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It asn't my fault that this one's late... Blogger has been down for HOURS. It's always nice when it turns out that there is actually something that's NOT my fault...
There have been several things about France that have surprised me: the food is nowhere near as good as it ought to be given the standard of the produce (if you eat at places like Bistro La Luna in Rathdowne St Carlton, you're eating stuff that is at least as good as the best restaurants in Paris), and the pop music is far better than I had anticipated.
Sure, they have their own "Holdens" (which is RantSpeak for a song so bad is sounds like it was written by Marc Holden) - and their Holdens are also linked to reality-dross shows. But there is also some absolutely cracking FrogPop - like "Qui Que Tu Sois" (Whoever You Are) by Blankass, whose led singer looks andsounds like Billy Bragg. Or "La Ou Je T'Emmenerais" - a sappy love ballad, but with an almost Noel Cowardesque lyrical lilt.
But one of the biggies on my playlist is "Ladyboy" by Indochine. It wasn't until today that I discovered the lyrics (which I thought I had heard correctly, but nuh-uh). What I thought I heard made sense, but I had done what "Spicks andSpecks" - the TV show - mentioned a year or so ago. I can't recall the name they gave to the phenomenon ... when - for example - people think Jimi Hendrix was singing "Excuse me while I kiss this guy".
Anyhow, today I got hold of the lyrics, and they are almost as grim as James Blunt's "Goodbye My Lover" (but not as powerful as James Blunt's "No Bravery" which ought to be a National Anthem of Freeland). Hewrites pretty well for a turret-head.
Anyhow - here's the relevant passage of "Ladyboy"...
Nous trouverons un ciel
Un ciel sans l’amour de dieu
A nos secrets à nos trésors
A la vie comme à la mort
That is (translating using my best schoolboy French)
"We will find a sky
A sky without God's love
In our secrets, in our treasures
In life as in death"
And it gets even more disturbing:
Mais nous saignerons encore
À la vie comme à la mort
"But we will still bleed in Life as in Death"
Lovely. funny thing is, the song is actually quite melodious, but the 'hidden depths" are there in the slight atonality.
No biggie - just thought I would mention it (and show that I even listen to FrogPop).
Federal Reserve Open Market Operations
The Fed's Open Market Operations desk performed 1 repurchase operation - a $3.5billion, overnight repurchase with $3.268billion in T-backed collateral undertaken at a 2.8 basis point discount to the Fed Funds Rate (FFR).
Major US Indices
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 71.24 points (0.65%), closing out the day at 10930.9 points; a close solidly below 11000, but for the moment it looks like the market will not get itself into a decrescendo. In fact if I am right (and face it, we both know that I am) tomorrow will see and early plunge in order to lure in the nuffnuffs, and then the thing will rocket skywards, tearing out great huge handfuls of late-short scrotum-hair (and skin, too). That means that Australia will bounce from about mid-session (from the mid 4900's). It's expiration week (or maybeit isn't - you will have to check).
Today, the Dowager index hit an intraday high of 11077.38 (11075-ish, in RantSpeak) just after midday, before reversing hardin the afternoon (149 points from high to low - 150-ish in RantSpeak)) and fell as low as 10928.34 (yep... 10925ish) with the low set in the last 5 minutes.
Within the blue-chip index, 11 stocks rose, the biggest gainers being Boeing (BA, +1.00% to $81.46) and Verizon Communications (VZ, +0.44% to $31.84), which accounted for 8 Dow points between them. Losers in the Dow numbered 19 and were led by Exxon Mobil (XOM, -2.62% to $58.82) and Du Pont (DD, -2.56% to $41.09), with these two stocks contributing -21 Dow points worth of downward pressure on the index. Volume traded was tilted in favour of the losers by 348.3m shares to 117.7m.
The broader S&P500 lost 7.7 points (0.61%), closing at 1256.15. Within the index, gainers numbered 196, while 268 S&P500 stocks fell for the day. Volume was tilted 2.3:1 in favour of the losers with 1489.74 million units traded in the losers as compared with 659.69 million traded in the winners .
Over at Times Square, the Nasdaq Composite lost 10.99 points (0.51%), to close at 2151.8, while larger-cap technology issues fared worse with the Nasdaq100 losing 10.16 points (0.64%), to end at 1565.22 points. Within the tech benchmark, gainers numbered 36, while 57 Nasdaq100 stocks fell for the day. Volume was tilted 2.9:1 in favour of the losers with 619.92 million traded in the losers compared to 213.53 million in the winners .
NYSE Volume was super-chunky, with 2.55 billion shares changing hands, while Nasdaq Volume was actually pretty feeble, with just 1.91 billion shares traded.
| Major Market Statistics | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 10930.9 | -71.24 | -0.65% |
| S&P500 | 1256.15 | -7.7 | -0.61% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 2151.8 | -10.99 | -0.51% |
| Nasdaq100 | 1565.22 | -10.16 | -0.64% |
| NYSE Volume | 2.55bn | - | - |
| Nasdaq Volume | 1.91bn | - | - |
Bellwethers
My 9-stock "bellwethers" group fell by an average of 0.22%
- General Electric (GE) -$0.15 (0.43%) to $34.40;
- Citigroup (C) +$0.19 (0.38%) to $49.95;
- Wal Mart (WMT) +$0.01 (0.02%) to $47.04;
- I.B.M. (IBM) -$0.61 (0.76%) to $79.15;
- Intel (INTC) -$0.40 (2.25%) to $17.39;
- Cisco Systems (CSCO) -$0.26 (1.29%) to $19.91;
- eBay (EBAY) +$0.32 (1.01%) to $31.91;
- Fannie Mae (FNM) +$0.37 (0.75%) to $49.45; and
- Freddie Mac (FRE) +$0.34 (0.59%) to $58.45.
Market Breadth & Internals
NYSE declining Issues beat out advancers by 1937 to 1293, for a single-day A/D reading of -644; and Nasdaq losers exceeded gainers by 1659 to 1356. The 10-day moving average of the A/D line rose to -723.6 on the NYSE, while the 10dma of the Nasdaq A/D rose to -626.6.
On the NYSE declining volume was greater than volume in advancing issues by 1737.3 to 778.9 million shares; On the Nasdaq declining volume exceeded volume in advancing issues by 1320.2 to 555.1 million shares.
29 NYSE-listed stocks rose to new 52-week highs, and 101 posted fresh 52-week lows, while on the Nasdaq there were 72 stocks that hit new 52-week highs, and 97 which fell to fresh 52-week lows.
| Market Breadth Statistics | ||
| NYSE | Nasdaq | |
| Advancers | 1293 | 1356 |
| Decliners | 1937 | 1659 |
| Advancing Volume (m) | 778.93 | 555.13 |
| Declining Volume (m) | 1737.32 | 1320.2 |
| New Highs | 29 | 72 |
| New Lows | 101 | 97 |
| Market Sentiment Statistics | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| CBOE Volatility Index | 17.86 | 0.5 | 2.88% |
| CBOE Nasdaq Volatility Index | 23.55 | 1.51 | 6.85% |
| Equity Put-Call Ratio | 0.61 | 0 | 0% |
| 10-day PCR | 0.58 | 0 | 0% |
| SPX-VIX Ratio | 70.3 | -2.47 | -3.39% |
Bond Market Analysis
Bonds fell at the long end, with the yield on the benchmark 30-year Treasury bond rising 1.6 bps to 5.096%.
The middle of the yield curve was broadly lower: five year yields rose to 4.97%, and ten-year yields rose to 5.026%. Yesterday the yield curve was inverted between 10-years and Fed Funds, which got a couple of journalists twitterpated about recession indicators. Well, the US Government is dedicated to ensuring that we don't see a recession, by having its crony-appointees corrupt the statistical process such that GDP growth has a lower bound of zero. If the US Government could massage images the way it massages statistics, they would convince us all that New Orleans was never below highwater.
Spreads between short-dated (2-yr) Treasuries and high-grade corporate bonds of similar maturity profiles were 1.0 bps tighter at 38.0 basis points; spreads between longer dated Treasuries and their corporate AAA counterparts fell to 70.0 bps for 10-year AAA, and 104.5 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 28.0 basis points and the 10-year AAA-A spread 9.0 bps looser at 22.0 bps.
| Treasury Yields | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| UST 13wk (yld) | 4.732 | -0.005 | -0.11% |
| UST 2Y (yld) | 5 | 0.02 | 0.4% |
| UST 5Y (yld) | 4.97 | 0.027 | 0.55% |
| UST 10Y (yld) | 5.026 | 0.02 | 0.4% |
| UST 30Y (yld) | 5.096 | 0.016 | 0.31% |
The Banks Index gained 0.55 points (0.51%), to end the session at 109.37; within the index,
- Comerica (CMA) +$1.19 (2.19%) to $55.65;
- National City Corp (NCC) +$0.47 (1.29%) to $37.03;
- M&T Bank Corp (MTB) +$1.40 (1.22%) to $116.55;
- BB&T Corp (BBT) +$0.41 (0.98%) to $42.42; and
- US Bancorp (USB) +$0.28 (0.9%) to $31.56.
The Broker-dealer Index gained 1.03 points (0.49%), closing at 209.9; the ticket clippers lined up as follows -
- Legg Mason (LM) +$3.86 (4.15%) to $96.91;
- Raymond James (RJF) +$0.30 (1.06%) to $28.55;
- Bear Stearns (BSC) +$1.10 (0.82%) to $135.88;
- Lehman Brothers (LEH) +$0.42 (0.65%) to $65.46; and
- Jeffries Group (JEF) +$0.17 (0.61%) to $28.15.
The Philadelphia SOX (Semiconductor) index lost 10.81 points (2.36%), to 447.55
- Broadcom (BRCM) -$1.25 (4%) to $30.00;
- Freescale Semiconductors (FSL-B) -$1.19 (3.96%) to $28.85;
- Xilinx (XLNX) -$1.01 (3.88%) to $25.04;
- National Semiconductors (NSM) -$0.83 (3.32%) to $24.15; and
- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) -$0.95 (3.28%) to $28.00.
Gold & Silver Markets
Gold fell by $2.10 (0.33%) to close at $632.60 per ounce.
The Gold Bugs Index shed 9.19 points (2.89%), ending the day at 309.07
- Agnico Eagle (AEM) -$1.64 (5.25%) to $29.57;
- Glamis Gold (GLG) -$1.74 (4.81%) to $34.42;
- Harmony Gold (HMY) -$0.60 (4.25%) to $13.53;
- Meridian Gold (MDG) -$1.10 (3.61%) to $29.40; and
- Hecla Mining (HL) -$0.17 (3.31%) to $4.97.
Silver rose $0.05 (0.38%) to close at $11.89 per ounce.
The Gold and Silver Index (XAU) lost 3.54 points (2.6%), closing at 132.38 points.
- Agnico Eagle (AEM) -$1.64 (5.25%) to $29.57;
- Harmony Gold (HMY) -$0.60 (4.25%) to $13.53;
- Meridian Gold (MDG) -$1.10 (3.61%) to $29.40; and
- Kinross Gold (KGC) -$0.34 (3.2%) to $10.29.
| Precious Metals and Indices | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Gold | 632.60 | -2.10 | -0.33% |
| Silver | 11.89 | 0.05 | 0.38% |
| PHLX Gold and Silver Index | 132.38 | -3.54 | -2.6% |
| AMEX Gold BUGS Index | 309.07 | -9.07 | -2.85% |
Oil Market
Oil lost ground, shedding $1.68 per barrel, closing at $70.82 per barrel.
The Oil and Gas Index (XOI) lost 31.29 points (2.88%), closing at 1056.1
- Kerr Mcgee (KMG) -$4.45 (4.14%) to $103.16;
- Marathon Oil (MRO) -$2.87 (3.73%) to $74.14; and
- ChevronTexaco (CVX) -$1.76 (2.99%) to $57.17.
The Oil service stocks (OSX) Index slid 10.04 points (4.77%), closing at 200.33
- Weatherford International (WFT) -$3.22 (6.07%) to $49.87;
- Schlumberger (SLB) -$3.45 (5.39%) to $60.51; and
- Baker Hughes (BHI) -$4.44 (5.19%) to $81.06.
| Energy Complex | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Reuters CRB | 379 | -0.25 | -0.07% |
| Crude Oil Light Sweet | 70.82 | -1.68 | -2.32% |
| Heating Oil | 1.9954 | -0.05 | -2.31% |
| Natural Gas | 5.974 | -0.41 | -6.44% |
| Unleaded Gas | 2.124 | -0.05 | -2.52% |
| AMEX Oil Index | 1056.1 | -31.29 | -2.88% |
| Oil Service Index | 200.33 | -10.04 | -4.77% |
Currency Markets
| USD Exchange Rates | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| US Dollar Index | 84.95 | 0.27 | 0.32% |
| Euro | 1.279 | -0.0046 | -0.36% |
| Yen | 113.525 | 0.24 | 0.21% |
| Sterling | 1.8556 | -0.0052 | -0.28% |
| Australian Dollar | 0.7405 | -0.0006 | -0.08% |
| Swiss Franc | 1.2216 | 0.0066 | 0.54% |
| Canadian Dollar | 0.8986 | 0.0001 | 0.01% |
