US Markets On the Move

Apparently, or, if you just measure the US economy from the activity on Wall Street, we're in great shape. The Dow jumped 240 points on the week. Even better, the NASDAQ popped 79 points, or 3% in the past five sessions.

How much of it is smoke and mirrors is unknown, but speculation is that much of it is not sustainable. When a company like Countrywide Financial (CFC) can move up 33% in one day on the news that they lost $1.2 billion in the previous quarter (missing their estimate by more than $1.50), anything is possible and the level of deceit and corruption in boardrooms and trading desks is probably higher than a giraffe's ear.

Dow 13,806.70 +134.78; NASDAQ 2,804.19 +53.33; S&P 500 1,535.28 +20.88; NYSE Composite 10,189.13 +159.58

It was a bull session for certain. Advancers put the kibosh on declining issues by a 5-2 margin. New highs finally surpassed new lows, 418-245. Much of the momentum is no doubt tied to expectations for another rate cut by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday of next week.

While Wall Street parties, so do the oil barons.

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Crude was up another $1.40 to close at another all-time high of $91.86. Gold shot up $16.50 to $787.50. Silver gained 38 cents to close at $14.28. Everything's going up except the value of your home (and probably your wages).

The Fed is expected to announce a rate cut of 25 basis points on Halloween. Spooky.

NYSE Volume 3,616,435,000
NASDAQ Volume 2,593,624,000

As the World's Money Burns

I would love to not have to report on the continuing malaise of the US equity markets, but I have found it to be a labor of duty to report that our markets are incorrigibly rigged by some of the top officials of our government and the central bank, notably, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Most of the dirty work of rigging the markets - to the upside - is done every morning at the repo window of the NY Fed, where today they granted $31 Billion of repurchase agreements to members, all intended to be plied in the open equity markets to distort and deceive the general public.

It is my duty to report that the Dow Jones Industrials were down more than 125 points at 2:00 pm ET, yet once again, closed narrowly on the downside.

Dow 13,671.92 -3.33; NASDAQ 2,750.86 -23.90; S&P 500 1,514.40 -1.48; NYSE Composite 10,029.55 +20.25

The Dow is easy to manipulate if you have virtually unlimited funds, as does the Fed. It is only 30 stocks, and many of them don't trade more than 3 or 4 million shares per session. It's a piece of cake if you have the top traders of the major brokerage firms doing your bidding in the market. And it's tough to lose money, too, when you buy puts against the same stocks you are buying, knowing all along that buying these stocks with the sole intent to move up the averages is a losing condition.

Yet they carry on, these market manipulators, not because they have the best interest of investors at heart. No, they engage in this activity because they are protecting their own bankrupt souls and institutions from exposure and financial implosion. They could care less about depositors, investors and the ordinary folk. They care only about profits on their own banks and finance companies, their bonuses and their yachts and fancy cars.

Declining issues held a narrow 17-14 edge over advancers at the close. New lows outpace new highs again, 313-270.

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Oil gained an astounding $3.36 to close at $90.46. Gold gained $5.40 to $771.00. Silver was up 32 cents to $13.91. Why, why, why is the Dow only down THREE POINTS?

The housing industry is in the tank, credit markets have effectively seized up, roughly 25% of companies reporting earnings are missing their revenue and per share estimates and many are issuing pessimistic guidance for the 4th quarter and 2008.

Why is the Dow down only three points? The Fed, the PPT, the officially-sanctioned President's Working Group on Financial Markets are manipulating the markets. It's that simple.

Wake up, people. Your money, your investments, your retirements, your jobs and your homes are not safe as long as we allow nefarious characters such as Bernanke and Paulson to ply their evil trade.

NYSE Volume 4,133,543,000
NASDAQ Volume 2,755,434,750

Crash Averted by PPT

The absolute garbage coming from the Federal Reserve in the form of jawboning, daily repurchase agreements and soon-to-be-announced round of rate cuts, have distorted and perverted the US equity markets to a point at which there should be no investor confidence whatsoever.

With the markets down significantly all day, the Fed and Treasury, under the guise of the Plunge Protection Team (PPT, or, more specifically, the President's Working Group on Financial Markets) sent stocks soaring off their lows and nearly into positive territory. The most egregious escapade was on the Dow, which went from being down 190 points at 2:15 to UNCHANGED at 3:15. Right around 3:10 ET, the index went absolutely parabolic, gaining 70 points in under four minutes.

There are no brokerages, investors or arbitrageurs on the planet who could have accomplished such a monumental market-moving feat other than the PPT, working in concert with the nation's largest brokerages, Merrill Lynch (more about them later), Goldman Sachs, et. al.

The fraud perpetrated upon the people of the United States is one which purports that our financial markets are safe and secure, when in fact they are propped up daily by infusions of cash from the Federal Reserve and brokerages working in concert.

Only some late day selling by honest market participants kept the markets from a complete recovery into positive territory. That the Dow finished the day anywhere near positive is an affront to every educated trader on the planet. I take these matters personally, since it is my money (and others) being toyed with by the Fed.

The unmitigated actions by the Fed of late have become so pronounced and obvious to seasoned market watchers as to be laughable, were it not for the fact that they are pumping billions of dollars into the markets to avoid a complete and utter capitulation of the equity markets. With the worldwide credit markets already in a state of seizure, the Fed and Treasury actions are a desperate propping up by a bunch who are effectively destroying the value of the US Dollar every day. They deserve nothing less than a monumental market crash followed by ouster from office and criminal proceedings.

It's sick. It should stop, but it won't. We're under a fascist regime, so all lies are allowed, even big ones that affect the lives of every man woman and child in the country and millions more who haven't even been born.

Dow 13,675.25 -0.98; NASDAQ 2,774.76 -24.50; S&P 500 1,515.88 Down 3.71; NYSE Composite 10,009.30 -31.69

Despite the outright rigging by the Fed, PPT, Goldman, etc., stocks sagged again on Wednesday as the overhang of the mortgage malaise continues to haunt any company even remotely associated with the housing industry.

Merrill Lynch, one closely aligned by the weight of their mortgage portfolio, got the ball rolling downhill before the markets opened, offering a third quarter report that the officers of the company wish had been chewed up by a friendly dog.

Merrill (MER) lost so much money this quarter it won't fit on the screen. They were pounded most of the day and according to reports, investors were withdrawing money from Merrill trading accounts as quickly as they could.

As sickening as the corrupt Fed intervention into today's (and every day's) market was, declines outnumbered advances 2 to 1 and new lows distanced themselves from new highs, 353-161. It's a very sick market which should have closed at or near the intraday lows.

Oil was up another $1.83 to $87.10, gold gained $2.50 to $765.60, and silver slipped 6 cents to $13.59

But, really, how did the Dow lose less than a point? The US economy is virtually on its knees. That's without a doubt, despite what the president, Ben Bernanke, Hank Paulson, or any other paid shill tells you.

NYSE Volume 3,803,483,500
NASDAQ Volume 2,739,684,250

Paper Chase Leads Stocks Higher

Stocks closed sharply higher on US markets Tuesday, with relief coming in the form of better-than-expected earnings from a handful of companies. Still, the market struggled through much of the day, as the Dow, in particular, made 70 points of the day's gains in the final 40 minutes of trading.

Dow 13,676.23 +109.26; NASDAQ 2,799.26 +45.33; S&P 500 1,519.59 +13.26; NYSE Composite 10,040.99 +110.21

After falling five consecutive days last week (with the exception of the NASDAQ, which had one up session last week), the markets have opened this important earnings season week with a pair of gainers. Absent important economic reports, the markets continue to climb a wall of worry, depending upon the 3rd quarter results of various firms.

The only meaningful economic reports this week are existing and new home sales, due out tomorrow and Thursday, respectively, both at 10:00 am ET.

Companies that reported after the close Monday or before the open Tuesday were Apple (AAPL), American Express (AXP), AT&T (T), Lockheed Martin (LMT), TD Ameritrade (AMTD) and UPS (UPS), all of which beat street expectations.

After the close Tuesday, internet retailer Amazon (AMZN) reported earnings for the quarter of $80 million, or 19 cents per share, from $19 million, or 5 cents per share, during the same period last year, beating expectations by a penny. Shares were higher by 9.53 (to 100.82) prior to the release, though the stock gave most of that gain back in after-hours trade due to gross margin worries.

Omnicom, Inc. (OMC), the world's largest advertising and marketing concern, posted net income of 62 cents per share, beating expectations by .01. Despite the solid results, the stock lost on the day, due to concerns going forward. The company gave a cautious outlook for 2008.

Advancing issues beat decliners by a nearly 2-1 margin, but new lows continued to hold sway over new highs, though by a narrow margin, 213-186.

Oil slid 75 cents to $85.27. Gold and silver registered marginal gains.

With Amazon's news after the close Tuesday, Wednesday may open with more gains. Of assistance could be these companies, reporting prior to the open: energy conglomerate ConocoPhillips (COP), drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), aircraft maker Boeing (BA) and brokerage Merrill Lynch (MER). Those stocks could make or break the will of investors out of the gate.

NYSE Volume 3,172,097,500
NASDAQ Volume 2,324,812,500

Day-Trading with the Fed

Every day, investors take risks.

Implied in the buying and selling of stocks is the gamble that shares of the stocks in question will go up or down, lose or gain value, based often on little more than the whims of the market.

However, it's a rigged game. The Fed routinely pumps money into the markets through their daily repurchase agreements, or "repos" as they're known. Today's "fun money" - $10.5 billion - arrived precisely 10 minutes after the market had opened, just in time to stave off a massive sell off which had the Dow down more than 100 points right out of the gate.

As the day wore on, the effect of this "money out of thin air" had on the psyche of the market was apparent. The Dow took a nearly 200-point round trip, eventually ending the day with a gain of 45 points, ending a five-day losing streak.

Dow 13,566.97 +44.95; NASDAQ 2,753.93 +28.77; S&P 500 1,506.33 +5.70; NYSE Composite 9,930.78 +10.51

So, effectively, the Fed took most of the risk out of buying stocks, for today, at least. Tomorrow, and the remainder of this week and next, is likely to be more of the same stumbling around we've experienced for the past few months.

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The market direction is predominantly to the downside, though Fed actions have prevented the essential shakeout to occur in all its fury. Instead, we get the slow motion train wreck with the occasional pileup like we had on Friday.

Stocks really were weak at the open and actually for much of the day. Advancing issues only led decliners by a 7-5 margin, while new lows dislocated new highs, 420 to 94. So, if you're convinced the worst is over, think again.

Oil dipped $1.04 to $87.56, a price so gaudy and absurd that it's painful to print the actual number. Gold lost $8.40 to $760.00, yet another sign of the credit-to-cash trade. Silver dipped 8 cents to $13.56 amid continuing commercial supply-demand usage debate.

Today's market gains were purely Fed-inspired and can hardly be called sustainable into the remainder of the week.

Nearly a third of the S&P 500 components will report their quarterly results this week. More than 25% have missed profit targets, many of which were supposed to be easy marks.

After Monday's close, 36 companies will report their earnings including Apple (AAPL), American Express (AXP) and Texas Instruments (TXN).

There are 71 companies reporting their earnings prior to Tuesday's open.

The off-balance-sheet fraud inspired by Enron has now spread fully to the banking system. The credit crunch has severely damaged the world economic racket and the banks can do nothing other than hide the losses for now. At some later date, probably some time in the first quarter of '08, those losses will see the light of day and the end-game will commence.

NYSE Volume 3,310,854,000
NASDAQ Volume 1,923,987,125