Note - from June 24th 2009, this blog has migrated from Blogger to a self-hosted version. Click here to go straight there.
No time for prefatory remarks... except to say the all bounces will end in failure until a genuine washout capitulation.
Economic News
Industrial Production rose by 1.3% - mostly a dead-cat bounce after the hurricance-affected decline of 2.8% in September; Capacity Utilisation continued weak at 76.4%.
It's not clear to me how the consensus estimates for IP could have been so low (the consensus estimate was for a gain of just over 0.15%). Blind Freddie should have expected a bounce due to the resumption of production at plant that was idled last month due to hurricanes.
Apart from that, the New York Empire State Index fell to a record low - but it was better than consensus.
It seems that the collective wisdom of Wall Street has continued its low-balling of expectations: I suppose it's the only way to jawbone the economy... if your economy is weaker than a French military defensive formation.
It's the "Bush Doctrine of Low Expectations" - which has been appliedf by the Bush Dynasty to its reta5rded eldest son since his teens. Now it's Wall Street policy as well: expect that things will be much worse than the worst time on record... and hope you're wrong..
So...
Headline Indices
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 223.73 points (2.63%) to 8273.58 points. The index high for the day was 8571.30, while the low was 8246.89.
The high happened just before 12:45 p.m., after a 320-point bounce off the intraday low (at 10:22 a.m.). So yet aghain, we have the market trying to shrug off bad news (Citigroup sacking 20% of its workforce, NY's data showing a real malaise, and so on).
This 'bad news is good news' mentality is not a signal of a bottom. It is a signal that the US government gave orders to the PPT to try and goose the markets, so that the media could be given orders to parrot that the market had given a vote of confidence in the G20 wankfest.
The total volume traded in the Dow was 1.11bn units. Just 3 Dow components rose, and advancing volume was just 146.5m units; 27 issues fell, with aggregate declining volume hitting 967.99m units.
The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Alcoa (AA) -1.17 (10.8%) to $9.67 on volume of 25.04m shares;
- Bank Of America (BAC) -1.39 (8.5%) to $15.03 on volume of 128.99m shares;
- AIG (AIG) -0.17 (8.2%) to $1.91 on volume of 54.52m shares;
- Citigroup (C) -0.63 (6.6%) to $8.89 on volume of 166.96m shares; and
- Disney Corp (DIS) -1.34 (6.4%) to $19.74 on volume of 20.65m shares.
The S&P500 Index lost 22.54 points (2.58%) to 850.75 points; the total volume traded in the index was 3.96bn shares. 66 index components rose, while 422 fell. Declining volume was 3.45bn shares, while advancing volume hit 502.27m units.
The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Hartford Financial Svc.Gp. (HIG) -3.39 (26.8%) to $9.26 on volume of 20.8m shares;
- MetLife Inc. (MET) -5.91 (21%) to $22.23 on volume of 13.46m shares;
- Federal Home Loan Mtg. (FRE) -0.14 (20.9%) to $0.53 on volume of 13.18m shares;
- Prudential Financial (PRU) -4.35 (17.2%) to $20.89 on volume of 10.67m shares; and
- Unisys Corp. (UIS) -0.11 (17.2%) to $0.53 on volume of 7.35m shares.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 34.8 points (2.29%) to 1482.05 points; the Nasdaq100 lost 27.67 points (2.35%) to 1151.96 points..
The Nasdaq100 index (NDX) contains 100 components; the total volume traded in the index was 885.55m units. Within the index, 18 issues rose, with aggregate volume of 131.87m units; 79 issues fell, with aggregate volume of 750.76m units.
Today the index fell by 27.67 points (2.35%) to 1151.96 points. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Baidu.com (BIDU) -44.8 (25%) to $134.09 on volume of 12.49m shares;
- Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) -25.07 (16.9%) to $123.34 on volume of 2.57m shares;
- Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) -0.033 (12.5%) to $0.23 on volume of 31.3m shares;
- Sun Microsystems (JAVA) -0.51 (12.4%) to $3.61 on volume of 14.81m shares; and
- Lamar Advertising (LAMR) -1.76 (11.8%) to $13.12 on volume of 1.04m shares.
Volatility
The CBOE Volatility Index advanced +2.84 points (4.28%) to 69.15 points and the CBOE Nasdaq100 Volatility Index advanced +2.55 points (3.86%) to 68.60 points..
Breadth and Internals
A total of 3741 issues traded today on the NYSE; today's total volume was 1.21bn shares. A total of 899 stocks posted gains for the day, and volume in advancing issues totalled 1.07bn shares. Exerting downwards pressure on the index were 2769 losers, which accounted for a total declining volume of 0.11bn shares. 5 stocks made new 1-year highs on the NYSE, while 365 shares plumbed new 52-week depths.
On the Nasdaq 2998 tickers traded today; total Nasdaq volume was 1.83bn shares. A total of 933 stocks posted gains for the day, with aggregate volume of 0.32bn shares changing hands in the day's winners. The red zone of the Nasdaq exchange comprised 1935 losers, and total declining volume was 1.48bn shares. 4 Nasdaq-listed stocks hit new 52-week highs, while 415 shares dipped to new 1-year lows.
| Major Market Statistics | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 8273.58 | -223.73 | -2.63% |
| S&P500 Index | 850.75 | -22.54 | -2.58% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 1482.05 | -34.80 | -2.29% |
| Nasdaq100 | 1151.96 | -27.67 | -2.35% |
| CBOE Volatility Index | 69.15 | +2.84 | 4.28% |
| CBOE Nasdaq100 Volatility Index | 68.60 | +2.55 | 3.86% |
Dow Darlings
- General Motors (GM) +0.17 (5.6%) to $3.18 on volume of 42.1m units
- General Electric (GE) +0.09 (0.6%) to $16.11 on volume of 97.4m units
- Boeing (BA) +0.14 (0.3%) to $41.18 on volume of 7m units
Dow Duds:
- Alcoa (AA) -1.17 (10.8%) to $9.67 on volume of 25m units
- Bank Of America (BAC) -1.39 (8.5%) to $15.03 on volume of 129m units
- Citigroup (C) -0.63 (6.6%) to $8.89 on volume of 167m units
- Disney Corp (DIS) -1.34 (6.4%) to $19.74 on volume of 20.7m units
- JPMorganChase (JPM) -1.7 (4.9%) to $32.77 on volume of 57.4m units
Most Traded Dow stocks:
- Citigroup (C) --0.63 (6.6%) to $8.89 on volume of 167m units
- Bank Of America (BAC) --1.39 (8.5%) to $15.03 on volume of 129m units
- General Electric (GE) +0.09 (0.6%) to $16.11 on volume of 97.4m units
- Microsoft (MSFT) --0.74 (3.7%) to $19.32 on volume of 95.4m units
- Intel (INTC) --0.32 (2.4%) to $13 on volume of 59m units
Precious Metals
Precious metals futures were soft...
| Precious Metals Futures | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Gold | 737.4 | -5.1 | -0.69 |
| Silver | 9.275 | -0.215 | -2.27 |
| Palladium | 216.15 | -0.5 | -0.23 |
| Platinum | 819.9 | -25.2 | -2.98 |
The Gold Bugs index (XAU) contains 16 components; the total volume traded in the index was 106.71m units. Within the index, 1 issue rose, with aggregate volume of 4.71m units; 14 issues fell, with aggregate volume of 100.83m units.
Today the index fell by 3.9 points (4.86%) to 76.3 points. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Silver Wheaton (SLW) -0.43 (13.2%) to $2.82 on volume of 5.45m shares;
- Silver Stand Resources (SSRI) -0.92 (10.2%) to $8.14 on volume of 1.03m shares;
- GoldCorp (GG) -2 (9.2%) to $19.66 on volume of 14.97m shares;
- Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) -2.85 (8.6%) to $30.21 on volume of 4.7m shares; and
- Barrick Gold (ABX) -1.14 (5.1%) to $21.15 on volume of 11.67m shares.
Energy Complex
Energy futures were also soft -
| Energy Futures | |||
| Commodity | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Crude Oil | 55 | -2.04 | -3.58 |
| Heating Oil | 1.7925 | -0.0393 | -2.15 |
| Natural Gas | 6.56 | 0.248 | 3.93 |
| Gasoline RBOB | 1.1742 | -0.0649 | -5.24 |
| Ethanol | 1.697 | 0.036 | 2.17 |
The Oil Services index (OSX) contains 15 components; the total volume traded in the index was 93.04m units. Within the index, 1 issue rose, with aggregate volume of 8.52m units; 14 issues fell, with aggregate volume of 84.52m units.
Today the index fell by 3.9 points (2.9%) to 130.52 points. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Tidewater (TDW) -2.57 (6.5%) to $37.22 on volume of 1.35m shares;
- Oceaneering International (OII) -1.57 (6.1%) to $24.28 on volume of 0.96m shares;
- Cameron International (CAM) -1.01 (4.9%) to $19.61 on volume of 7.01m shares;
- National Oilwell Varco (NOV) -1.05 (4.1%) to $24.76 on volume of 6.44m shares; and
- Halliburton (HAL) -0.59 (3.3%) to $17.52 on volume of 14.22m shares.
Currency Futures
Currency futures performed as follows -
| Currency Futures | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| U.S. Dollar Index | 87.28 | 0.495 | 0.57 |
| Euro FX | 1.2663 | -0.0115 | -0.9 |
| Swiss Franc | 0.8353 | -0.0084 | -1 |
| Soybeans | 906 | 10 | 1.12 |
| Australian Dollar | 0.6531 | -0.0108 | -1.63 |
| Canadian Dollar | 0.8172 | -0.0029 | -0.35 |
| Japanese Yen | 1.0324 | 0.0065 | 0.63 |
| New Zealand Dollar | 0.5553 | -0.0073 | -1.3 |
Bellwethers
The nine-stock group that makes up the Rant bellwethers declined on average by 6.3%. The fallout occurred as follows:
- General Electric (GE) +0.09 (0.56%) to $16.11 on volume of 97.4m units.
- Citigroup (C) -0.63 (6.62%) to $8.89 on volume of 166.98m units.
- Wal-Mart (WMT) -0.9 (1.71%) to $51.81 on volume of 26.19m units.
- IBM (IBM) -2.85 (3.55%) to $77.48 on volume of 10.29m units.
- Intel (INTC) -0.32 (2.4%) to $13.00 on volume of 59.03m units.
- Cisco Systems (CSCO) -0.41 (2.47%) to $16.21 on volume of 46.32m units.
- Google (GOOG) -9.9 (3.19%) to $300.12 on volume of 7.47m units.
- Fannie Mae (FNM) -0.09 (16.67%) to $0.45 on volume of 28.34m units.
- Freddie Mac (FRE) -0.14 (20.9%) to $0.53 on volume of 13.2m units.
Other Indices of Interest...
The Banks index (BKX) contains 24 components; the total volume traded in the index was 617.34m units. Within the index, 1 stock rose, with aggregate volume of 6.29m units; 22 issues fell, with aggregate volume of 611.06m units.
Today the index fell by 2.28 points (4.71%) to 46.12 points. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Bank Of NY Mellon (BK) -2.89 (9.6%) to $27.35 on volume of 11.11m shares;
- Bank Of America (BAC) -1.39 (8.5%) to $15.03 on volume of 128.99m shares;
- Zions Bancorp (ZION) -2.66 (8.1%) to $30.03 on volume of 2.18m shares;
- Citigroup Inc (C) -0.63 (6.6%) to $8.89 on volume of 166.96m shares; and
- Regions Financial (RF) -0.61 (6.3%) to $9.06 on volume of 11.07m shares.
The Semiconductor index (SOX) contains 18 components; the total volume traded in the index was 198.56m units. Within the index, 2 issues rose, with aggregate volume of 20.49m units; 16 issues fell, with aggregate volume of 178.07m units.
Today the index fell by 5.67 points (2.82%) to 195.72 points. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Teradyne (TER) -0.29 (7.2%) to $3.76 on volume of 2.28m shares;
- Micron Technology (MU) -0.18 (6.5%) to $2.57 on volume of 15.24m shares;
- Infineon Tech (IFX) -0.13 (4.7%) to $2.64 on volume of 1.78m shares;
- KLA-Tencor Cp (KLAC) -0.79 (4.4%) to $17.37 on volume of 4.49m shares; and
- Broadcom (BRCM) -0.66 (4.3%) to $14.72 on volume of 9.41m shares.
The ChildKiller ("Defence") index (DFX) contains 17 components; the total volume traded in the index was 131.27m units. Within the index, 6 issues rose, with aggregate volume of 107.65m units; 10 issues fell, with aggregate volume of 23.56m units.
Today the index fell by 2.77 points (1.15%) to 237.07 points. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Rockwell Collins (COL) -1.55 (4.7%) to $31.52 on volume of 1.46m shares;
- United Technologies (UTX) -2.08 (4.1%) to $48.15 on volume of 8.02m shares;
- General Dynamics (GD) -2 (3.6%) to $53.51 on volume of 3.58m shares;
- Raytheon (RTN) -0.99 (2.1%) to $46.92 on volume of 3.82m shares; and
- ITT Corporation (ITT) -0.84 (2%) to $40.15 on volume of 0.81m shares.
