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Well, it's NOT a dodgy RAM stick. I did every test known to man, and the RAM in my machine passed with flying colours. I tested every single piece of hardware to within an inch of its life, and there s nothing wrong with ANY of it. So thank you Microsoft for yu half-assed "STOP" error messages and their attendant half-assed explanations on your "Knowledge Base" (which should be renamed "Knowledge: Base"). Way to go getting me to waste a whole bloody day chasing the wrong target due to you shit software.
So I am left with the idea that WindowsUpdate managed to fuck up my installation of XP. Funny how the obvious solutions (i.e., that Microsoft couldn't organise a pissup in a brewery without something being totally rooted) are the ones you end up with.
So, like I said. I was up until 7 a.m. French time (even over here, that means all night): almost 14 hours non-stop testing and pissing about with my machine, and finally, in the depths of an internet forum full of stories exactly hte same as mine, was found a workaround.
Note: nota solution, mind you. A young chappie mentioned a piece of software call "AntiCrash". I'm mentioning it now, too. It is excellent at stopping crashes when they are in progress, and then it tells you about it.
As a side not,e I also now have to work in VGA mode - becasue all of my video settings have disappeared.
Well played, MSFT. My new Dell is going to be a Linux box.
Federal Reserve Open Market Operations
The Fed's Open Market Operations desk performed 2 repurchase operations.
- a $11.5billion, overnight repurchase entirely in T-backed collateral undertaken at a 5.3 basis point discount to the Fed Funds Rate (FFR); and
- a $4billion, 14-day repurchase with $0.1billion in T-backed collateral undertaken at a 3 basis point premium to the Fed Funds Rate (FFR).
Major US Indices
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 60.35 points (0.54%), closing out the day at 11019.11 points. Sounds pretty awful, but really the majority of the session was a wash. Everything had a moderately sluggish bias, but it was the absence of all the abovementioned repurchase dough that really left the thing hanging. No idea why such a large lick of cash, at a decent discount to FFR, didn't result in more 'oomph'. One extra tick's worth was all it would have taken - USSPy folks were long 1256.25 with a 3-point first target... the subsequent high was 1259.25, which was hit twice... but since it never became the bid, the target is deemed not to have been reached (it's not reached until anybody who placed their exit order at entry, is guaranteed to have had that order executed). Once more tick and there would have been a minor cause for rejoicing. As it is, it will have to wait for tomorrow.
The sluggishness of the market today took a form which should stand that entry in very good stead; allday, small-lot selling-at-the-bid was happening. the amount of large-lot execution was very limited, and was all over the shop; one second the TIKI (Dow TICK) would be +25 and the next second it would be -22. There was very little obvious program trading - I think I counted two or three instances of TICK (NYSE upticks - downticks) > 1000, and about the same numebr of instances of the same variable, below -900.
So anyhow - by my reading of the thing, there are a lot of new, late, small shorts. The preponderance of little-lot sell-at-the-bid trades were made within a point or two of each swing low.
The Dow's opening print turned out to be its intraday high (11077.78), and it bumped and ground all the way down to 10986.14 - which was hit just after 2:15 p.m. New York time.
Within the blue-chip index, 6 stocks rose, the biggest gainers being General Motors (GM, +4.08% to $27.27) and United Technology (UTX, +0.65% to $61.89), which accounted for 12 Dow points between them. Losers in the Dow numbered 24 and were led by Mcdonalds (MCD, -2.54% to $32.55) and Hewlett Packard (HPQ, -2.28% to $32.97), with these two stocks contributing -13 Dow points worth of downward pressure on the index. Volume traded was tilted in favour of the losers by 320.7m shares to 37.5m.
The broader S&P500 slid 6.6 points (0.53%), to 1245.6. Within the index, gainers numbered 109, while 349 S&P500 stocks fell for the day. Volume was tilted 4.0:1 in favour of the losers with 1398.83 million units traded in the losers as compared with 345.71 million traded in the winners .
Over at Times Square, the Nasdaq Composite shed 18.22 points (0.85%), to close at 2122.98, while larger-cap technology issues fared worse with the Nasdaq100 losing 19.07 points (1.21%), to end at 1554.49 points. Within the tech benchmark, gainers numbered 11, while 79 Nasdaq100 stocks fell for the day. Volume was tilted 8.9:1 in favour of the losers with 624.91 million traded in the losers compared to 69.91 million in the winners .
NYSE Volume was pretty chunky,but still belowrecent high levels, with 2.09 billion shares changing hands, while Nasdaq Volume was insipid with 1.69 billion shares thrashing arund like cyber-dervishes.
| Major Market Statistics | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 11019.11 | -60.35 | -0.54% |
| S&P500 | 1245.6 | -6.6 | -0.53% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 2122.98 | -18.22 | -0.85% |
| Nasdaq100 | 1554.49 | -19.07 | -1.21% |
| NYSE Volume | 2.09bn | - | - |
| Nasdaq Volume | 1.69bn | - | - |
Bellwethers
My 9-stock "bellwethers" group fell by an average of 1.11%
- General Electric (GE) -$0.18 (0.54%) to $33.24;
- Citigroup (C) -$0.20 (0.41%) to $48.17;
- Wal Mart (WMT) -$0.42 (0.86%) to $48.48;
- I.B.M. (IBM) -$1.11 (1.42%) to $77.19;
- Intel (INTC) -$0.15 (0.82%) to $18.25;
- Cisco Systems (CSCO) -$0.38 (1.89%) to $19.69;
- eBay (EBAY) -$0.73 (2.37%) to $30.01;
- Fannie Mae (FNM) -$0.53 (1.11%) to $47.07; and
- Freddie Mac (FRE) -$0.30 (0.52%) to $57.23.
Market Breadth & Internals
NYSE declining Issues beat out advancers by 2108 to 1120, for a single-day A/D reading of -988; and Nasdaq losers exceeded gainers by 1769 to 1221. The 10-day moving average of the A/D line fell to -588.4 on the NYSE, while the 10dma of the Nasdaq A/D fell to -499.1.
On the NYSE declining volume was greater than volume in advancing issues by 1429.8 to 600 million shares; On the Nasdaq declining volume exceeded volume in advancing issues by 1274.6 to 374.9 million shares.
28 NYSE-listed stocks rose to new 52-week highs, and 172 posted fresh 52-week lows, while on the Nasdaq there were 52 stocks that hit new 52-week highs, and 115 which fell to fresh 52-week lows.
All of these internal indicators can be lined up end on end. Once they are lined up, you have to get in a helicopter (or a hot air balloon) and go up high to see what they spell... "B... O... U... is that an N?... that looks like a G, maybe... E".
BOUNGE? What the f#ck is a bounge?
| Market Breadth Statistics | ||
| NYSE | Nasdaq | |
| Advancers | 1120 | 1221 |
| Decliners | 2108 | 1769 |
| Advancing Volume (m) | 599.99 | 374.94 |
| Declining Volume (m) | 1429.83 | 1274.56 |
| New Highs | 28 | 52 |
| New Lows | 172 | 115 |
| Market Sentiment Statistics | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| CBOE Volatility Index | 15.88 | 0.36 | 2.32% |
| CBOE Nasdaq Volatility Index | 20.81 | 1.15 | 5.85% |
| Equity Put-Call Ratio | 1.05 | 0.19 | 22.09% |
| 10-day PCR | 0.91 | 0.02 | 1.76% |
| SPX-VIX Ratio | 78.4 | -2.24 | -2.78% |
Bond Market Analysis
Bonds fell at the long end, with the yield on the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond rising 3.8 bps to 5.232%. Maybe that's what spookedequities (can't have been the LEI - they are meaningless and every major house know it).
The middle of the yield curve was broadly lower in price as well: five year yields rose to 5.181%, and ten-year yields rose to 5.198%.
Spreads between short-dated (2-yr) Treasuries and high-grade corporate bonds of similar maturity profiles were 2.0 bps tighter at 39.0 basis points; spreads between longer dated Treasuries and their corporate AAA counterparts fell to 65.0 bps for 10-year AAA, and 99.0 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 32.0 basis points and the 10-year AAA-A spread 11.0 bps looser at 32.0 bps.
| Treasury Yields | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| UST 13wk (yld) | 4.775 | -0.01 | -0.21% |
| UST 2Y (yld) | 5.23 | 0.1 | 1.95% |
| UST 5Y (yld) | 5.181 | 0.046 | 0.9% |
| UST 10Y (yld) | 5.198 | 0.043 | 0.83% |
| UST 30Y (yld) | 5.232 | 0.038 | 0.73% |
The Banks Index dipped 0.31 points (0.29%), to end the session at 106.47; within the index,
- Zions Bancorp (ZION) -$0.96 (1.2%) to $78.92;
- Mellon Financial (MEL) -$0.31 (0.89%) to $34.48;
- Suntrust Banks (STI) -$0.54 (0.71%) to $76.05;
- State Street (STT) -$0.38 (0.65%) to $57.90; and
- Comerica (CMA) -$0.32 (0.6%) to $52.84.
The Broker-dealer Index dipped 0.93 points (0.45%), closing at 206.84; the ticket clippers lined up as follows -
- Ameritrade (AMTD) -$0.50 (3.14%) to $15.44;
- Raymond James (RJF) -$0.43 (1.48%) to $28.64;
- Goldman Sachs (GS) -$1.52 (1.01%) to $148.31;
- Legg Mason (LM) -$0.88 (0.87%) to $100.00; and
- Jeffries Group (JEF) -$0.22 (0.79%) to $27.46.
The Philadelphia SOX (Semiconductor) index dipped 6.18 points (1.36%), to end the session at 449.19
- Freescale Semiconductors (FSL-B) -$1.35 (4.62%) to $27.85;
- Altera (ALTR) -$0.58 (3.25%) to $17.25;
- National Semiconductors (NSM) -$0.78 (3.18%) to $23.72;
- Teradyne (TER) -$0.39 (2.68%) to $14.16; and
- Xilinx (XLNX) -$0.64 (2.67%) to $23.35.
Gold & Silver Markets
Gold fell by $5.6 (0.95%) to close at $585.40 per ounce.
The Gold Bugs Index dipped 1.26 points (0.41%), at 306.53
- Meridian Gold (MDG) -$1.15 (3.79%) to $29.19;
- Coeur d'Alene (CDE) -$0.14 (3.16%) to $4.29;
- Iamgold (IAG) -$0.21 (2.33%) to $8.80;
- Goldcorp (GG) -$0.63 (2.26%) to $27.25; and
- Newmont Mining (NEM) -$1.01 (2%) to $49.51.
Silver fell by $0.21 (2.02%) to close at $10.21 per ounce.
The Gold and Silver Index (XAU) lost 1.14 points (0.86%), ending the day at 131.3 points.
- Meridian Gold (MDG) -$1.15 (3.79%) to $29.19;
- Goldcorp (GG) -$0.63 (2.26%) to $27.25;
- Newmont Mining (NEM) -$1.01 (2%) to $49.51; and
- Barrick Gold (ABX) -$0.44 (1.55%) to $27.88.
| Precious Metals and Indices | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Gold | 585.40 | -5.60 | -0.95% |
| Silver | 10.21 | -0.21 | -2.02% |
| PHLX Gold and Silver Index | 131.3 | -1.14 | -0.86% |
| AMEX Gold BUGS Index | 306.53 | -1.26 | -0.41% |
Oil Market
Oil was firmer, rising by $0.51 per barrel, closing at $70.84 per barrel.
The Oil and Gas Index (XOI) added 5.63 points (0.54%), to end the session at 1047.04
- Occidental Petroleum (OXY) +$0.90 (0.96%) to $94.75;
- ConocoPhillips (COP) +$0.90 (1.5%) to $60.75; and
- Sunoco (SUN) +$0.63 (1.01%) to $63.06.
The Oil service stocks (OSX) Index rose 0.43 points (0.22%), ending the day at 194.74
- Schlumberger (SLB) +$1.31 (2.34%) to $57.21;
- GlobalSantaFe (GSF) +$1.04 (2.05%) to $51.89; and
- Transocean (RIG) +$1.14 (1.55%) to $74.49.
| Energy Complex | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Reuters CRB | 379.5 | -2 | -0.52% |
| Crude Oil Light Sweet | 70.84 | 0.51 | 0.73% |
| Heating Oil | 2.0178 | 0.03 | 1.75% |
| Natural Gas | 6.439 | -0.15 | -2.26% |
| Unleaded Gas | 2.1136 | 0.05 | 2.23% |
| AMEX Oil Index | 1047.04 | 5.63 | 0.54% |
| Oil Service Index | 194.74 | 0.43 | 0.22% |
Currency Markets
| USD Exchange Rates | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| US Dollar Index | 86.01 | 0.67 | 0.79% |
| Euro | 1.2578 | -0.0158 | -1.24% |
| Yen | 116.145 | 115.2632 | 13071.35% |
| Sterling | 1.8284 | -0.019 | -1.03% |
| Australian Dollar | 0.7343 | -0.0039 | -0.53% |
| Swiss Franc | 1.2427 | 0.4244 | 51.86% |
| Canadian Dollar | 0.8951 | -0.0086 | -0.95% |
