Note - from June 24th 2009, this blog has migrated from Blogger to a self-hosted version. Click here to go straight there.
Gold closed above $900 (at $907 for the front month); Crude Oil regained some vigour (after an early slip, as forecast last week) and closed up $1.50 at $94.20; and the US Dollar Index dipped below the midpoint of the 75 handle (but recovered somewhat to close down 34 ticks at 75.70 points.
With the entire planet showing a vote of no confidence in the US economy, what's not to like?
You would think that there had been some development that made the US look like it was about to begin a decade-long economic expansion, rather than being on the cusp of taking off in the entirely opposite direction. There wasn't;t even any Fed repurchase activity (at least, not in Treasury-backed collateral), so that's not the reason. Sure, Intel was upgraded by some boxhead, but who cares? The brokerage community uses upgrades and downgrades to force clients to play musical chairs and pass the parcel... it helps drive turnover, you see.
You might notice that the USRant is slowly but surely creeping back towards its old layout - that is because each day I port across a little bit more of the old wisdom into the new PHP scripting format. By the end of this week I reckon it will be back to all cylinders cranking out the genius. For the moment the currencies and commodities stuff is still in abeyance, because I stuffed up the logic somewhere and it didn't work when I hit the button just now.
Major US Indices
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shrugged off its recent poor form, advancing 171.85 points (1.36%) to 12778.15 points in a rally which could almost be described as "coast to coast" - the index opened up over a hundred points, the index low for the day was about fifteen minutes after the open (but still 60-odd points above Friday's close). The index high for the day was 12794.57 - set within a half hour of the closing bell. Of the 30 Dow stocks, 26 rose, with total volume in gainers totalling 526 million units; losing stocks numbered 4, with a total volume traded in decliners of 78.11million units
The broader S&P 500 index underperformed the Dowager, but still gained 15.23 points (1.09%) to 1416.25 points. The index high for the day was 1417.89, while the low was 1407.91 (I'm using the index low after all stocks opened - about ten minutes into the session).
In Techland, the Nasdaq Composite advanced 38.36 points (1.57%) to 2478.30 points, while the Nasdaq-100 added 36.34 points (1.9%) to 1949.15 points. The index high for the day was 1952.55, while the low was 1924.86.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) fell 0.78 points (3.29%) to 22.90 points, and Nasdaq100 volatility (VXN) lost 0.74 points (2.57%) to 28.08 points.
NYSE Total Volume totalled 3.57billion units; Up Volume totalled 2.53billion units in the 2274 stocks that advanced, while the 1076 decliners traded a total volume of 1.03 billion shares. 67 NYSE-listed issues posted new 52-week highs, compared with 185 tickers that registered new 52-week lows.
Over at the Nasdaq, Total Volume totalled 2.12billion units. 1809 Nasdaq stocks rose, and trade in the gainers amounted to 1.57 billion shares. 1231 tickers dropped, with total trade in those issues coming in at 530 million shares. Only 56 Nasdaq stocks made new 52-week highs, and 222 plumbed new 52-week lows.
| Major Market Statistics | |||
| Name | Last | Change | % |
| Dow | 12778.15 | +171.85 | 1.36 |
| S&P 500 | 1416.25 | +15.23 | 1.09 |
| Nasdaq Comp | 2478.30 | +38.36 | 1.57 |
| Nasdaq-100 | 1949.15 | +36.34 | 1.9 |
| CBOE Volatility (VIX) I | 22.90 | -0.78 | -3.29 |
| CBOE Nasdaq Volatility (VXN) | 28.08 | -0.74 | -2.57 |
| NYSE Volume | 3.57b | -0 | - |
| Nasdaq Volume | 2.12b | - | - |
The Banks Index added 0.19 (0.23%) to 84.23 points. Index volume totalled 291.7 million shares. Of the 24 index components, 10 advanced, with volume in advancers totalling 208.2 million units. All of the remaining 14 stocks in the index fell, with total volume traded of 83.5 million shares.
Major movers in the same direction as the index:
- State Street (STT), up 2.06 (2.49%) to $84.86 on volume of 5.3 million shares
- Bank Of America (BAC), up 0.72 (1.87%) to $39.22 on volume of 35.8 million shares
- Citigroup (C), up 0.5 (1.75%) to $29.06 on volume of 88.9 million shares
- Keycorp (KEY), up 0.37 (1.59%) to $23.60 on volume of 4.3 million shares
The Semiconductor Index was basically flat, adding 0.01 (0%) to 275.11 points. Index volume totalled 263 million shares. All 18 index components advanced, with volume in advancers totalling 263 million units. Major movers in the same direction as the index:
- Sandisk (SNDK), up 1.9 (6.65%) to $30.48 on volume of 11.7 million shares
- ST Microelectronic (STM), up 0.78 (6.45%) to $12.88 on volume of 2 million shares
- Teradyne (TER), up 0.47 (5.26%) to $9.41 on volume of 2.9 million shares
- Intel (INTC), up 1.09 (4.96%) to $23.08 on volume of 84.7 million shares
The Child-Killer ("Defence") Index added 2.72 (0.72%) to 376.20 points. Index volume totalled 59.5 million shares. Of the 17 index components, 13 closed with a gain. Volume in advancing index components amounted to 53.3 million units. The remaining 4 index components closed lowerl, with total downside volume of 6.3 million shares.
Major movers in the same direction as the index:
- Gencorp (GY), up 0.23 (2.21%) to $10.66 on volume of 222.6 thousand shares
- L-3 Comm (LLL), up 2.28 (2.16%) to $107.86 on volume of 714.4 thousand shares
- Esterline Tech (ESL), up 0.94 (2.04%) to $47.05 on volume of 223.1 thousand shares
- I T T Corporation (ITT), up 1.13 (1.91%) to $60.28 on volume of 1.2 million shares
The Gold Bugs Index added 3.68 (1.87%) to 197.23 points. Index volume totalled 113.7 million shares. Of the 16 index components, 14 advanced, with volume in advancers totalling 110.1 million units. Both of the remaining 2 index components closed lower, and downside volume totalled 3.6 million shares.
Major movers in the same direction as the index:
- Randgold Res (GOLD), up 2.68 (6.13%) to $46.38 on volume of 1.4 million shares
- Silver Stand Res (SSRI), up 2.18 (5.87%) to $39.34 on volume of 1 million shares
- Coeur d'Alene (CDE), up 0.21 (4.33%) to $5.06 on volume of 15.6 million shares
- Freeport Mcmoran (FCX), up 3.99 (4.24%) to $98.11 on volume of 12.1 million shares
The Oil Services Index added 7.24 (2.42%) to 299.23 points. Index volume totalled 53.3 million shares. All 15 index components advanced, with volume in advancers totalling 53.3 million units.
Major movers in the same direction as the index:
- Bj Services Co (BJS), up 1.07 (4.67%) to $23.98 on volume of 5.1 million shares
- Natl Oilwell Varc (NOV), up 2.77 (3.97%) to $72.60 on volume of 3.2 million shares
- Rowan Cos Inc (RDC), up 1.48 (3.93%) to $39.14 on volume of 2.5 million shares
- Transocean Inc (RIG), up 5.36 (3.93%) to $141.75 on volume of 5.3 million shares
