one, which has persisted since the bottom in March of 2009. The mini corrections in the Spring and again in August haven't dampened investor sentiment much, though weak volume remains a persistent feature. Eventually, reality, such as Citi's poor showing today, will take hold of even the most stubborn bulls... and their money.
Dow 12,482.07, +60.01 (0.48%)
NASDAQ 2,728.08, +17.41 (0.64%)
S&P 500 1,293.67, +4.58 (0.36%)
NYSE Composite 7,670.47, +38.44 (0.50%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,819,276,375
NYSE Volume 3,883,768,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3262-2341
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 217-46
WTI crude oil: 100.71, +2.01
Gold: 1,655.60, +24.80
Silver: 30.14, +0.61
A little history suffices to show that last year, January was a positive one for the markets, with the S&P 500 gaining 29 points, pointing the way toward - according to the mighty January Barometer - a solid year, and we all know how that turned out, with the market's absolute top occurring in late April.
This is a replay of just about the same scenario with one big difference. Stocks are probably a little better than fairly valued, but corporate profits are not expected to set new records (after 2011's record earnings). Rather, competition and currency exchange concerns will likely limit what most of the big, multinational firms will make in 2012, to say nothing of the impending default of Greece and the recent downgrading of about half of the nations comprising the Eurozone.
Here in the US, focus will be on the presidential race, which looks exceedingly like it will come down to a very disturbing and divisive fight between the incumbent Democrat, Barack Obama and the Republican Mitt Romney, who looks quite a bit like what "occupy" movement supporters deride as a fat-cat, political and capitalist sociopath.
In essence and for the practical purposes of governing, Romney's not much different from Obama, leaving Americans with the usual unpalatable choice of the lesser of two evils. The press, for the fourth presidential election in a row, will hail this as "the most important election of your life," which, of course, it certainly is not, though the amount of money pumped into the campaigns by super-PACs will be the stuff of legend.
With any luck, the preponderance of political advertising will result in more Americans revisiting old habits and older friends, and tuning out the mainstream propaganda machine full time.
As for this current vapor-rally on minimal volume (a tell-tale sign of weakness), it may just come to an abrupt end with the expiration of options on Friday, or, being that the powers behind the Ponzi fiat money scheme need to keep up appearances, it could just saunter along for a few more months. Since the Republicans in congress wish to unseat Mr. Obama at almost all costs, expect gridlock in Washington for the rest of 2012, though geo-political events (think Europe, Iran and the Middle East) could certainly send stocks spiraling lower, just as they did in late 2007 and through much of 2008.
Some interesting macro-economic facts came to light over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, such as ratings agency Standard & Poor's commencing to downgrade the EU's main liquidity funding mechanism, the ESFS, a notch, from AAA to AA+, putting even more stress on the Continent's debt issues.
As mentioned Friday, talks about restructuring private Greek debt have fallen apart and an outright default before March 20 appears to be all but certain.
Back in the US, the average age of vehicles on the road has reached a new high of 10.8 years as strapped consumers delay the purchase of new cars indefinitely. So much for the government's bailout of GM and Chrysler. Shares of General Motors are up about four points this year, reaching 24.20 as of today, but are still well below the IPO price of $35 per share.
Two of the nation's largest banks issued 4th quarter earnings reports prior to the opening bell. Wells-Fargo (WFC), now the largest bank in the US by market cap, met expectations, but Citigroup missed badly, with reported earnings of 38 cents a share, missing rosy estimates of 51 cents per share and well below last year's fourth quarter of 43 cents. Shares of Citigroup were bashed, losing 2.53, to 28.22, a loss of more than eight percent.
Today's market was punctuated within the first 20 minutes of trading, hitting the highs for the day, with the Dow up 161 points before the day-long selling commenced. Optimistic gapped-up opens followed by floundering into a weak close is a sure sign of an over-hyped market, though the Dow has sported gains in six of ten sessions this year.
Bull markets don't last forever, especially secular bulls, such as this one, which has persisted since the bottom in March of 2009. The mini corrections in the Spring and again in August haven't dampened investor sentiment much, though weak volume remains a persistent feature. Eventually, reality, such as Citi's poor showing today, will take hold of even the most stubborn bulls... and their money.
Dow 12,482.07, +60.01 (0.48%)
NASDAQ 2,728.08, +17.41 (0.64%)
S&P 500 1,293.67, +4.58 (0.36%)
NYSE Composite 7,670.47, +38.44 (0.50%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,819,276,375
NYSE Volume 3,883,768,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3262-2341
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 217-46
WTI crude oil: 100.71, +2.01
Gold: 1,655.60, +24.80
Silver: 30.14, +0.61
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Stocks Ripped Lower Again; More Questions than Answers
Since US stock markets are so delightfully linked t the fates of Europe, the same old story keeps repeating itself over and over, such as today, as the Euro fell sharply (1.00 EUR = 1.30348 USD) against major currencies and the Dollar Index closed at an eleven-month high (DXY:IND 80.273 0.708 0.89%).
While those dual developments are intertwined, the parties involved - from European, US and Chinese exporters to American and European consumers - will feel the effects in dramatically different manners.
Naturally, for most of Europe, a collapsing Euro is bad for consumers, making everything imported more expensive, but great for exporters, whose goods are cheaper by comparison in importing nations.
The opposite is true for the US, which is why stocks are usually down when the Euro dips and the dollar strengthens. Americans should welcome a stronger dollar, especially at this time of year, because all those trinkets and holiday goodies - mostly from China - will be cheaper, though probably not right away.
As has been a repeatedly-held view in this space, the Euro is headed for catastrophe, and it's going to occur sooner than anyone thinks, probably before the middle of 2012. German people are sick and tired of bailing out the Southern countries, Greece has already defaulted on some debt, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Belgium are holding on for dear life and the ECB is going to be quickly as tapped out of funds as its leaders are of ideas.
The idea of printing more money, as has been the case in the US, with dubious effect, will only make matters worse when inflation rages and dissatisfied citizens stop paying taxes in deference to feeding their families. The trouble is that sovereign debt, ridiculously rated at AAA or beyond, is about to be downgraded across the Euro-zone and beyond.
For those unfamiliar, sovereign debt is the money governments borrow to fund everything from pensions to schools to war machines (like here in the US). Most of Europe should be rated no better than A or A+, a move that is coming soon from either S&P, Moody's or Fitch, because nations have shown over time that while they may always repay on time, they are profligate spenders and tax revenues are dropping, not expanding. Balance sheets (those things nobody likes to look at) of most governments are ridiculous when compared to that of an average American or European family, who don't get the benefit of positive credit ratings, pay higher interest rates than silly governments, yet most manage to pay bills on time and keep their households in relative sanity.
With all of the monstrous debt of Europe and the US overshadowing just about all other economic realities, there are more questions than answers these days, a few of them being:
Those are just teaser questions, without good answers from politicians, regulators, academics or economists. The tough ones await in the new year.
And, to those kids waiting for Santa Claus, you've got 11 days left to try being good. For the scoundrels on Wall Street, awaiting the famous, year-end Santa Claus Rally, you've been bad, so just coal (clean coal, for sure) for you, and, even if there is a rally, it will only get the indices back to where they were a week or a day or two ago, and 2011 will go down in the books as a year of near-zero (or less) returns. So much for owning stocks.
A couple of quick points on economic data. November retail sales figures were up 0.2%. There's one word to describe all the hoopla over Black Friday and the whole retail consumerism mantra. BULL---T.
The FOMC of the Fed had its last policy meeting of 2011 and did nothing. Thanks, for nothing.
Dow 11,954.94, -66.45 (0.55%)
NASDAQ 2,579.27, -32.99 (1.26%)
S&P 500 1,225.73, -10.74 (0.87%)
NYSE Composite 7,276.65, -86.84 (1.18%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,732,941,625
NYSE Volume 4,080,177,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 1462-4165
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 107-146 (more red)
WTI crude oil: 100.14, +2.37 (higher due to fears over Iran)
Gold: 1,663.10, -5.10
Silver: 31.26, +0.26
While those dual developments are intertwined, the parties involved - from European, US and Chinese exporters to American and European consumers - will feel the effects in dramatically different manners.
Naturally, for most of Europe, a collapsing Euro is bad for consumers, making everything imported more expensive, but great for exporters, whose goods are cheaper by comparison in importing nations.
The opposite is true for the US, which is why stocks are usually down when the Euro dips and the dollar strengthens. Americans should welcome a stronger dollar, especially at this time of year, because all those trinkets and holiday goodies - mostly from China - will be cheaper, though probably not right away.
As has been a repeatedly-held view in this space, the Euro is headed for catastrophe, and it's going to occur sooner than anyone thinks, probably before the middle of 2012. German people are sick and tired of bailing out the Southern countries, Greece has already defaulted on some debt, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Belgium are holding on for dear life and the ECB is going to be quickly as tapped out of funds as its leaders are of ideas.
The idea of printing more money, as has been the case in the US, with dubious effect, will only make matters worse when inflation rages and dissatisfied citizens stop paying taxes in deference to feeding their families. The trouble is that sovereign debt, ridiculously rated at AAA or beyond, is about to be downgraded across the Euro-zone and beyond.
For those unfamiliar, sovereign debt is the money governments borrow to fund everything from pensions to schools to war machines (like here in the US). Most of Europe should be rated no better than A or A+, a move that is coming soon from either S&P, Moody's or Fitch, because nations have shown over time that while they may always repay on time, they are profligate spenders and tax revenues are dropping, not expanding. Balance sheets (those things nobody likes to look at) of most governments are ridiculous when compared to that of an average American or European family, who don't get the benefit of positive credit ratings, pay higher interest rates than silly governments, yet most manage to pay bills on time and keep their households in relative sanity.
With all of the monstrous debt of Europe and the US overshadowing just about all other economic realities, there are more questions than answers these days, a few of them being:
- Where's the money (over $1 billion) that MF Global took from investors?
- How soon will the ratings agencies lower the credit ratings of Italy, Spain, Portugal, France and the rest of the Euro-zone nations, and, how far down will they go?
- If US banks are borrowing at 0-0.25% from the Fed, why are credit card rates 8, 10, 15 and even 28% for US consumers who have solid track records of on-time payments?
- Can government statistics be trusted at all?
- Why would anyone under the age of 40 contribute to Social Security if not that it's automatically deducted from their paychecks?
- If the world is headed for global depression, won't all asset classes, including gold and silver, devalue?
- Why are government employees in the US paid 30-40% more than their private-industry counterparts and receive gold-plated health care and pensions, when the US population - who pays them - work for less, have fewer benefits and many have no guaranteed retirement plans?
- Why is the world's greatest criminal, Hank Paulson, still a free man?
- Where is Eric Holder, the Attorney General, and why hasn't he even investigated any of the banks or the prior administration?
- Why must Americans choose between Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich as the Republican presidential nominee when Ron Paul and Michelle Bachmann have better positions and more consistent voting records?
- Why is President Obama opposed to the Keystone pipeline that would bring oil from Canada (our largest trading partner and a friendly one) and thousands of high-paying jobs?
- Why is 20% supposed to be a "fair" percentage one should pay in federal taxes when most people outside the middle class pay little to nothing?
Those are just teaser questions, without good answers from politicians, regulators, academics or economists. The tough ones await in the new year.
And, to those kids waiting for Santa Claus, you've got 11 days left to try being good. For the scoundrels on Wall Street, awaiting the famous, year-end Santa Claus Rally, you've been bad, so just coal (clean coal, for sure) for you, and, even if there is a rally, it will only get the indices back to where they were a week or a day or two ago, and 2011 will go down in the books as a year of near-zero (or less) returns. So much for owning stocks.
A couple of quick points on economic data. November retail sales figures were up 0.2%. There's one word to describe all the hoopla over Black Friday and the whole retail consumerism mantra. BULL---T.
The FOMC of the Fed had its last policy meeting of 2011 and did nothing. Thanks, for nothing.
Dow 11,954.94, -66.45 (0.55%)
NASDAQ 2,579.27, -32.99 (1.26%)
S&P 500 1,225.73, -10.74 (0.87%)
NYSE Composite 7,276.65, -86.84 (1.18%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,732,941,625
NYSE Volume 4,080,177,000
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 1462-4165
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 107-146 (more red)
WTI crude oil: 100.14, +2.37 (higher due to fears over Iran)
Gold: 1,663.10, -5.10
Silver: 31.26, +0.26
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