Stocks End Week on Super-Duper High Note as All Indicators Are Ignored

Other than options expiry, there was no good reason for stocks to go higher today, though this market doesn't need any reasons or rationale for any kind of movement. So, it was not surprising that, on a day in which the only relevant data came from the University of Michigan consumer sentiment and the Conference Board's Index of Leading Economic Indicators - incidentally, the only two data points that were positive this week - that stocks would rise to new all-time highs on the Dow and S&P, while the NASDAQ continued its recent string of 12 1/2-year-highs.

Consumer sentiment catapulted from April's 76.4 to 83.7 in May, while the LEI came in with a gain for April of 0.6% on expectations of 0.3, after March's disappointing -0.2%, not that the prior reading mattered at all.

Stocks are raging, and to those who have invested and made money, congratulations. For those who have stayed on the sidelines, this is surely not an opportune time to invest, despite what all the financial pundits are saying, unless one believes it is wise to buy at all-time highs.

So ends another week in fantasy-land, aka, Wall Street.

Gold and silver were again taken out back and punished severely, but - big surprise - crude oil continued to march toward the $100/barrel level.

Happy motoring!

Dow 15,354.40, +121.18 (0.80%)
NASDAQ 3,498.97, +33.72 (0.97%)
S&P 500 1,667.47, +17.00 (1.03%)
NYSE Composite 9,576.41, +87.10 (0.92%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,820,408,750
NYSE Volume 3,736,158,250
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 4518-1925
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 703-45
WTI crude oil: 96.02, +0.86
Gold: 1,364.70, -22.20
Silver: 22.35, +0.307

Stocks Have a Late-Day Reality Check (and reality wins)

After yesterday's golden sombrero (a baseball slang term denoting a player striking out four times in four at-bats) of economic data, today's market was welcomed with another 0-for-4 reading on economic data, that on top of Wal-Mart's (WMT) poor first quarter which was a miss on the revenue side, blamed, laughingly, on weather (we have it every day, dolts) and late income tax refunds (pure baloney).

Prior to the opening bell, initial unemployment claims came in at 360K, when the market was looking for a benign 335K, oops. At the same time, April CPI registered -0.4%, the worst showing (for inflationists) since 2007, and housing starts slumped rom 1021K in March to 853K in April, a massive fall-off and well below rosy expectations for 970K. So much for the "rebound" in housing which was supposed to be leading the recovery.

Topping off the list, at 10:00 am EDT, was the Philadelphia Fed's Manufacturing Index, expected to show modest growth to a humorous 2.5, but bolted out at -5.2, another sign that business activity is actually slowing down and doing so in a rather hasty retreat, not only in the US, but globally. France, apart from the farce that is Europe, is also heading deeper into recession, and China's growth is slowing considerably faster than anyone might have expected (except those who don't believe China's economic numbers in the first place).

Thus, stocks hugged the flat-line before caving in - around 3:00 pm EDT - to the pressure of eight straight missed on key economic data, a poor earnings season typified by revenue misses and the continuing crisis at the top of the federal government of not one, not two, but three separate scandals.

Market declines on the day were not exactly pronounced, but, checking the calendar and noting that this is the day before monthly options expiry, it all begins to make more sense. Nobody's yet brave enough to call this a top, but it sure looks like one, smells like one and has all the antecedent timing factors to actually be one.

We'll see if there's any carry-over to tomorrow's week-ending session. Today's late tape was bolstered by tape-painting and/or short covering, which lifted the indices off their lows.

Dow 15,233.22, -42.47 (0.28%)
NASDAQ 3,465.24, -6.37 (0.18%)
S&P 500 1,650.47, -8.31 (0.50%)
NYSE Composite 9,489.18, -62.24 (0.65%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,924,503,750.00
NYSE Volume 3,771,709,500
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2633-3851
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 607-62
WTI crude oil: 95.16, +0.86
Gold: 1,386.90, -9.30
Silver: 22.66, +0.001

Stocks Rocket Higher as Government Begins Falling Apart; Warp Speed, Bennie!

OK, here are some facts and figures.

The White House is embroiled in three separate scandals (Benghazi, IRS, AP wiretaps), any one of which could be cause for impeachment (which is the preferred action, right now).

Attorney General Eric (Worthless) Holder testified and was grilled by congressmen before the House Judiciary Committee on a variety of issues, not the least of which were questions surrounding the wiretapping of AP reporters and editors. Holder, a typical administration slime-ball, who has prosecuted exactly zero criminal bankers, has recused himself from the AP investigation. How convenient!

The PPI for April was a massive misfire, signaling deflation in the face of the Fed's relentless, non-stop money printing. Expectations were for a reading of -0.5, which in itself would be anti-inflationary enough - and in direct opposition to the wishes of the Fed - but the number came in at a depressing -0.7.

Empire State Manufacturing was supposed to improve from a depression-era-level of 3.1 in April to 3.5 in May, but, surprise, manufacturing contracted in the New York region, dropping to -1.4.

April Industrial Production was off 0.5% and Capacity Utilization fell from 78.3 to 77.8%.

That's three scandals, each with its very own investigation about to be launched and four misses on economic data out of four. It's like a baseball hitter on steroids striking out four times and making three errors in the field. Not very impressive.

So, how do equity markets continue to march higher?

If anyone has answers please call 1-800-LUV-FRAUD, 1-866-2-WEIRD or 1-877-I-RIGGED.

A computer algorithm will answer your call and assimilate your responses, after which they will be discarded.

Thank you.

Dow 15,275.69, +60.44 (0.40%)
Nasdaq 3,471.62, +9.01 (0.26%)
S&P 500 1,658.78, +8.44 (0.51%)
NYSE Composite 9,551.32, +35.47(0.37%)
NYSE Volume 3,946,509,500
Nasdaq Volume 1,786,600,250
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3592-2883
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 806-41 (!!!!!!)
WTI crude oil: 94.30, +0.09
Gold: 1,396.20, -28.30
Silver: 22.66, -0.721

David Tepper Appears, Stocks Fly Higher

So much for yesterday's "slow as she goes" commentary.

This morning, CNBC welcomed hedge fund manager, David Tepper, to the Squawk Box show, and the founder and manager of Appaloosa Management - with $17 billion in funds under management - did as instructed, calling everything under the sun "bullish" and giving the rest of the investment community the "all clear" sign, as he did about a year ago in much the same manner.

This is how the fraud of Wall Street works and continues to work. Trot out the most recognizable bull onto the most-acceptable financial TV show, let him goose the futures, wave his arms around and signal another 800-point rally on the Dow. That's about what happened the last time he appeared on the CNBC pre-market show, so there's no reason to believe that the plan was not afoot once again.

On the subject of whether or not now is an optimum time to invest, consider that the Dow and S&P are at all-time highs and the NASDAQ continues to set 12 1/2-year records. So, unless you think the time-worn advice of "buy low, sell high" should be turned completely on its head, right now could not be a worse time to initiate positions.

However, if one has had enough of sitting on the sidelines watching the major averages gain 120-140% over the past four-to-five years, by all means, jump in. The water's fine. Just don't be like the proverbial frog and fail to notice when it begins to boil. Otherwise, you might just "croak" on your own stock picks.

Dow 15,215.25, +123.57 (0.82%)
NASDAQ 3,462.61, +23.82 (0.69%)
S&P 500 1,650.34, +16.57 (1.01%)
NYSE Composite 9,515.86, +78.68 (0.83%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,771,770,375
NYSE Volume 3,716,203,250
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 4362-2166
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 749-28 (the new normal!)
WTI crude oil: 94.21, -0.96
Gold: 1,424.50, -9.80
Silver: 23.38, -0.317

Slowly Goes Wall Street (Remember, It's May)

Equity markets were rather dull today, on exceptionally low volume - which is saying a lot, since volume left the building years ago.

Dull, boring, inconsequential, however, is how financial markets are supposed to be, or, that is at least how they used to be before the advent of personal computers, CNBC and individually-managed accounts. Today's go-go markets are driven by extra doses of liquidity, courtesy of the Fed (as much as readers hate reading that over and over and over again, the author hates having to mention it even more), HFTs, flash crashes, breaking news (why doesn't somebody fix it?), surprises, tweets, scandals, ponzi schemes, dotcoms, options, derivatives, swaps, repos and hot money flowing from carry trades into equities and back out again.

One can only wonder how many times the same money is re-invested, re-invented, re-created, re-hypothecated, recycled, rinsed and repeated. It seems sometimes that one need only a brokerage account and a pair of fast hands to tip-type your way into the wondrous world of high finance. If only such were true, we'd all be traders and multi-millionaires just like the guys on the infomercials telling you that NOW is the time to FLIP THAT HOUSE!

Alas, investing is boring and unexciting, and well it should be, though Americans, driven by media, need the big splash, the dazzle of bright lights and the promise of easy money to be enticed. Sadly for the marketeers and their media whores, more Americans play the ponies, gamble at casinos or play the lottery than invest in stocks, bonds or commodities. We've been programmed to be risk-takers and the stock market - try as it might - just seems to many to be a rigged game for rich guys in suits and ties and fancy women in shiny, tight-fitting business suits.

Thus, we have these dull markets, in which the major brokerages make war with each other via the computer algos, following each other into what eventually becomes a black hole, a void, a nonsensical, immaterial, valueless dump. That's what our stock markets have devolved into, especially after the crash of 2008-09. The major indices may have come all the way back in the four-to-five years since then, but all that money has been sucked out of the market by the brokerages and hedge funds via bonuses. It's common knowledge that the average investor usually gets screwed unless he/she is either very careful or very smart. There's just no way to win a rigged game. As the old adage goes, "if you're playing a game of poker and you don't know who the mark is, chances are it's probably you."

The general American public is simply not that stupid. After being burned by the high-tech Wall Street crooks in 2000, 2001 and again in 2008, they have not returned. Some maybe, but they're a small minority, mostly younger folks who don't know better or older people with money to burn, potentially. Paper losses still sting, and, if there's another severe downturn in the markets any time soon - an event long, long overdue, according to fundamentals - they'll be gone for good as well.

With all the scams, crimes and untold misdeeds that have become all-too-common on Wall Street - without, incidentally, any criminal prosecutions - is there any wonder that average people with money are still shy about investing in stocks? In a perverse way, thats why this market must and will likely continue to defy gravity and levitate to higher and higher levels: because another crash would destroy what little bit of confidence is left in the ultimate confidence game.

So, now that the banks are all sufficiently recapitalized (supposedly) and everything in America is just hunky-dorey, Wall Street may be looking itself in the mirror and wondering if they've taken too many scalps over the past few years. Maybe they'll keep the liquidity-driven, non-fundamental, irrational exuberance going for a while longer, but slowly, much more slowly.

Or is it time to turn it over again? Wash, rinse, repeat...

Dow 15,091.68, -26.81 (0.18%)
NASDAQ 3,438.79, +2.21 (0.06%)
S&P 500 1,633.77, +0.07 (0.00%)
NYSE Composite 9,437.17, -5.59 (0.06%)
NASDAQ Volume 1,605,809,375
NYSE Volume 3,124,652,250
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2673-3792
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 475-30
WTI crude oil: 95.17, -0.87
Gold: 1,434.30, -2.30
Silver: 23.70, +0.038