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Today's OzRant made it clear that the euphoria surrounding Mr Hankie (our nickname for Hank Paulson) was going to be short-lived.
I think there's a lovely symmetry now - we have Mr Hankie (as fans of South Park will know, he is "Mr Hankie, the Christmas Poo" - you had to be there), and Mr Bernanke. Hankie and Bernanke. Eminem could write a song about them.
(For accuracy we will have to refer to our Mr Hankie as Mr Hankie the Hannukah Poo - I doubt that they can even SPELL 'Christmas' at Goldman Sachs).
Anyhow... Mr Hankie's ludicrous request for a trillion-dollar bank card with no oversight, has gone over like a pork chop in a synagogue.
As I said this morning, Mr Hankie seems to have the same sense of entitlement-to-respect as Brokeback Cowboy, (George the Turd). When Turdie was an oil baron, he specialised in insider trading and drilling dry holes... and getting bailed out by his Daddy's connections. He's the quintessential politician's brat - he was born on third base and assumed he must've hit a triple.
Yet people have the gall to blame this mess on the 'free market ideology' of George the Turd. Give me a break - for a start, Turdie couldn't SPELL 'ideology'. For seconds, in a free market he would have died in a dumpster from starvation when his oil ventures with Arbusto (and others) turned into money furnaces.
No shorting was involved in today's decline - yet financials were down what? 10% over average? Suck on that, politicians and politically-appointed bureaucrat hack parasites.
Economic News
None.
Fed Open Market Operations
The Fed's Open Market Operations desk performed a single repurchase today - a 1 Day repurchase totalling $ 20.000bn, but not a single cracker was in Treasury-backed collateral.
They've been far more active in pumping money into the Agency markets. It is over a year ago now, that I first started writing about the large and growing repo amounts that were being pumped into Agency callateral; I said at the time that it was evidence of ill healt hat Fannie and Freddie.
Just thought I'd mention it...
Headline Indices
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 372.75 points (3.27%) to 11015.69 points. The index high for the day was 11394.58, while the low was 10992.20.
Total volume traded in the index was 1204.91m units. Within the index, 3 issues rose, with aggregate volume of 513.71m units; 27 issues fell, with aggregate volume of 691.2m units.
The S&P500 Index lost 47.99 points (3.82%) to 1207.09 points. Total volume traded in the index was 4.1bn units. Within the index, 34 issues rose, with aggregate volume of 872.24m units; 459 issues fell, with aggregate volume of 3.31bn units.
The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- MGIC Investment (MTG) -3.23 (31.6%) to $6.98 on volume of 3.8m shares;
- Genl Growth Properties (GGP) -5.34 (24.9%) to $16.08 on volume of 12.32m shares;
- Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) -2.94 (23.1%) to $9.81 on volume of 6.91m shares;
- Sovereign Bancorp (SOV) -2.33 (22.8%) to $7.9 on volume of 8.08m shares; and
- Marshall & Ilsley Corp. (MI) -6.68 (22.6%) to $22.82 on volume of 6.31m shares.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 94.92 points (4.17%) to 2178.98 points and the Nasdaq100 lost 79.12 points (4.53%) to 1665.94 points. For its 100 components; the total volume traded in the Nasdaq100 index was 866.49m units. Within the index, 2 issues rose, with aggregate volume of 105.11m units; 96 issues fell, with aggregate volume of 761.38m units.
Today the index fell by 79.12 points (4.53%) to 1665.94 points. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Sun Microsystems (JAVA) -1.05 (12%) to $7.69 on volume of 16.12m shares;
- NetApp (NTAP) -2.39 (11.3%) to $18.73 on volume of 14.46m shares;
- Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) -0.11 (11%) to $0.89 on volume of 55.02m shares;
- UAL (UAUA) -1.44 (10.9%) to $11.8 on volume of 15m shares; and
- VeriSign (VRSN) -2.51 (8.9%) to $25.63 on volume of 3.63m shares.
The CBOE Volatility Index advanced +1.78 points (5.55%) to 33.85 points and the CBOE Nasdaq100 Volatility Index advanced +1.20 points (3.5%) to 35.46 points.
A Total of 3518 issues traded today on the NYSE; today's total volume was 5.49 billion shares. A total of 669 counters posted gains for the day, with aggregate volume of 1.28 billion shares trading to the upside. Exerting downwards pressure on the index were the 2796 losers, which accounted for a total volume of 4.09 billion shares. 23 stocks made new 1-year highs on the NYSE, while 87 shares plumbed new 52-week depths.Over on the Nasdaq 3036 tickers traded today; total Nasdaq volume was actually pretty low, at 1.88 billion shares. A total of 696 stocks posted gains for the day, with aggregate volume of 0.27 billion shares trading to the upside. The red zone of the Nasdaq exchange was populated with 2236 losers, which accounted for a total volume of 1.59 billion shares. 37 Nasdaq-listed stocks hit new 52-week highs, while 95 shares dipped to new 1-year lows.
| Major Market Statistics | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 11015.69 | -372.75 | -3.27% |
| S&P500 Index | 1207.09 | -47.99 | -3.82% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 2178.98 | -94.92 | -4.17% |
| Nasdaq100 | 1665.94 | -79.12 | -4.53% |
| CBOE Volatility Index | 33.85 | +1.78 | 5.55% |
| CBOE Nasdaq100 Volatility Index | 35.46 | +1.20 | 3.5% |
Dow Darlings
- AIG (AIG) +0.87 (22.6%) to $4.72 on volume of 396.6m units
- Microsoft (MSFT) +0.24 (1%) to $25.4 on volume of 103.9m units
- Alcoa (AA) +0.01 (0%) to $26.8 on volume of 13.2m units
Dow Duds
- JPMorganChase (JPM) -6.25 (13.3%) to $40.8 on volume of 44.1m units
- General Motors (GM) -1.5 (11.5%) to $11.58 on volume of 17.7m units
- Bank Of America (BAC) -3.33 (8.9%) to $34.15 on volume of 64.6m units
- American Express (AXP) -3.11 (7.7%) to $37.29 on volume of 14.9m units
- Home Depot (HD) -1.75 (6.4%) to $25.62 on volume of 24.6m units
Most Traded Dow stocks
- AIG (AIG) +0.87 (22.6%) to $4.72 on volume of 396.6m units
- Citigroup (C) --0.64 (3.1%) to $20.01 on volume of 117m units
- Microsoft (MSFT) +0.24 (1%) to $25.4 on volume of 103.9m units
- Bank Of America (BAC) --3.33 (8.9%) to $34.15 on volume of 64.6m units
- General Electric (GE) --0.47 (1.8%) to $26.15 on volume of 56m units
Precious Metals
Well, we had a round trip back below $800 - exactly as I outlined almost three weeks ago. And then it all hit the fan, and the consequences of the proposed bailout have been correctly assumed to be massively inflationary - so Gold has been going bananas.
| Precious Metals Futures | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Gold | 904 | 43 | 4.99 |
| Silver | 13.575 | 1.1 | 8.82 |
| Palladium | 259.15 | 22.2 | 9.37 |
| Platinum | 1255 | 108 | 9.42 |
The Gold Bugs index (XAU) contains 16 components; the total volume traded in the index was 178.81m units. Within the index, 15 issues rose, with aggregate volume of 161.6m units; 1 issue fell, with aggregate volume of 17.21m units.
Today the index rose by 10.25 points (7.35%) to 149.64 points. Contributing to the advance were -
- Silver Stand Resources (SSRI) +3.62 (18.8%) to $22.9 on volume of 1.87m shares;
- RandGold Resources (GOLD) +6.55 (16.4%) to $46.52 on volume of 1.97m shares;
- Gold Fields Ltd (GFI) +1.16 (13.6%) to $9.72 on volume of 10.7m shares;
- GoldCorp (GG) +4.11 (12.8%) to $36.29 on volume of 21.56m shares; and
- Harmony Gold (HMY) +1.08 (11.5%) to $10.46 on volume of 4.17m shares.
Energy Complex
Energy futures got over their ridiculous expiration-week manipulation (it happens every month, and if you've got a few smarts you can make a msall fortune trading expiration week alone).
| Energy Futures | |||
| Commodity | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Crude Oil | 108.53 | 5.78 | 5.63 |
| Heating Oil | 3.0512 | 0.1339 | 4.59 |
| Natural Gas | 7.677 | 0.146 | 1.94 |
| Gasoline RBOB | 2.687 | 0.0873 | 3.36 |
| Ethanol | 2.242 | 0.047 | 2.14 |
The Oil Services index (OSX) contains 15 components; the total volume traded in the index was 92.04m units. Within the index, 5 issues rose, with aggregate volume of 26.11m units; 10 issues fell, with aggregate volume of 65.93m units.
Today the index fell by 0.53 points (0.19%) to 271.48 points. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Rowan Co (RDC) -0.86 (2.5%) to $33.55 on volume of 2.76m shares;
- Global Industries (GLBL) -0.18 (2%) to $9 on volume of 1.33m shares;
- Oceaneering International (OII) -1.23 (1.9%) to $62.89 on volume of 0.71m shares;
- Weatherford International (WFT) -0.52 (1.6%) to $31.51 on volume of 10.54m shares; and
- Cameron International (CAM) -0.58 (1.3%) to $44.27 on volume of 3.06m shares.
Bellwethers
The nine-stock group that makes up the Rant bellwethers advanced on average by 5.3% - mostly because unlike the Dow folks, I haven't yet taken Fannie and Freddie out of my Bellwethers list. I will do that when they are taken off the quote boards. The fallout occurred as follows:
- General Electric (GE) -0.47 (1.77%) to $26.15 on volume of 55.95m units.
- Citigroup (C) -0.64 (3.1%) to $20.01 on volume of 117.04m units.
- Wal-Mart (WMT) -0.81 (1.36%) to $58.89 on volume of 22.08m units.
- IBM (IBM) -2.64 (2.22%) to $116.21 on volume of 8.84m units.
- Intel (INTC) -0.73 (3.8%) to $18.50 on volume of 48.81m units.
- Cisco Systems (CSCO) -1.18 (4.86%) to $23.11 on volume of 52.61m units.
- Google (GOOG) -19.01 (4.23%) to $430.14 on volume of 4.36m units.
- Fannie Mae (FNM) +0.10 (14.49%) to $0.79 on volume of 76.35m units.
- Freddie Mac (FRE) +0.30 (54.55%) to $0.85 on volume of 85.28m units.
Other Indices of Interest...
The Banks index (BKX) contains 24 components; the total volume traded in the index was 646.02m units. Within the index, no issues rose, and none were unchanged; 24 issues fell, with aggregate volume of 646.02m units.
Today the index fell by 8.67 points (10.5%) to 73.88 points. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) -2.94 (23.1%) to $9.81 on volume of 6.91m shares;
- New M&I Corporation (MI) -6.68 (22.6%) to $22.82 on volume of 6.31m shares;
- Washington Mutual (WM) -0.92 (21.6%) to $3.33 on volume of 155.05m shares;
- Regions Financial (RF) -4.2 (21.2%) to $15.6 on volume of 10.71m shares; and
- People's United (PBCT) -3.4 (15.6%) to $18.35 on volume of 3.32m shares.
The Semiconductor index (SOX) contains 18 components; the total volume traded in the index was 209.83m units. All 18 issues fell, with aggregate volume of 209.83m units.
Today the index fell by 15.39 points (4.61%) to 318.52 points. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Micron Technology (MU) -0.51 (10.5%) to $4.33 on volume of 24m shares;
- Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) -0.43 (7.9%) to $4.99 on volume of 14.7m shares;
- Broadcom (BRCM) -1.59 (7.4%) to $19.8 on volume of 10.36m shares;
- KLA-Tencor Cp (KLAC) -2.4 (7%) to $31.93 on volume of 4.98m shares; and
- ST Microelectronic (STM) -0.76 (6.1%) to $11.65 on volume of 2.19m shares.
The ChildKiller ("Defence") index (DFX) contains 17 components; the total volume traded in the index was 87.49m units. Within the index, 1 issues rose, with aggregate volume of 0.29m units; 16 issues fell, with aggregate volume of 87.2m units.
Today the index fell by 9.37 points (2.63%) to 346.37 points. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- FLIRr Systems (FLIR) -2.46 (6.5%) to $35.55 on volume of 1.04m shares;
- Esterline Tech (ESL) -2.26 (5.2%) to $41.11 on volume of 0.59m shares;
- Embraer Empresa (ERJ) -1.34 (4.3%) to $30 on volume of 1.26m shares;
- United Technologies (UTX) -2.68 (4.2%) to $61.62 on volume of 7.46m shares; and
- ITT Corporation (ITT) -2.26 (3.9%) to $55.71 on volume of 1.33m shares.
Currency Futures
Currency futures performed as follows -
| Currency Futures | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| U.S. Dollar Index | 76.36 | -1.58 | -2.03 |
| Euro FX | 1.478 | 0.0337 | 2.33 |
| Swiss Franc | 0.9329 | 0.0227 | 2.49 |
| Australian Dollar | 0.8455 | 0.0202 | 2.45 |
| Canadian Dollar | 0.9682 | 0.0157 | 1.65 |
| Japanese Yen | 0.9559 | 0.0144 | 1.53 |
| New Zealand Dollar | 0.6861 | 0.0054 | 0.79 |
