Markets Flat in Advance of Fed Announcement

With little movement in the major indices - or individual stocks, for that matter - it is evident to anyone watching or participating in equity and bond markets that the financial world anxiously awaits the policy statement from the FOMC tomorrow at 2:00 pm ET, in which the Fed may or may not announce the tapering of its bond purchasing program.

Currently stuck at monthly figures of $45 billion in treasury purchases and another $40 billion in MBS (mortgage-backed securities), signs that the Fed may have enough reliable data to begin scaling the program back are still ambiguous. There have been hints, predictions and all manner of speculation on what the Fed will announce via their final policy meeting of the year, but one thing remains certain: the Fed must begin to curtail this program soon, not only because it has been ineffective, but that it could also do (and may have already) damage to the fragile economy.

On Wall Street, there's widespread belief that a cut-back in bond purchases by the Federal Reserve would cause a dip in the equity indices, being that there would be less of the free champagne money flowing to the TBTF banks, but a growing suspicion that the extent of these bond purchases, with money going to the connected and already-well-heeled, may be causing a rift of considerable proportions between the monied interests of the financiers and the rest of the planet.

Income disparity, already at an extraordinarily-high rate preceding the crisis of 2008-09, has been exacerbated by the easy money put into the hands of the rich, a trend which may be leading to suspicion, distrust and eventually, class enmity.

So, with less than 24 hours before what may be a significant announcement, traders have chosen to sit upon their collective hands, leaving volume at some of the lowest levels of the year.

Wednesday's FOMC announcement should provide some pre-holiday fireworks. If not, markets could just as easily rally from relief as sell off from disappointment. Whatever the Fed has planned for tomorrow should affect everything from stock prices to mortgage rates.

DOW 15,875.26, -9.31 (-0.06%)
NASDAQ 4,023.68, -5.84 (-0.14%)
S&P 1,781.00, -5.54 (-0.31%)
10-Yr Note 99.05, +0.77 (+0.79%) Yield: 2.86%
NASDAQ Volume 1.59 Bil
NYSE Volume 2.82 Bil
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2593-2889
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 154-117
WTI crude oil: 97.22, -0.26
Gold: 1,230.10, -14.30
Silver: 19.84, -0.261
Corn: 426.75, +3.50

Anniversary Day: 240 Years Since the Boston Tea Party; 100 Years of the Fed

On December 16, 1773, the Sons of Liberty - disguised as Mohawk Indians,dumped 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor as a nonviolent political protest of the Tea Act of 1773. The action, known as the "Boston Tea Party" is widely recognized as the initial protest of American colonists against the oppressive "taxation without representation" of the British crown which resulted in the Revolutionary War and the founding of the new Republic of the United States of America.

140 years, and note, not to the day, but one week later, on December 23, 2013, the Federal Reserve was officially chartered as the nation's central bank by enactment of the Federal Reserve Act.

The Boston Tea Party was the beginning of the movement which would evolve into a democratic republic which guaranteed the inalienable rights of its citizens; the creation of the Federal Reserve put the same nation's financial system under the control of a global banking oligarchy.

Sadly, the current governors of the Fed chose today to commemorate their founding, probably because the 23rd would be too "inconvenient" a date (too close to Christmas) for the stuffy old men and women.

It's reasonable to compare and contrast the success of the two moments in history. While most Americans take their rights for granted, even though they've been severely eroded by a monolithic federal government over the years, the Federal Reserve can best be described as a monumental failure for the economy of individuals but a rousing success for the secretive interests which control it. Over its nearly 100 years, the Federal Reserve has managed to induce several financial panics and crises including the Great Depression, innumerable recessions, various booms, busts and bubbles, a world war, and the devaluation of the US currency by more than 90 percent.

Smashing, absolutely smashing. And one wonders why December 16 is not a national holiday in commemoration of the Boston Tea Party and the 23rd a national day of mourning for the death of our currency.

DOW 15,884.57, +129.21 (+0.82%)
NASDAQ 4,029.52, +28.54 (+0.71%)
S&P 1,786.54, +11.22 (+0.63%)
10-Yr Note 98.87, +0.56 (+0.57%) Yield: 2.88%
NASDAQ Volume 1.82 Bil
NYSE Volume 3.16 Bil
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3821-1876
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 218-106
WTI crude oil: 97.48, +0.88
Gold: 1,244.40, +9.80
Silver: 20.10, +0.497
Corn: 423.25, -2.25

Friday Brings Out Just a Few Bottom Fishers in Flat Market

There was a bit of moderation on Friday, at the end of a week which saw the major averages give up plenty of downside.

With a dearth of data and corporate news, there were probably more than a few active traders taking the early train out of town during the lackluster session. Some bottom fishing did occur - though not much - as belied by the A-D line, which favored advancing issues, for a change and very low volume.

For the week, the Dow lost 264.84 points (1.65%); the S&P gave up 29.77 (1.65%); the NASDAQ fell 61,54 points (1.51%); and, the NYSE Composite declined by 176.38 (1.74%).

A telling sign of overall weakness is represented by the broadest index (NYSE Comp.) being the worst performer for the week in percentage terms. Notably, the composite average broke through its 50-day moving average yesterday and stabilized below it today. Each of the other indices have room to spare above their respective 50-day lines.

New lows continued their dominance over new highs for the third straight session, 147-114. While that is by no means a trend, experience suggests that it could be marking a market top if new lows exceed the number of new highs for an extended period of eight or more consecutive sessions. More likely would be a back-and-forth between the daily highs and lows in a sideways trading pattern as a precedent to the market direction being decided.

The week was the worst for stocks since October, but by no means indicative of anything other than some late-year selling, fears of Fed tapering and the usual yin and yang between buyers and sellers.

More time and data need to be collected before calling for a change in direction, though the measured belief is that it is overdue, at least in the medium term. Strong support was tested and bounced off of at the lows of the day on the Dow, around 15,723.

DOW 15,755.36, +15.93 (+0.10%)
NASDAQ 4,000.98, +2.57 (+0.06%)
S&P 1,775.32, -0.18 (-0.01%)
10-Yr Note 99.02 +0.75 (+0.77%)
NASDAQ Volume 1.49 Bil
NYSE Volume 3.05 Bil
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 3257-2361
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 114-147
WTI crude oil: 96.60, -0.90
Gold: 1,234.60, +9.70
Silver: 19.60, +0.151
Corn: 425.50, -8.75

Stocks Pounded Lower Again; December a Month of Not-so-Happy Holidays

Declines in equity prices are beginning to get a little bit serious, with the Dow Jones Industrials taking another 100+ point hit on Thursday after retail sales for November came in strong, but were unable to inspire confidence in the consumer sector, and unemployment claims shot up beyond expectations, to 368,000, not the kind of number expected during what is supposed to be the "busy" holiday shopping season.

Since the peak of 16,097.33, reached the day before Thanksgiving (November 27), the Dow is off 357 points, putting in a new interim low today. Still, that's a loss of just over two percent, not anything to get excited over, but the trend since Black Friday has been pronounced, with just two up days in the past 10 sessions.

Worse, new lows have taken a huge edge over new highs as of today, portending further losses should the trend extend.

The selling spilled over into precious metals, with gold and silver reversing gains made yesterday. Selling off of the metals may be a precursor of more asset depreciation, or, it could be just more of the constant discrediting of gold and silver as stores of value. It's a preposterous argument, made manifest by the fact that precious metal prices are derived from paper trading, which has nothing whatsoever to do with the intrinsic value proposition which only physical objects hold.

Overall, it's just getting a little too ugly for speculators with the year-end arriving in just 12 trading days.

DOW 15,739.43, -104.10 (-0.66%)
NASDAQ 3,998.40, -5.41 (-0.14%)
S&P 1,775.50, -6.72 (-0.38%)
10-Yr Note 98.86 -0.15 (-0.15%) Yield: 2.88%
NASDAQ Volume 1.75 Bil
NYSE Volume 3.28 Bil
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2513-3135
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 66-314
WTI crude oil: 97.50, +0.06
Gold: 1,224.90, -32.30
Silver: 19.45, -0.903
Corn: 434.25, -5.00

Stocks Suffer Heavy Losses in Biggest Two-Day Selloff in Two Months

Not since the uncertainty surrounding the government shutdown in October have stocks suffered through a two-day period such as the one ended Wednesday afternoon.

Stocks were lower at the open and never gained positive ground for the entirety of the session.

Besides the usual fears of Federal Reserve tapering in December (or soon thereafter, as everybody knows it's coming), the latest buzz comes from the far East, where talk of China's overcapacity in an enormous number of industries is fueling speculation of a slowdown in the growth rate of the world's most populous nation.

Another way of expressing overcapacity concerns is slack demand in consumer countries from the USA to the various Eurozone nations and Great Britain. All taken together, a slowdown could be coming at exactly the wrong time for the resident intellectuals at the Fed, who may see their hand forced to curtail - at least to some extent - their bond purchases.

The three-headed monster of slowing industrial growth, slack consumer demand and a pullback of stimulus appears ready to launch an attack on wary equity investors who have been mostly riding a liquidity gravy train for nearly the past five years.

While the two-day selling event may portend even more selling heading through December - usually one of the strongest months for stocks - the fact that the major averages have been down seven of the last nine sessions, belies the false move presented last Friday on November's blowout non-farm jobs data when the Dow was up nearly 200 points. Monday's five-point gain on the Dow was nothing more than a rounding error. Today and yesterday's losses have nearly given all of last Friday's gains back. The Dow is just 22 points above last Thursday's close, setting up this Thursday (tomorrow) as a potential mini-correction if the Dow closes below 15,821.51.

Technical damage has been done recently, both to blue chips and more speculative issues. The NASDAQ suffered the brunt of the selling today, losing nearly 1 1/2 percent on the day. Declining issues outnumbered advancers by more than a four to one margin.

Another concern is volume, which picked up in today's downside trading. Making matters even more bearish were the new lows, which completely subsumed today's new highs, 208-104, a key indicator for direction, and, if it holds, a sure signal for a market correction or outright bear market, something which is probably long overdue.

Happy Holidays? Depends upon which side of the trade you're on.

DOW 15,843.53, -129.60 (-0.81%)
NASDAQ 4,003.81, -56.68, (-1.40%)
S&P 1,782.22, -20.40 (-1.13%)
10-Yr Note 99.46 +0.30 (+0.30%) Yield 2.84%
NASDAQ Volume 1.78 Bil
NYSE Volume 3.46 Bil
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 1096-4603
Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 104-208
WTI crude oil: 97.44, -1.07
Gold: 1,257.20, -3.90
Silver: 20.36, +0.041
Corn: 439.25, +3.25