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Federal Reserve Open Market Operations
The Fed's Open Market Operations desk performed 1 repurchase operation last night:
- a $5billion, overnight repurchase with $5billion in T-backed collateral .
As well, Mr Magoo disgraced himself again, this time in an address commemorating The Master (Adam Smith). Sure, Smith's magnum opus might be little more than a collation of extant ideas of the time. But Greenspan's not to know that, because he is a moron who should be pitied (and derided).
You almost have to give the guy credit for having the sheer nerve to try to glom on to the intellectual heritage of Adam Smith. In remarks he made, he tried to pretend that he (Greenspan) is some sort of advocate of free markets.
Let's get our heads around this one.
A man who has spent nearly two decades being suckled at the teat of the taxpayer, after his "consulting" company (Townsend, Greenspan) went bust. A man who, after 22 years, eventually got his Doctorate... honorarily. A man who turned his back on a principled, sound-money view in order to join a pack of bureaucrats whose entire raison d'etre is to try and influence the business cycle by... centrally planned monetary policy. A man who tries to garner the kudos of having hung around Ayn Rand (whose stuff is crap, by the way) like a bad smell, but whose entire career has been dedicated to Central Planning.
This same geriatric dill claimed that the Cold War (remember - where trillions of dollars and millions of Indochinese civilian lives were wiped out) ended in a victory... for capitalism. That's only true if you spell "capitalism" with a capital CRONY...
Murray Rothnard wrote a superb piece which documented in excruciating detail (in fact, in such detail that it makes it hard to take it all in), the supposed "free market" in the US has been a little insider-competition between the Houses of Morgan and Rockefeller for over 100 years. Their tentacles, once arrayed against each other, are now entwined via the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Entitled "Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy", Rothbard's piece is a case study in who did what to whom. when, and for how long. It has been released on the Web for the first time, and is well worth the hour or so you'll need to wade through it.
Once you've read that, plus Smedley Butler's "War is a Racket", you will no longer accept the "US as free-market paragon" crap that spouts from the propaganda orifices. You will see the same names all the time... whether it's setting up a fake "public awareness" campaign to encourage the citizenry to support US entry into war in Europe in 1917, or whether it's bombing Cambodia - the same firms are behind it.
They set foreign policy (including the US entry into two world wars, and the escalation in Viet Nam - but prior to that in Guatemala, the Phillippines and Cuba), and they organised massive transfers of tax dollars to suit their own interests. There is also some tenuous evidence that the preponderance of "lone nut" assassins just happen to knock off only people without ties to those two cabals... and cabal-friendly replacements are installed.
So Greenspan, shut your pie-hole about capitalism, because you wouldn't recognise genuine capitalism if it bit you on the arse. You are just an embarrassment now; that, and you're also a shill for the cabal that established the Fed way back in 1913 - the single event in global history to which all the ills of the 20th century can be ascribed.
On a more "Rant-friendly" note, Gretchen Morgenson at the New York Times (requires free registration) is finally on the same page as Rantophiles, who have known for ages that the ratings agencies are wimps, wusses, gutless wonders who do their clients a disservice and won't make a call until it's waaaaaay too late. All we now need is a few more proper journalists like Morgenson.
But I digress... moving on:
Major US Indices
The DJIA dipped a microscopic 0.37 points (0%), closing out the day at 10715.76 points; it traded in a narrow range (10733-10699). The Dow stocks were evenly split, with 15 rising and 15 falling. The biggest point gainer (also the biggest percentage gainer) in the Dow was Pfizer, which added $0.68 (2.8%), along with Disney, General Motors and duPont which all rose by more than a percent.
The broader S&P500 shed 1.31 points (0.11%), ending the day at 1201.72. Over at Times Square, the Nasdaq Composite shed 4.63 points (0.22%), to close at 2082.03, while larger-cap technology issues fared worse with the Nasdaq100 losing 5.44 points (0.35%), to end at 1529.05 points.
NYSE Volume was chunky, with 1.35 billion shares changing hands, while Nasdaq Volume was chunky, with 1.7 billion shares being shifted from one online brokerage account to another (and back again, in all likelihood).
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| DJIA | 10715.76 | -0.37 | 0% |
| S&P500 | 1201.72 | -1.31 | -0.11% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 2082.03 | -4.63 | -0.22% |
| Nasdaq100 | 1529.05 | -5.44 | -0.35% |
| NYSE Volume | 1.35bn | - | - |
| Nasdaq Volume | 1.7bn | - | - |
Bellwethers
My 9-stock "bellwethers" group fell by an average of 0.06%
- General Electric (GE) -$0.02 (0.06%) to $36.23;
- Citigroup (C) -$0.05 (0.1%) to $49.73;
- Wal Mart (WMT) +$0.05 (0.09%) to $53.51;
- I.B.M. (IBM) +$0.02 (0.02%) to $94.53;
- Intel (INTC) -$0.09 (0.39%) to $22.91;
- Cisco Systems (CSCO) +$0.26 (1.45%) to $18.16;
- eBay (EBAY) -$0.29 (0.38%) to $75.59;
- Fannie Mae (FNM) -$0.69 (1.06%) to $64.45; and
- Freddie Mac (FRE) -$0.05 (0.07%) to $66.96.
Market Breadth & Internals
NYSE advancing Issues exceeded decliners by 1717 to 1617 for a single-day A/D reading of 100; and Nasdaq losers exceeded gainers by 1604 to 1531.
On the NYSE declining volume was greater than volume in advancing issues by 709.8 to 616.4 million shares; On the Nasdaq declining volume exceeded volume in advancing issues by 1018.1 to 661.418 million shares.
369 NYSE-listed stocks rose to new 52-week highs, and 7 posted fresh 52-week lows, while on the Nasdaq there were 169 stocks that hit new 52-week highs, and 24 which fell to fresh 52-week lows.
| NYSE | Nasdaq | |
| Advancers | 1717 | 1531 |
| Decliners | 1617 | 1604 |
| Advancing Volume (m) | 616.4 | 661.4 |
| Declining Volume (m) | 709.8 | 1018.1 |
| New Highs | 369 | 169 |
| New Lows | 7 | 24 |
Market Sentiment
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| CBOE Volatility Index | 11.71 | 0.48 | 4.27% |
| CBOE Nasdaq Volatility Index | 17.54 | 0.63 | 3.73% |
| Equity Put-Call Ratio | 0.59 | -0.02 | -3.28% |
| 10-day PCR | 0.63 | -0.01 | -1.38% |
| SPX-VIX Ratio | 102.62 | -4.503 | -4.2% |
Bond Market Analysis
Bonds rose hard along the curve, with the long bond and 10-year futures both rising over half a point. The yield on the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond falling 3.6 basis points to 4.424%.
The next major opportunity in the bonds will be short - the big move this session is the "dumb money" move. If the 30-years can get up above 117 (they closed at 116 & 16/32) I'll be scoping out short entry opportunities. Only a fool would belive Bush's budget statement - and that's before you incorporate the fact that the Budget excludes big-ticket items... stuff like $250 bil a year for new wars... you know, the stuff that is "non-recurring" for an aggressive would-be Empire.
"Pro-forma - it's not just for techs anymore."®
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| UST 13wk (yld) | 2.437 | -0.03 | -1.05% |
| UST 2Y (yld) | 3.28 | 0.01 | 0.31% |
| UST 5Y (yld) | 3.663 | 0.003 | 0.08% |
| UST 10Y (yld) | 4.052 | -0.008 | -0.2% |
| UST 30Y (yld) | 4.424 | -0.036 | -0.81% |
The Banks Index advanced 0.1 points (0.1%), ending the day at 102.68; within the index,
- US Bancorp (USB) +$0.33 (1.08%) to $30.79;
- National City Corp (NCC) +$0.34 (0.94%) to $36.36;
- State Street (STT) +$0.41 (0.91%) to $45.68;
- Bank Of NY (BK) +$0.23 (0.76%) to $30.31; and
- JPMorganChase (JPM) +$0.28 (0.74%) to $37.97.
The Broker-dealer Index lost 0.18 points (0.12%), at 149.45; the ticket clippers lined up as follows -
- Morgan Stanley (MWD) -$0.61 (1.04%) to $58.07;
- Lehman Brothers (LEH) -$0.85 (0.91%) to $92.70;
- Ameritrade (AMTD) -$0.06 (0.52%) to $11.49;
- Bear Stearns (BSC) -$0.48 (0.47%) to $102.47; and
- Merrill Lynch (MER) -$0.26 (0.43%) to $60.43.
The Philadelphia SOX (Semiconductor) index rose 0.18 points (0.04%), closing at 418.34
- Altera (ALTR) +$0.21 (1.08%) to $19.61;
- Micron Technology (MU) +$0.22 (1.98%) to $11.32;
- Marvell Tech Group (MRVL) +$0.48 (1.41%) to $34.62;
- Maxim Integrated (MXIM) +$0.38 (0.94%) to $40.84; and
- Freescale Semiconductors (FSL-B) +$0.08 (0.44%) to $18.22.
Gold & Silver Markets
Gold dropped $0.50 (0.12%) to close at $415.40 per ounce. Now, y'all might think "Wait just a second, Friday's close was $414 an today it's $415.40... that's an increase." Sure, except that now the front-month has changed to April, and as of Friday the April05 was trading at $415.90. Note also that, since the April has now closed for 2 sessions below an important key level, there's a very good chance that Gold is bound for sub-$410 levels. $405 will be hit if $410 breaks.
The $100-pullback hypothesis is no longer on the table, but there's still a decent chance of seeing a $40x handle on Gold within two weeks, largely due to the belated arrival of the US dollar bounce that every man an his dog has been expecting for several weeks now. If the USDX rally gets as high as I anticipate (I used to anticipate a rise to the mid-89s or higher, but now the target is at best 87.50), Gold may well break $400.
The Gold Bugs Index dipped 5.36 points (2.71%), to 192.37
- Coeur d'Alene (CDE) -$0.17 (4.79%) to $3.38;
- Harmony Gold (HMY) -$0.37 (4.57%) to $7.72;
- Hecla Mining (HL) -$0.24 (4.47%) to $5.13;
- Randgold Resources (GOLD) -$0.42 (3.87%) to $10.42; and
- Glamis Gold (GLG) -$0.56 (3.42%) to $15.80.
Silver fell by $0.13 (1.95%) to close at $6.54 per ounce. The Gold and Silver Index (XAU) lost 2.5 points (2.74%), to end the session at 88.59 points.
- Placer Dome (PDG) -$0.98 (5.72%) to $16.15;
- Harmony Gold (HMY) -$0.37 (4.57%) to $7.72;
- Anglogold Ashanti (AU) -$1.21 (3.68%) to $31.64; and
- Goldcorp (GG) -$0.47 (3.38%) to $13.42.
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Gold | 415.4 | -0.5 | -0.12% |
| Silver | 6.54 | -0.13 | -1.95% |
| PHLX Gold and Silver Index | 88.59 | -2.5 | -2.74% |
| AMEX Gold BUGS Index | 192.37 | -5.36 | -2.71% |
Oil Market
Oil lost ground, shedding $1.23 per barrel, closing at $45.25 per barrel. The "journo-consensus" is that OPEC will not cut production for a couple of months at least, and with the Iraq and Iran situation now going so splendidly, the risk of other significant supply disruptions is also damped somewhat.
Yes, that's right... everything's going just splendidly... with Little Condi traipsing all over the planet making herself look like an absolute amateur, confidence should be high. I guess we're just supposed to overlook the fact that US Foreign Policy has been an utter Charlie-Foxtrot and the new SecState is a complete Roger-Donkey, and just suck it up and accept that Bush's budget statement isn't as full of holes as OSP analysis regarding Iraq's WMD.
Soon there will be yet another opportunity to buy Crude - and this time when it runs up it will be "Goodbye Mr Spalding"... a home run.
The Oil and Gas Index (XOI) declined 4.41 points (0.57%), ending the day at 769.15
- Sunoco (SUN) -$1.57 (1.69%) to $91.18;
- Unocal (UCL) -$0.67 (1.35%) to $48.97; and
- Royal Dutch Shell (RD) -$0.70 (1.18%) to $58.69.
The Oil service stocks (OSX) Index shed 2.42 points (1.82%), closing at 130.61
- Tidewater (TDW) -$1.32 (3.26%) to $39.12;
- BJ Services (BJS) -$1.25 (2.71%) to $44.90; and
- Rowan Companies (RDC) -$0.75 (2.53%) to $28.87.
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Reuters CRB | 281 | -0.26 | -0.09% |
| Crude Oil Light Sweet | 45.25 | -1.23 | -2.65% |
| Heating Oil | 1.2325 | -0.0417 | -3.27% |
| Natural Gas | 5.97 | -0.126 | -2.07% |
| Unleaded Gas | 1.215 | -0.0455 | -3.61% |
| AMEX Oil Index | 769.15 | -4.41 | -0.57% |
| Oil Service Index | 130.61 | -2.42 | -1.82% |
Currency Markets
[Commentary]
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| US Dollar Index | 85.1 | 0.65 | 0.77% |
| Euro | 1.2759 | -0.0112 | -0.87% |
| Yen | 104.86 | 0.86 | 0.83% |
| Sterling | 1.857 | -0.0185 | -0.99% |
| Australian Dollar | 0.7672 | -0.003 | -0.39% |
| Swiss Franc | 1.2236 | 0.0131 | 1.08% |
| Canadian Dollar | 0.7966 | -0.0094 | -1.17% |
Euro-Zone Indices
| Country | Index | Last | % | % |
| France | CAC 40 | 3981.9 | 23.89 | 0.6% |
| Germany | DAX-30 | 4366.35 | 27.07 | 0.62% |
| UK | FTSE 100 | 4979.8 | 38.3 | 0.78% |
| Italy | MIBTel | 24633 | 116 | 0.47% |
European Index Internals
| CAC-40 | DAX-30 | FTSE-100 | |
| Advancers | 28 | 23 | 77 |
| Decliners | 7 | 6 | 19 |
| Advancing Volume (m) | 181.1 | 73.8 | 1242.8 |
| Declining Volume (m) | 11.2 | 15.9 | 165.8 |
Euro STOXX-50 Largest Volume
| Name | Close (€) | Change | % | Volume |
| B0sch | 9.40 | 0.09 | 0.97% | 55164900 |
| Telefonica | 14.31 | 0.15 | 1.06% | 41350520 |
| BBVA | 13.20 | 0.01 | 0.08% | 21825046 |
| Deutsche Telekom | 16.60 | 0.08 | 0.48% | 16572765 |
| Alcatel | 9.92 | 0.22 | 2.27% | 16078217 |
CAC-40 Largest Gainers
| Name | Close (€) | Change | % | Volume |
| Publicis Groupe | 24.38 | 0.58 | 2.44% | 798351 |
| Arcelor | 18.21 | 0.39 | 2.19% | 5075417 |
| Alcatel | 9.92 | 0.21 | 2.16% | 16078217 |
| France Telecom | 24.69 | 0.52 | 2.15% | 8344580 |
| Bouygues | 32.61 | 0.68 | 2.13% | 1885019 |
CAC-40 Largest Decliners
| Name | Close (€) | Change | % | Volume |
| Pernod Ricard | 106.00 | -1.20 | -1.12% | 313119 |
| Dexia | 17.38 | -0.12 | -0.69% | 1639229 |
| Suez | 21.43 | -0.14 | -0.65% | 5268968 |
| Thales | 34.51 | -0.19 | -0.55% | 573447 |
| Groupe Danone | 71.70 | -0.35 | -0.49% | 877221 |
FTSE Largest Gainers
| Name | Close (£) | Change | % | Volume |
| Tate & Lyle | 5.01 | 0.33 | 7.05% | 9542932 |
| Cable & Wireless | 1.275 | 0.04 | 3.45% | 37710360 |
| British American Tobacco | 9.725 | 0.30 | 3.18% | 13482616 |
| Antofagasta | 12.70 | 0.39 | 3.17% | 1832202 |
| BHP Billiton | 6.81 | 0.18 | 2.71% | 13146886 |
FTSE Largest Decliners
| Name | Close (£) | Change | % | Volume |
| United Utilities A | 4.62 | -0.11 | -2.33% | 600141 |
| Centrica | 2.43 | -0.05 | -2.02% | 21960680 |
| United Utilities | 6.435 | -0.12 | -1.76% | 9372597 |
| British Airways | 2.7075 | -0.04 | -1.37% | 16415029 |
| National Grid Trust | 5.235 | -0.06 | -1.18% | 9928578 |
DAX-30 Largest Gainers
| Name | Close (€) | Change | % | Volume |
| Volkswagen | 37.30 | 0.80 | 2.19% | 2009383 |
| Allianz | 94.15 | 1.96 | 2.13% | 4460185 |
| Infineon Tech | 7.23 | 0.14 | 1.97% | 8367994 |
| Continental | 57.00 | 1.06 | 1.89% | 1276907 |
| SAP | 122.90 | 1.95 | 1.61% | 1488104 |
DAX-30 Largest Decliners
| Name | Close (€) | Change | % | Volume |
| Deutsche Bank | 68.10 | -0.45 | -0.66% | 4287764 |
| Tui | 18.25 | -0.11 | -0.6% | 1043185 |
| E.On | 70.00 | -0.35 | -0.5% | 2741189 |
| HypoVereinsbank | 17.31 | -0.06 | -0.35% | 3930366 |
| RWE | 47.36 | -0.14 | -0.29% | 3206004 |
