Note - from June 24th 2009, this blog has migrated from Blogger to a self-hosted version. Click here to go straight there.
Today will be brief - I've been up since 4 a.m. migrating database, package and page backups to the new server, and I'm not half-finished yet. I left a skeleton version (the version that was available for temporary login) intact on the server for migration (to minimise the possibility of transition errors), but as with most bright ideas it has created a lot of work.
Federal Reserve Open Market Operations
The Fed's Open Market Operations desk performed 1 repurchase operation: a $5billion, overnight repurchase with $3.207billion in T-backed collateral undertaken at a 2.1 basis point discount to the Fed Funds Rate (FFR).
Major US Indices
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 40.9 points (0.37%), closing out the day at 10890.72 points. The index hit an intraday high of 10951.93 (10950-ish) after about 20 minutes of trade; the moment all the nuffnuffs had piled on board, the index started to sink. From about 10:30 it tried to bounce off 10900 - and succeeded for about 80 minutes. Therafter it was one-way traffic pretty much through to the close, with the session low at 10881.63 registered early in the last hour of the session.
Within the blue-chip index, 11 stocks rose, the biggest gainers being General Motors (GM, +1.57% to $23.22) and Mcdonalds (MCD, +1.46% to $33.95), which accounted for 7 Dow points between them. Losers in the Dow numbered 19 and were led by Merck (MRK, -4.58% to $29.56) and Exxon Mobil (XOM, -2.28% to $58.74), with these two stocks contributing -22 Dow points worth of downward pressure on the index. Volume traded was tilted in favour of the losers by 231.2m shares to 179.4m.
The broader S&P500 declined 10.79 points (0.85%), at 1257.46. Within the index, gainers numbered 115, while 367 S&P500 stocks fell for the day. Volume was tilted 2.6:1 in favour of the losers with 1213.29 million units traded in the losers as compared with 473.62 million traded in the winners .
Over at Times Square, the Nasdaq Composite lost 23.64 points (1.04%), to close at 2239.37, while larger-cap technology issues fared better with the Nasdaq100 losing 16.66 points (0.98%), to end at 1684.39 points. Within the tech benchmark, gainers numbered 15, while 82 Nasdaq100 stocks fell for the day. Volume was tilted 2.2:1 in favour of the losers with 445.86 million traded in the losers compared to 203.40 million in the winners .
NYSE Volume was just a hair below super-duper-chunky, with 1.98 billion shares changing hands, while Nasdaq Volume was about average, with 1.59 billion shares traded.
| Major Market Statistics | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 10890.72 | -40.9 | -0.37% |
| S&P500 | 1257.46 | -10.79 | -0.85% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 2239.37 | -23.64 | -1.04% |
| Nasdaq100 | 1684.39 | -16.66 | -0.98% |
| NYSE Volume | 1.98bn | - | - |
| Nasdaq Volume | 1.59bn | - | - |
Bellwethers
My 9-stock "bellwethers" group fell by an average of 0.84%
- General Electric (GE) -$0.22 (0.61%) to $35.98;
- Citigroup (C) -$0.22 (0.44%) to $49.30;
- Wal Mart (WMT) -$0.49 (0.97%) to $50.00;
- I.B.M. (IBM) +$0.31 (0.35%) to $89.11;
- Intel (INTC) +$0.05 (0.19%) to $26.86;
- Cisco Systems (CSCO) -$0.07 (0.4%) to $17.48;
- eBay (EBAY) -$1.34 (2.87%) to $45.37;
- Fannie Mae (FNM) -$0.88 (1.76%) to $49.20; and
- Freddie Mac (FRE) -$0.70 (1.08%) to $64.00.
Market Breadth & Internals
NYSE declining Issues beat out advancers by 2181 to 1136, for a single-day A/D reading of -1045; and Nasdaq losers exceeded gainers by 2181 to 917. The 10-day moving average of the A/D line fell to 119.2 on the NYSE, while the 10dma of the Nasdaq A/D fell to -67.6.
On the NYSE declining volume was greater than volume in advancing issues by 1439.4 to 525.9 million shares; On the Nasdaq declining volume exceeded volume in advancing issues by 1113.3 to 463.6 million shares.
131 NYSE-listed stocks rose to new 52-week highs, and 97 posted fresh 52-week lows, while on the Nasdaq there were 115 stocks that hit new 52-week highs, and 50 which fell to fresh 52-week lows.
| Market Breadth Statistics | ||
| NYSE | Nasdaq | |
| Advancers | 1136 | 917 |
| Decliners | 2181 | 2181 |
| Advancing Volume (m) | 525.89 | 463.6 |
| Declining Volume (m) | 1439.39 | 1113.33 |
| New Highs | 131 | 115 |
| New Lows | 97 | 50 |
| Market Sentiment Statistics | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| CBOE Volatility Index | 11.84 | 0.96 | 8.82% |
| CBOE Nasdaq Volatility Index | 14.78 | 0.89 | 6.41% |
| Equity Put-Call Ratio | 0.73 | 0.12 | 19.67% |
| 10-day PCR | 0.61 | 0.02 | 3.39% |
| SPX-VIX Ratio | 106.2 | -10.36 | -8.89% |
Bond Market Analysis
Bonds rose at the long end, with the yield on the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond shedding 3.7 bps to 4.627%.
The middle of the yield curve was broadly higher: five year yields fell to 4.321%, and ten-year yields fell to 4.406%.
Spreads between short-dated (2-yr) Treasuries and high-grade corporate bonds of similar maturity profiles were 4.0 bps wider at 18.0 basis points; spreads between longer dated Treasuries and their corporate AAA counterparts fell to 65.0 bps for 10-year AAA, and 93.5 bps for 20-years.
Credit spreads (spreads between corporate bonds of the same maturity profile but different creditworthiness) were broadly tighter with the AAA-A spread on 20-years 5.0 bps looser at 30.0 basis points and the 10-year AAA-A spread 12.0 bps looser at4.0 bps.
| Treasury Yields | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| UST 13wk (yld) | 3.83 | -0.022 | -0.57% |
| UST 2Y (yld) | 4.3 | 0 | 0% |
| UST 5Y (yld) | 4.321 | -0.014 | -0.32% |
| UST 10Y (yld) | 4.406 | -0.025 | -0.56% |
| UST 30Y (yld) | 4.627 | -0.037 | -0.79% |
The Banks Index declined 0.38 points (0.36%), to end the session at 105.46; within the index,
- National City Corp (NCC) -$0.55 (1.6%) to $33.92;
- BB&T Corp (BBT) -$0.45 (1.03%) to $43.23;
- MBNA Corp (KRB) -$0.28 (1.03%) to $27.00;
- Bank Of America (BAC) -$0.43 (0.92%) to $46.56; and
- Wells Fargo (WFC) -$0.56 (0.87%) to $63.78.
The Broker-dealer Index declined 5.73 points (2.88%), closing at 193.3; the ticket clippers lined up as follows -
- Jeffries Group (JEF) -$4.75 (9.94%) to $43.02;
- Legg Mason (LM) -$5.11 (4.05%) to $120.92;
- Lehman Brothers (LEH) -$4.25 (3.2%) to $128.58;
- A G Edwards (AGE) -$1.36 (2.96%) to $44.57; and
- Raymond James (RJF) -$0.85 (2.26%) to $36.68.
The Philadelphia SOX (Semiconductor) index shed 5.85 points (1.21%), to end the session at 478.76
- Broadcom (BRCM) -$1.63 (3.39%) to $46.44;
- National Semiconductors (NSM) -$0.83 (3.17%) to $25.38;
- Freescale Semiconductors (FSL-B) -$0.79 (3.04%) to $25.21;
- KLA-Tencor (KLAC) -$1.29 (2.46%) to $51.11; and
- Xilinx (XLNX) -$0.52 (1.97%) to $25.94.
Gold & Silver Markets
Gold rose $6 (1.22%) to close at $498.30 per ounce. The session topped out less than a dollar below $500 an ounce.
The Gold Bugs Index slid 1.13 points (0.44%), at 253.89
- Eldorado Gold (EGO) -$0.10 (2.4%) to $4.06;
- Kinross Gold (KGC) -$0.18 (2.24%) to $7.86;
- Glamis Gold (GLG) -$0.45 (1.91%) to $23.08;
- Freeport McMoran (FCX) -$0.79 (1.48%) to $52.44; and
- Goldcorp (GG) -$0.19 (0.88%) to $21.39.
Silver rose $0.22 (2.71%) to close at $8.35 per ounce.
The Gold and Silver Index (XAU) lost 0.38 points (0.32%), to end the session at 118.28 points.
- Kinross Gold (KGC) -$0.18 (2.24%) to $7.86;
- Freeport McMoran (FCX) -$0.79 (1.48%) to $52.44;
- Anglogold Ashanti (AU) -$0.43 (0.98%) to $43.52; and
- Goldcorp (GG) -$0.19 (0.88%) to $21.39.
| Precious Metals and Indices | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Gold | 498.30 | 6.00 | 1.22% |
| Silver | 8.35 | 0.22 | 2.71% |
| PHLX Gold and Silver Index | 118.28 | -0.38 | -0.32% |
| AMEX Gold BUGS Index | 253.89 | -1.13 | -0.44% |
Oil Market
Oil lost ground, shedding $1.35 per barrel, closing at $57.36 per barrel.
The Oil and Gas Index (XOI) declined 37.01 points (3.67%), ending the day at 972.3
- Amerada Hess (AHC) -$8.52 (6.49%) to $122.71;
- Marathon Oil (MRO) -$3.13 (5.13%) to $57.87; and
- Kerr Mcgee (KMG) -$3.93 (4.39%) to $85.67.
The Oil service stocks (OSX) Index declined 7.07 points (3.9%), to 174.36
- National Oilwells/Varco (NOV) -$3.71 (5.93%) to $58.82;
- Rowan Companies (RDC) -$2.01 (5.36%) to $35.50; and
- GlobalSantaFe (GSF) -$2.19 (4.67%) to $44.66.
| Energy Complex | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Reuters CRB | 331.02 | 0.6 | 0.18% |
| Crude Oil Light Sweet | 57.36 | -1.35 | -2.3% |
| Heating Oil | 1.685 | -0.06 | -3.65% |
| Natural Gas | 11.634 | 0.01 | 0.12% |
| Unleaded Gas | 1.4769 | -0.05 | -3.33% |
| AMEX Oil Index | 972.3 | -37.01 | -3.67% |
| Oil Service Index | 174.36 | -7.07 | -3.9% |
Currency Markets
The Euro got hammered in the early part of the session, but rose over 2 full cents from its low (1.1679, basis spot EURUSD) to its high (1.1897).
| USD Exchange Rates | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| US Dollar Index | 91.14 | -0.25 | -0.27% |
| Euro | 1.1841 | 0.0119 | 1.02% |
| Yen | 118.865 | -0.755 | -0.63% |
| Sterling | 1.7294 | 0.0152 | 0.89% |
| Australian Dollar | 0.7418 | 0.0062 | 0.84% |
| Swiss Franc | 1.3061 | -0.0123 | -0.93% |
| Canadian Dollar | 0.8565 | 0.0014 | 0.17% |
