What a way to end the week. First the government announces 3rd quarter GDP coming in at 2.0%, above estimates of 1.7%. Then they have this phony terrorist package from Yemen BS and that's all anybody can talk about on CNBC.
The whole mess is just so much baloney, it's truly dispiriting. So much so, that I am just going to copy and paste a comment I left on another blog:
That dipshit CNBC bitch Trish Regan keeps droning on and on about how packages are never inspected. Get ready for major price increases on cross border small packages, already ridiculously high. Just another crack on the back of small business in the name of "security."
This government sucks. Best to just ignore them.
Please don't ever vote again. It does only encourage the ass-holes.
Watch what happens next. More security inside the US, allowing Postal Service to inspect all parcels. I never use UPS - too expensive - but I think you have to bring packages to their offices open so they can inspect them. At least that's how it was in the immediate aftermath of 9-11.
My best guess is that about 15 banks are going under later today and this is their way of hiding the fact that America is Land of the Glee and Home of the Knave, and that your bank will be closed on Monday.
Maybe, if we get really lucky, they'll use this ruse to cancel the elections. Ah, crap, that means we'll have at least another two weeks of those damn political ads.
Crap, crap, crap. Give me Liberty or give me shit. Guess we all are getting it now.
The markets were their usual moribund selves on Friday. Nothing seems to move them any more. For the week, here are the moves on the main indices:
DJIA: HIGH: 11266.30,LOW: 11033.87, TOTAL POINT MOVE (from 10/22 close): -14.07
S&P 500: HIGH: 1196.14, LOW: 1171.70, TOTAL POINT MOVE (from 10/22 close): +0.18
NASDAQ: HIGH: 2516.20, LOW: 2470.12, TOTAL POINT MOVE (from 10/22 close): +28.02 WINNER!
NYSE: HIGH: 7615.23, LOW: 7417.42, TOTAL POINT MOVE (from 10/22 close): -9.56
Obviously, this wasn't much of a week for anyone. If diversified correctly, you may have even lost a couple of dollars. How's that retirement thing working out for you?
If the stock market - once the wonder of the world for its efficiency and ability to fund companies and create wealth - gets any more boring, I may have to take up knitting over blogging. If it were not so sad, I'd laugh. I used to love the stock market when I was a kid. Big companies were the stuff of dreams, of American success and exceptionalism. And now... now the stock market only represents greed, manipulation and the rise of the globalist agenda.
Dow 11,118.49, +4.54 (0.04%)
NASDAQ 2,507.41, +0.04 (0.00%)
S&P 500 1,183.26, -0.52 (0.04%)
NYSE Composite 7,513.35, +8.50 (0.11%)
Despite the squeamish headline numbers, advancers were all over decliners, 3868-2608. New highs bettered new lows, 400-59. Volume remains stuck at disturbingly-low levels.
NASDAQ Volume 2,010,327,375
NYSE Volume 4,128,324,750
Oil dipped 75 cents, to $81.43, but the precious metals were the stars of the day. Gold gained $15.10, to $1,357.60, closing in on record highs. Silver continued its massive build, up 69 cents, to $24.56.
There's usually something behind the phony terrorist "alarm" that has now preoccupied the airwaves. Apparently, the mainstream news media hasn't picked up on the fact the the bulk of Americans don't care or aren't scared any more, unless, of course, new coverage interrupts a sporting event or - God forbid - American Idol.
On that note, go scare some kids this weekend. They deserve it. Boo!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Not Mixing Metaphors: The US Ship of State is Rudderless
In less than a week, a couple of hundred people (maybe less) scattered around the country in data centers will decide who wins elections for the US House and Senate and other important elections, state-wide and local.
Do you think that's an absurd proposition made up by somebody overusing Zanax or other mind-altering drugs? Perhaps you haven't been keeping abreast of developments via the Brad Blog, Verified Voting or Bev Harris' Black Box Voting.
These and other web sites - no, you'll find nothing about actual vote manipulation anywhere in the mainstream media (MSM) or even on Fox News (who only make hollow claims that ACORN or other "liberal" groups are effecting voter fraud) - have been detailing our fully-rigged elections systems since the fiasco of 2000 in Florida. Or have you forgotten that George W. Bush was never elected, but rather, appointed to the Presidency by the Supreme Court in 2000 and that the 2004 election was largely stolen?
OK, take whatever meds you need to make you believe that all is well in our great union, but I'm here to tell you - again - that the country is being run by a criminal gang masquerading as politicians, funded by the gangsters of Wall Street, otherwise known as "banksters", who have defrauded millions of Americans over and over again through fraudulent mortgages, fraudulent assignments of mortgages (I personally own one of these), baseless foreclosures, phony mortgage-backed securities (MBS) which were sold around the globe, but also to pension funds to which YOU may be contributing.
I used to say the wheels are off, but it's worse than that now. The ship of state is floundering in a seas of fraud without a rudder. Consider our fates when abject morons such as Sharon Angle may actually defeat senator Harry Reid in Nevada, when a total business failure such as Carly Fiorina may defeat senator Barbara Boxer in California. Not that I'm a fan of either Boxer or Reid - they are integral parts of the rampant criminality of Washington, DC - but their proposed replacements are nightmares.
As a nation, we are well on our way to complete and total ruination at the hands of an oligarchy run out of control. Massive criminality is no longer prosecuted; indeed, it is likely praised behind closed doors. The government's preferred choice of action is to settle with criminals, taking money in lieu of prison terms, as in the case of Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo.
In normal times, deals like this would be categorized as bribes, but today the are SOP (standard Operating Procedure). In fact, our federal Attorney General, Eric Holder, hasn't led a sucessful prosecution of anybody involved in banking or the BP oil well explosion in the nearly two years be's been in office. The man just doesn't do his job and should be impeached, that is, if anyone can find him (he's nearly invisible).
To qualify that the US is off-course and headed for the rocks of desperation, depression and dissolution, a few headlines and stories should be required reading for today:
Run, Turkey, Run - PIMCO chief Bill Gross calls the Fed a Ponzi scheme
No Mr. President, Larry Summers Did Not Resolve the Financial Crisis for a Pittance, He Just Papered Over the Problem - William K. Black rips Larry Summers and calls President Obama a fraud.
Halliburton Knew About Bad Cement Job Before the Spill - Mother Jones reports that the company that former VP Dick Cheney once was CEO of, has been hiding the truth, again. Making matters worse, the company is now headquartered in Dubai, so even if we could locate Mr. Holder, the chances of prosecuting this rogue company are nil.
And of course, this: Leave Vera Baker Alone. She Did Not Have An Affair With Obama. - the internal US security apparatus may have the president by the short hairs. Nothing surprises us any more.
Not enough? We have witches running for Congress, a proposal to legalize marijuana in California being beaten back by the liquor lobby, other candidates who dress up in NAZI garb, others who invoke the Taliban when speaking of their opponent, and enough crazies running for office - like Carl Paladino, who threatened to "take out" a reporter - to make the original cast of One Flew Over the Kukoo's Nest appear completely normal.
On top of that, computers execute over 70% of all trades on Wall Street without any human intervention, and Joseph Murin, former head of Ginnie Mae, losing all credibility in this CNBC video, by first saying that now is the best time to buy a home and that the robo-signing scandal is "not about fraud, this is about process inadequacy." Incidentally, guest host Ken Langone's posturing that people are moving out of their foreclosed-upon homes into cheaper apartments and renting out the homes, is 100% pure falsehood.
How the markets responded to this crush of madness was the usual miasma of mix-up: The NASDAQ, S&P and NYSE were up, the Dow down, all marginally. Volume was normal, meaning, lousy.
Dow 11,113.95, -12.33 (0.11%)
NASDAQ 2,507.37, +4.11 (0.16%)
S&P 500 1,183.78, +1.33 (0.11%)
NYSE Composite 7,504.85, +23.98 (0.32%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,910,478,375
NYSE Volume 4,771,915,500
As such, there were 3152 advancing issues, 3205 decliners. New highs beat new lows, 413-58.
JP Morgan and HSBC Bank are being sued in federal court for manipulating the silver market [PDF]. Got coin? Silver exploded to the upside today, gaining 45 cents to $24.01. Gold was up $19.10 on last print, to $1344.10. Crude oil futures on the NYMEX closed up 24 cents, at $82.18. Note that above $80 per barrel is now the new normal, as is $3.00/gallon gas in many locales.
It's a mess, and come Tuesday, it's only going to get messier as we're likely to have a lame-duck congress followed by a completely stalemated one, with Republicans controlling the House and Democrats with a narrow (unable to override vetoes) majority in the Senate. Dr. Utopia will still reside in the White House, and, at a time when the nation needs leadership in the very worst way, we will have none.
Tomorrow, the initial estimate of third quarter GDP will be announced at 8:30 am ET.
Good luck with that!
Do you think that's an absurd proposition made up by somebody overusing Zanax or other mind-altering drugs? Perhaps you haven't been keeping abreast of developments via the Brad Blog, Verified Voting or Bev Harris' Black Box Voting.
These and other web sites - no, you'll find nothing about actual vote manipulation anywhere in the mainstream media (MSM) or even on Fox News (who only make hollow claims that ACORN or other "liberal" groups are effecting voter fraud) - have been detailing our fully-rigged elections systems since the fiasco of 2000 in Florida. Or have you forgotten that George W. Bush was never elected, but rather, appointed to the Presidency by the Supreme Court in 2000 and that the 2004 election was largely stolen?
OK, take whatever meds you need to make you believe that all is well in our great union, but I'm here to tell you - again - that the country is being run by a criminal gang masquerading as politicians, funded by the gangsters of Wall Street, otherwise known as "banksters", who have defrauded millions of Americans over and over again through fraudulent mortgages, fraudulent assignments of mortgages (I personally own one of these), baseless foreclosures, phony mortgage-backed securities (MBS) which were sold around the globe, but also to pension funds to which YOU may be contributing.
I used to say the wheels are off, but it's worse than that now. The ship of state is floundering in a seas of fraud without a rudder. Consider our fates when abject morons such as Sharon Angle may actually defeat senator Harry Reid in Nevada, when a total business failure such as Carly Fiorina may defeat senator Barbara Boxer in California. Not that I'm a fan of either Boxer or Reid - they are integral parts of the rampant criminality of Washington, DC - but their proposed replacements are nightmares.
As a nation, we are well on our way to complete and total ruination at the hands of an oligarchy run out of control. Massive criminality is no longer prosecuted; indeed, it is likely praised behind closed doors. The government's preferred choice of action is to settle with criminals, taking money in lieu of prison terms, as in the case of Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo.
In normal times, deals like this would be categorized as bribes, but today the are SOP (standard Operating Procedure). In fact, our federal Attorney General, Eric Holder, hasn't led a sucessful prosecution of anybody involved in banking or the BP oil well explosion in the nearly two years be's been in office. The man just doesn't do his job and should be impeached, that is, if anyone can find him (he's nearly invisible).
To qualify that the US is off-course and headed for the rocks of desperation, depression and dissolution, a few headlines and stories should be required reading for today:
Run, Turkey, Run - PIMCO chief Bill Gross calls the Fed a Ponzi scheme
No Mr. President, Larry Summers Did Not Resolve the Financial Crisis for a Pittance, He Just Papered Over the Problem - William K. Black rips Larry Summers and calls President Obama a fraud.
Halliburton Knew About Bad Cement Job Before the Spill - Mother Jones reports that the company that former VP Dick Cheney once was CEO of, has been hiding the truth, again. Making matters worse, the company is now headquartered in Dubai, so even if we could locate Mr. Holder, the chances of prosecuting this rogue company are nil.
And of course, this: Leave Vera Baker Alone. She Did Not Have An Affair With Obama. - the internal US security apparatus may have the president by the short hairs. Nothing surprises us any more.
Not enough? We have witches running for Congress, a proposal to legalize marijuana in California being beaten back by the liquor lobby, other candidates who dress up in NAZI garb, others who invoke the Taliban when speaking of their opponent, and enough crazies running for office - like Carl Paladino, who threatened to "take out" a reporter - to make the original cast of One Flew Over the Kukoo's Nest appear completely normal.
On top of that, computers execute over 70% of all trades on Wall Street without any human intervention, and Joseph Murin, former head of Ginnie Mae, losing all credibility in this CNBC video, by first saying that now is the best time to buy a home and that the robo-signing scandal is "not about fraud, this is about process inadequacy." Incidentally, guest host Ken Langone's posturing that people are moving out of their foreclosed-upon homes into cheaper apartments and renting out the homes, is 100% pure falsehood.
How the markets responded to this crush of madness was the usual miasma of mix-up: The NASDAQ, S&P and NYSE were up, the Dow down, all marginally. Volume was normal, meaning, lousy.
Dow 11,113.95, -12.33 (0.11%)
NASDAQ 2,507.37, +4.11 (0.16%)
S&P 500 1,183.78, +1.33 (0.11%)
NYSE Composite 7,504.85, +23.98 (0.32%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,910,478,375
NYSE Volume 4,771,915,500
As such, there were 3152 advancing issues, 3205 decliners. New highs beat new lows, 413-58.
JP Morgan and HSBC Bank are being sued in federal court for manipulating the silver market [PDF]. Got coin? Silver exploded to the upside today, gaining 45 cents to $24.01. Gold was up $19.10 on last print, to $1344.10. Crude oil futures on the NYMEX closed up 24 cents, at $82.18. Note that above $80 per barrel is now the new normal, as is $3.00/gallon gas in many locales.
It's a mess, and come Tuesday, it's only going to get messier as we're likely to have a lame-duck congress followed by a completely stalemated one, with Republicans controlling the House and Democrats with a narrow (unable to override vetoes) majority in the Senate. Dr. Utopia will still reside in the White House, and, at a time when the nation needs leadership in the very worst way, we will have none.
Tomorrow, the initial estimate of third quarter GDP will be announced at 8:30 am ET.
Good luck with that!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Stocks Take a Little Ride; Fraudclosure-gate Shuffled to Back Burner
With mid-term elections now less than a week away, politicians are in no mood to deal with serious issues (are they ever?) like the ongoing fraud in bank foreclosures that began to unravel three weeks ago and has continued to gather momentum.
That issue has been shelved for the time being by politicians and the bankers at the heart of the scandal. In fact, Bank of America was one of the top-performing stocks of the day, on a day in which the major indices took a serious turn to the downside only to be salvaged by furious buying into the close.
Silly me. I thought for a moment that the markets weren't rigged and losses could occur. Apparently, and almost assuredly, this is not the case. Nobody wants to talk about mortgage put-backs and fraudulent foreclosures. That's so... last weekend. We all need to pay attention to the events of next week - the elections and the FOMC meeting, and of course, how could I forget, Halloween is Sunday.
That's the level to which the markets and politics have sank. Bad news is simply not acceptable over any extended period. Breaking the law will be tolerated, as evidenced by the disappearance of our US Attorney General, Eric Holder, who has chosen the path of least resistance: prosecutions for nobody, no matter what, and especially if you're rich, well-connected or a complete snobbish troll.
As for stocks, they hit their lows of the day just after 1:00 pm ET, but then began a miraculous comeback on no news - as usual - to shave a nearly 150 point loss on the Dow down to just over 40 by the close. Nice job, fellas. We're sure there's a special place in hell for the cheating rats who now completely control Wall Street and their HFT computers, though most of us out here in teaming-masses-land would prefer to see you get your just desserts here on earth, as in a nice long prison sentence in a federal penitentiary and clawbacks and restitution of the billions you've strangled away from the US public.
But I digress. These titans of financial ingenuity, the Blankfeins, Dimons and Pandits of the world, they've brought us such wonders as 17% real unemployment, $3.00 per gallon gas and a complete rejection - at the federal level - of the constitution and the rule of law. We should thank them as they are whisked away in their limousines, for they have done the nation a great service: they robbed it blind.
Oops, there I go again; trying really hard to be objective, though it's difficult in the face of such overt criminality. Thankfully, I am not alone in my outrge. At least there is William K. Black, who sent thousands of dirty bankers to jail in the S&L scandal. He thinks Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner should be fired, many bankers indicted and the twelve largest financial institutions put under federal receivership.
Is anybody listening?
Dow 11,126.28, -43.18 (0.39%)
NASDAQ 2,503.26, +5.97 (0.24%)
S&P 500 1,182.45, -3.19 (0.27%)
NYSE Composite 7,480.87, -49.93 (0.66%)
Losers dominated winners, 4180-2216, a nearly 2-1 margin. New highs came in at 294, to just 54 new lows. Volume was a bit stronger than previous days this week and last, though it was still not at levels normal in the mid-00s, prior to the financial meltdown of 2008.
NASDAQ Volume 2,027,671,625
NYSE Volume 4,904,105,500
Commodities trended lower on the day, with oil losing 61 cents, to $81.94. Gold fell $16.00, to $1,322.60, while silver shed 43 cents, to close at $23.40 the ounce.
That issue has been shelved for the time being by politicians and the bankers at the heart of the scandal. In fact, Bank of America was one of the top-performing stocks of the day, on a day in which the major indices took a serious turn to the downside only to be salvaged by furious buying into the close.
Silly me. I thought for a moment that the markets weren't rigged and losses could occur. Apparently, and almost assuredly, this is not the case. Nobody wants to talk about mortgage put-backs and fraudulent foreclosures. That's so... last weekend. We all need to pay attention to the events of next week - the elections and the FOMC meeting, and of course, how could I forget, Halloween is Sunday.
That's the level to which the markets and politics have sank. Bad news is simply not acceptable over any extended period. Breaking the law will be tolerated, as evidenced by the disappearance of our US Attorney General, Eric Holder, who has chosen the path of least resistance: prosecutions for nobody, no matter what, and especially if you're rich, well-connected or a complete snobbish troll.
As for stocks, they hit their lows of the day just after 1:00 pm ET, but then began a miraculous comeback on no news - as usual - to shave a nearly 150 point loss on the Dow down to just over 40 by the close. Nice job, fellas. We're sure there's a special place in hell for the cheating rats who now completely control Wall Street and their HFT computers, though most of us out here in teaming-masses-land would prefer to see you get your just desserts here on earth, as in a nice long prison sentence in a federal penitentiary and clawbacks and restitution of the billions you've strangled away from the US public.
But I digress. These titans of financial ingenuity, the Blankfeins, Dimons and Pandits of the world, they've brought us such wonders as 17% real unemployment, $3.00 per gallon gas and a complete rejection - at the federal level - of the constitution and the rule of law. We should thank them as they are whisked away in their limousines, for they have done the nation a great service: they robbed it blind.
Oops, there I go again; trying really hard to be objective, though it's difficult in the face of such overt criminality. Thankfully, I am not alone in my outrge. At least there is William K. Black, who sent thousands of dirty bankers to jail in the S&L scandal. He thinks Ben Bernanke and Tim Geithner should be fired, many bankers indicted and the twelve largest financial institutions put under federal receivership.
Is anybody listening?
Dow 11,126.28, -43.18 (0.39%)
NASDAQ 2,503.26, +5.97 (0.24%)
S&P 500 1,182.45, -3.19 (0.27%)
NYSE Composite 7,480.87, -49.93 (0.66%)
Losers dominated winners, 4180-2216, a nearly 2-1 margin. New highs came in at 294, to just 54 new lows. Volume was a bit stronger than previous days this week and last, though it was still not at levels normal in the mid-00s, prior to the financial meltdown of 2008.
NASDAQ Volume 2,027,671,625
NYSE Volume 4,904,105,500
Commodities trended lower on the day, with oil losing 61 cents, to $81.94. Gold fell $16.00, to $1,322.60, while silver shed 43 cents, to close at $23.40 the ounce.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Shocking! Fed Does $2.5B POMO; Stocks Gain Fractions
Not only is this the dullest market in generations, it is also the phoniest ever.
To illustrated just how desperate the big money traders (the only traders remaining) are for the largesse of the Federal Reserve, without whose risk-free money the stock markets would have closed down roughly two years ago, a recap of the day's trading is in order.
In the final half hour of trading yesterday, the Dow fell about 55 points. At the open today, the same index lopped off another 65 points in the opening minutes of trading. That's when Ben Bernanke primed up the printing press and bought back $2.5 billion of Treasuries from the corrupt, greedy, insolvent banks that have ruined the US economy.
Immediately, the Dow was back to the unchanged mark for the day, wiping out the early losses. The rest of the session was spent with the computers trading pennies in a tight range of 50 Dow points. To say that the markets are drifting aimlessly would be to miss the point that the Fed is force-feeding liquidity into the system. Truly, without the Federal Reserve priming the pump, stocks would be as dead as doornails, which, to some degree, is already the case.
Of course, there are those among us who still believe that the stock market is fair and unbiased, that there's no manipulation and that the small investor can still do well. These people apparently believe that unicorns can fly and the Easter Bunny brings candy to kids.
One adage of the market is that there's no free lunch, though that probably doesn't include banksters and insiders. For the rest of us, a look at price-earnings ratios might be instructive.
In a normal market, a reasonable P/E would be around 12-15. In raging bull markets, a touch above that, but in bear markets single digits are the norm, and there's no doubt that we're still in a bear market despite the convoluted efforts of the market riggers to make us believe otherwise.
I looked at some of the more popular names that routinely are recommended by pundits, analysts and brokers. Here's what I found to be their price-earnings ratios, using trailing earnings (prior four quarters). Caterpillar (CAT), 25.53; IBM (IBM), 12.72; AT&T (T), 12.52; McDonald's (MCD), 17.58; Apple (AAPL), 19.87; Intel (INTC), Chevron (CVX), 10.24; Bank of America (BAC), 51.36.
There's just a small cross-section of US stocks, which, from the looks of it, seem to be at least fully valued, though one has to ask why Bank of America is carrying a P/E three to four times it's historic norm. Does anyone think it's a good buy at this price, that they'll begin earning $4 and $5 per annum any time soon? Pretty doubtful. There's a lot of money that's headed for a rat hole in BAC.
Dow 11,169.46, +5.41 (0.05%)
NASDAQ 2,497.29, +6.44 (0.26%)
S&P 500 1,185.64, +0.02 (0.00%)
NYSE Composite 7,530.80, -15.58 (0.21%)
Declining issues beat advancers, 3453-2978. New Highs: 376; New Lows: 48. Volume was putrid.
NASDAQ Volume 1,935,497,500
NYSE Volume 4,679,565,500
Commodities, other than silver, didn't move very much. Oil gained 3 cents, to $82.55. Gold fell 30 cents, to 1,338.60. Silver, on serious allegations of price manipulation by short-sellers (banks, mostly JP Morgan), gained 29 cents, to $23.83.
To illustrated just how desperate the big money traders (the only traders remaining) are for the largesse of the Federal Reserve, without whose risk-free money the stock markets would have closed down roughly two years ago, a recap of the day's trading is in order.
In the final half hour of trading yesterday, the Dow fell about 55 points. At the open today, the same index lopped off another 65 points in the opening minutes of trading. That's when Ben Bernanke primed up the printing press and bought back $2.5 billion of Treasuries from the corrupt, greedy, insolvent banks that have ruined the US economy.
Immediately, the Dow was back to the unchanged mark for the day, wiping out the early losses. The rest of the session was spent with the computers trading pennies in a tight range of 50 Dow points. To say that the markets are drifting aimlessly would be to miss the point that the Fed is force-feeding liquidity into the system. Truly, without the Federal Reserve priming the pump, stocks would be as dead as doornails, which, to some degree, is already the case.
Of course, there are those among us who still believe that the stock market is fair and unbiased, that there's no manipulation and that the small investor can still do well. These people apparently believe that unicorns can fly and the Easter Bunny brings candy to kids.
One adage of the market is that there's no free lunch, though that probably doesn't include banksters and insiders. For the rest of us, a look at price-earnings ratios might be instructive.
In a normal market, a reasonable P/E would be around 12-15. In raging bull markets, a touch above that, but in bear markets single digits are the norm, and there's no doubt that we're still in a bear market despite the convoluted efforts of the market riggers to make us believe otherwise.
I looked at some of the more popular names that routinely are recommended by pundits, analysts and brokers. Here's what I found to be their price-earnings ratios, using trailing earnings (prior four quarters). Caterpillar (CAT), 25.53; IBM (IBM), 12.72; AT&T (T), 12.52; McDonald's (MCD), 17.58; Apple (AAPL), 19.87; Intel (INTC), Chevron (CVX), 10.24; Bank of America (BAC), 51.36.
There's just a small cross-section of US stocks, which, from the looks of it, seem to be at least fully valued, though one has to ask why Bank of America is carrying a P/E three to four times it's historic norm. Does anyone think it's a good buy at this price, that they'll begin earning $4 and $5 per annum any time soon? Pretty doubtful. There's a lot of money that's headed for a rat hole in BAC.
Dow 11,169.46, +5.41 (0.05%)
NASDAQ 2,497.29, +6.44 (0.26%)
S&P 500 1,185.64, +0.02 (0.00%)
NYSE Composite 7,530.80, -15.58 (0.21%)
Declining issues beat advancers, 3453-2978. New Highs: 376; New Lows: 48. Volume was putrid.
NASDAQ Volume 1,935,497,500
NYSE Volume 4,679,565,500
Commodities, other than silver, didn't move very much. Oil gained 3 cents, to $82.55. Gold fell 30 cents, to 1,338.60. Silver, on serious allegations of price manipulation by short-sellers (banks, mostly JP Morgan), gained 29 cents, to $23.83.
Monday, October 25, 2010
When the News IS the News and Maybe Not the News
We used to have a saying in the newspaper business: "We don't make the news, we just deliver it."
That sentiment has been wasted on the Wall Street crowd. They are the news, even when there is no news, like today, when I find nothing of significance to report except that stocks went up.
It's old news, but becoming more the norm. Stocks go up. Every day. That's it.
But maybe there's more. Stocks gapped up at the open but stopped abruptly at 10:00 am, and that turned out to be the high of the day. I personally cannot remember a day in which the highwas reached at 10:00 am and not taken out later in the session, but that's what happened today.
After 10:00 am, the rest of the day was dithering, until the final half hour, when the HFTs all lined up and sold into the close. From a chartist's perspective, that close, in the context of the day's high at 10:00 am, is an ominous sign, something that I haven't been able to pronunce with conviction for quite some time.
Indeed, while many of us occupying the blogosphere see dark clouds on the horizon, they've been sitting out there for quite some time, but the markets continue to grind higher. It may be nothing, but with the mid-terms just a week away, fireworks could be ignited prior to the scheduled time.
The canaries in the coal mines are beginning to look more like a flock, each wondering which will fall over first. Unemployment is still at historic highs and growing. The housing market is completely stalled out due to foreclosure-gate, various investigations and new rules, and the added threat of put-backs by investors. Europe is fast becoming a war zone with France almost entirely shut down and Greece resuming protests which shut down the rails on Monday.
Add to these "canaries" the threat of market meltdown due to "flash crash" or other event and you have what sets up as a perfect storm. If one of the conditions is exacerbated to the point of explosion, the others will ignite in simultaneous conflagration.
In the meantime, we have banks committing mortgage and foreclosure fraud on a grand scale and markets that are just about non-functional other than the computers running the show. CNBC keeps reporting on companies meeting or beating expectations, so one has to wonder whether the inevitable crash will occur before or after the elections. I'm still sticking to "before" because there's been no October surprise as of yet, and the media is just waiting on it.
Dow 11,164.05, +31.49 (0.28%)
NASDAQ 2,490.85, +11.46 (0.46%)
S&P 500 1,185.62, +2.54 (0.21%)
NYSE Composite 7,546.38, +23.47 (0.31%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,764,460,625
NYSE Volume 4,795,549,500
Advancers finished ahead of declining issues, 4042-2423 (these numbers seem wrong, like 700 stocks were all of a sudden added to the NYSE - might be new ETFs?). New highs bettered new lows, 694-78. Volume was at it's usual dull level.
Commodities were on the move again. Oil gained 83 cents, to $82.52; gold picked up $13.80, to $1,338.90; silver added 43 cents, to $23.54.
It may all be meaningless, as there's no direction to anything except up, and we all know the outcome of things that go the way for long.
That sentiment has been wasted on the Wall Street crowd. They are the news, even when there is no news, like today, when I find nothing of significance to report except that stocks went up.
It's old news, but becoming more the norm. Stocks go up. Every day. That's it.
But maybe there's more. Stocks gapped up at the open but stopped abruptly at 10:00 am, and that turned out to be the high of the day. I personally cannot remember a day in which the highwas reached at 10:00 am and not taken out later in the session, but that's what happened today.
After 10:00 am, the rest of the day was dithering, until the final half hour, when the HFTs all lined up and sold into the close. From a chartist's perspective, that close, in the context of the day's high at 10:00 am, is an ominous sign, something that I haven't been able to pronunce with conviction for quite some time.
Indeed, while many of us occupying the blogosphere see dark clouds on the horizon, they've been sitting out there for quite some time, but the markets continue to grind higher. It may be nothing, but with the mid-terms just a week away, fireworks could be ignited prior to the scheduled time.
The canaries in the coal mines are beginning to look more like a flock, each wondering which will fall over first. Unemployment is still at historic highs and growing. The housing market is completely stalled out due to foreclosure-gate, various investigations and new rules, and the added threat of put-backs by investors. Europe is fast becoming a war zone with France almost entirely shut down and Greece resuming protests which shut down the rails on Monday.
Add to these "canaries" the threat of market meltdown due to "flash crash" or other event and you have what sets up as a perfect storm. If one of the conditions is exacerbated to the point of explosion, the others will ignite in simultaneous conflagration.
In the meantime, we have banks committing mortgage and foreclosure fraud on a grand scale and markets that are just about non-functional other than the computers running the show. CNBC keeps reporting on companies meeting or beating expectations, so one has to wonder whether the inevitable crash will occur before or after the elections. I'm still sticking to "before" because there's been no October surprise as of yet, and the media is just waiting on it.
Dow 11,164.05, +31.49 (0.28%)
NASDAQ 2,490.85, +11.46 (0.46%)
S&P 500 1,185.62, +2.54 (0.21%)
NYSE Composite 7,546.38, +23.47 (0.31%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,764,460,625
NYSE Volume 4,795,549,500
Advancers finished ahead of declining issues, 4042-2423 (these numbers seem wrong, like 700 stocks were all of a sudden added to the NYSE - might be new ETFs?). New highs bettered new lows, 694-78. Volume was at it's usual dull level.
Commodities were on the move again. Oil gained 83 cents, to $82.52; gold picked up $13.80, to $1,338.90; silver added 43 cents, to $23.54.
It may all be meaningless, as there's no direction to anything except up, and we all know the outcome of things that go the way for long.
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