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The Fed's Open Market Operations desk performed 1 repurchase operation - a $4.25billion, overnight repurchase, however none of it was in Treasury-backed collateral. The repurchase was split 50-50 between mortgage-backed and agency-backed collateral operations - seeking to provide funds to put a floor under the bond and stock prices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Major US Indices
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 82.29 points (0.76%), closing out the day at 10805.87 points. The index hit an intraday high of 10924.82 (10925-ish) jsut before the end of the first hour of trade, then turned downwasrd savagely, falling throughout the session and trading as low as 10803.87 (10800-ish) in the final minutes of the session.
Within the blue-chip index, only 2 index components managed a gain for the session - namely, Caterpillar (CAT, +1.19% to $57.78) and 3M (MMM, +0.17% to $78.48), which accounted for 6 Dow points between them.
Losers in the Dow numbered 27 and were led by General Motors (GM, -4.78% to $21.90... that bounce didn't last long, now did it?) and JPMorganChase (JPM, -1.82% to $38.25), with these two stocks contributing -14 Dow points worth of downward pressure on the index. Volume traded in Dow stocks was tilted in favour of the losers by 322.2m shares to 5.5m.
The broader S&P500 shed 8 points (0.64%), to end the session at 1249.48. Within the index, gainers numbered 164, while 317 S&P500 stocks fell for the day. Volume was tilted 2.1:1 in favour of the losers with 1315.55 million units traded in the losers as compared with 632.26 million traded in the winners .
Over at Times Square, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.11 points (0%), to close at 2232.82, while larger-cap technology issues fared worse with the Nasdaq100 losing 4.28 points (0.26%), to end at 1672.56 points. Within the tech benchmark, gainers numbered 39, while 56 Nasdaq100 stocks fell for the day. Volume was tilted 1.1:1 in favour of the losers with 362.66 million traded in the losers compared to 319.54 million in the winners .
NYSE Volume was super-chunky, with 2.36 billion shares changing hands, while Nasdaq Volume was chunky, with 1.93 billion shares traded.
| Major Market Statistics | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 10805.87 | -82.29 | -0.76% |
| S&P500 | 1249.48 | -8 | -0.64% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 2232.82 | 0.11 | 0% |
| Nasdaq100 | 1672.56 | -4.28 | -0.26% |
| NYSE Volume | 2.36bn | - | - |
| Nasdaq Volume | 1.93bn | - | - |
Bellwethers
My 9-stock "bellwethers" group fell by an average of 0.77%
- General Electric (GE) -$0.21 (0.58%) to $35.72;
- Citigroup (C) -$0.54 (1.1%) to $48.55;
- Wal Mart (WMT) -$0.45 (0.92%) to $48.56;
- I.B.M. (IBM) -$0.20 (0.22%) to $88.90;
- Intel (INTC) -$0.10 (0.37%) to $26.68;
- Cisco Systems (CSCO) +$0.03 (0.17%) to $17.54;
- eBay (EBAY) +$0.31 (0.7%) to $44.81;
- Fannie Mae (FNM) -$1.38 (2.79%) to $48.05; and
- Freddie Mac (FRE) -$1.12 (1.76%) to $62.45.
Market Breadth & Internals
NYSE declining Issues beat out advancers by 1673 to 1630, for a single-day A/D reading of -43; Nasdaq gainers trumped losers by 1770 to 1292. The 10-day moving average of the A/D line fell to 162.3 on the NYSE, while the 10dma of the Nasdaq A/D rose to 50.8.
On the NYSE declining volume was greater than volume in advancing issues by 1504.5 to 838 million shares; Nasdaq advancing volume was greater than volume in decliners by 1045.5 to 803.4 million shares.
104 NYSE-listed stocks rose to new 52-week highs, and 79 posted fresh 52-week lows, while on the Nasdaq there were 125 stocks that hit new 52-week highs, and 47 which fell to fresh 52-week lows.
| Market Breadth Statistics | ||
| NYSE | Nasdaq | |
| Advancers | 1630 | 1770 |
| Decliners | 1673 | 1292 |
| Advancing Volume (m) | 837.95 | 1045.47 |
| Declining Volume (m) | 1504.52 | 803.36 |
| New Highs | 104 | 125 |
| New Lows | 79 | 47 |
| Market Sentiment Statistics | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| CBOE Volatility Index | 12.08 | 0.21 | 1.77% |
| CBOE Nasdaq Volatility Index | 15.26 | -0.13 | -0.84% |
| Equity Put-Call Ratio | 0.72 | -0.01 | -1.37% |
| 10-day PCR | 0.58 | -0.03 | -4.92% |
| SPX-VIX Ratio | 103.4 | -2.5 | -2.36% |
Bond Market Analysis
Bonds fell at the long end, with the yield on the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond rising 1.3 bps to 4.703%.
The middle of the yield curve was broadly lower: five year yields rose to 4.425%, and ten-year yields rose to 4.5%.
Spreads between short-dated (2-yr) Treasuries and high-grade corporate bonds of similar maturity profiles were 7.0 bps wider at 16.0 basis points; spreads between longer dated Treasuries and their corporate AAA counterparts rose to 62.0 bps for 10-year AAA, and 88.5 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 closing by one basis point to 34 basis points and the 10-year AAA-A spread likeiwse 1 bp tighter at 6.0 bps.
| Treasury Yields | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| UST 13wk (yld) | 3.857 | -0.03 | -0.77% |
| UST 2Y (yld) | 4.39 | 0.01 | 0.23% |
| UST 5Y (yld) | 4.425 | 0.023 | 0.52% |
| UST 10Y (yld) | 4.5 | 0.018 | 0.4% |
| UST 30Y (yld) | 4.703 | 0.013 | 0.28% |
The Banks Index lost 1.7 points (1.61%), to 103.62; within the index,
- Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) -$1.02 (2.47%) to $40.27;
- Washington Mutual (WM) -$0.95 (2.25%) to $41.19;
- State Street (STT) -$1.27 (2.15%) to $57.69;
- M&T Bank Corp (MTB) -$2.36 (2.13%) to $108.22; and
- Suntrust Banks (STI) -$1.55 (2.09%) to $72.74.
The Broker-dealer Index declined 1.74 points (0.9%), ending the day at 192.51; the ticket clippers lined up as follows -
- Ameritrade (AMTD) -$0.45 (1.89%) to $23.33;
- Merrill Lynch (MER) -$1.10 (1.63%) to $66.42;
- Legg Mason (LM) -$1.73 (1.39%) to $122.65;
- Morgan Stanley (MWD) -$0.77 (1.36%) to $56.03; and
- Lehman Brothers (LEH) -$1.61 (1.26%) to $126.00.
The Philadelphia SOX (Semiconductor) index posted a rise of 5.86 points (1.23%), to end the session at 481.64
- Taiwan Semiconductors (TSM) +$0.28 (3.01%) to $9.58;
- Teradyne (TER) +$0.40 (2.81%) to $14.63;
- Novellus Systems (NVLS) +$0.59 (2.45%) to $24.67;
- Micron Technology (MU) +$0.34 (2.44%) to $14.26; and
- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) +$0.60 (2.35%) to $26.18.
Gold & Silver Markets
Gold fell by $4.60 (0.92%) to close at $494.50 per ounce. The high for the session: $500.00 precisely. Everyone is concentrating too much on $500 as a round number: the much more important number is just above $509, which is a minor top formed about 20 years ago.
The Gold Bugs Index slid 7.96 points (3.17%), to end the session at 243.44
- Golden Star (GSS) -$0.17 (6.97%) to $2.27;
- Coeur d'Alene (CDE) -$0.24 (5.27%) to $4.31;
- Hecla Mining (HL) -$0.19 (5.09%) to $3.54;
- Goldcorp (GG) -$0.99 (4.65%) to $20.32; and
- Harmony Gold (HMY) -$0.53 (4.21%) to $12.07.
Silver fell by $0.02 (0.19%) to close at $8.28 per ounce.
The Gold and Silver Index (XAU) lost 2.85 points (2.43%), at 114.61 points.
- Durban Rooderpoert Deep (DROOY) -$0.11 (7.83%) to $1.33;
- Goldcorp (GG) -$0.99 (4.65%) to $20.32;
- Harmony Gold (HMY) -$0.53 (4.21%) to $12.07; and
- Kinross Gold (KGC) -$0.33 (4.19%) to $7.54.
| Precious Metals and Indices | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Gold | 494.50 | -4.60 | -0.92% |
| Silver | 8.28 | -0.02 | -0.19% |
| PHLX Gold and Silver Index | 114.61 | -2.85 | -2.43% |
| AMEX Gold BUGS Index | 243.44 | -7.96 | -3.17% |
Oil Market
Oil was firmer, rising by $0.82 per barrel, closing at $57.32 per barrel after dropping to below $56 during the ACCESS overnight session. The Energy complex as whole rose strongly following an EIA Pteroleum Status Report that showed a massive 4.2 million barrel drawdown in Crude Oil inventories, and a 3.4 millon barrel drop in Distillate inventories. Refinery capacity was the sole genuinely bright spot, continuing its rebound following the hurricane season.
The Oil and Gas Index (XOI) lost 0.18 points (0.02%), to 972.41
- ConocoPhillips (COP) -$0.78 (1.27%) to $60.51;
- TotalFinaElf S.A. (TOT) -$0.96 (0.76%) to $124.69; and
- Repsol YPF (REP) -$0.22 (0.74%) to $29.52.
The Oil service stocks (OSX) Index advanced 3.3 points (1.89%), ending the day at 177.77
- BJ Services (BJS) +$0.93 (2.6%) to $36.65;
- Smith International (SII) +$0.94 (2.55%) to $37.79; and
- National Oilwells/Varco (NOV) +$1.38 (2.33%) to $60.62.
| Energy Complex | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Reuters CRB | 332.49 | 2.46 | 0.75% |
| Crude Oil Light Sweet | 57.32 | 0.82 | 1.45% |
| Heating Oil | 1.6897 | 0.02 | 1.06% |
| Natural Gas | 12.587 | 0.85 | 7.25% |
| Unleaded Gas | 1.4971 | 0.04 | 2.85% |
| AMEX Oil Index | 972.41 | -0.18 | -0.02% |
| Oil Service Index | 177.77 | 3.3 | 1.89% |
Currency Markets
| USD Exchange Rates | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| US Dollar Index | 91.6 | -0.05 | -0.05% |
| Euro | 1.179 | 0.0002 | 0.02% |
| Yen | 119.81 | 0.165 | 0.14% |
| Sterling | 1.7294 | 0.01 | 0.58% |
| Australian Dollar | 0.7385 | 0.0001 | 0.01% |
| Swiss Franc | 1.3152 | 0.0025 | 0.19% |
| Canadian Dollar | 0.8579 | 0.0022 | 0.26% |
