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My Swine Flu Death Spiral continues - last night I hardly slept, due to an awful dry throat and nose. No coughing, no temperature, no aches or pains apart from those caused by a trip to the gym... in short, no 'flu like' symptoms.
Even my snotty nose dried up terribly during the night - I had to get up four times to drink water to try and make the rasping go away.
I'm convinced the dry throat is caused by the air conditioning - the air that circulates in a mostly-closed skyscraper is obviously going to be as dry as a bone. I bet Teh Google can tell me how to ameliorate the lack of humidity.
US markets had one short spurt (upwards), then sat in a holding pattern for six hours - Hope springs eternal.
It's funny in a sad sort of way: the Shiny Happy Idiots at CNBC and Bloomberg have to try to spin shit into gold based on the second derivative - that rates of decline are slowing (in month-to-month numbers). In other words, they're looking for a divergence (of sorts).
Well let me tell you - I can spot a divergence. That's pretty much my whole 'thing' when it comes to trading: in fact I tend to spot them early, and act on them straight away (like the DAX long in late Feb).
There is no economic divergence underway in the United States, or in any other western economy: the tiny slowing in economic decline has been due to an absolute flood of newly-generated monetary base, a flood of government debt-funded handouts, plus a wall-to-wall propaganda effort.
You can't do that more than once - nobody will buy the bonds necessary to fund a second go.
Headline Indices
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 58.42 points (0.69%) to 8555.60 points. The index high for the day was 8590.52 just after 1pm. The low was 8475.12, set in the first half-hour. The sole 'pure move' of the day was a 30-minute burst between 9:45 a.m. and 10:15 a.m., which drove the Dow from its session low to within 10 points of its session high. The rest of the day was churn.
Total volume traded in the 30 components of the index was 1.32bn shares. Advancers outpaced decliners by 2.6 to one, with 21 advancers to 8 decliners. Advancing volume exceeded declining volume by 953.91m to 363.79m shares. The biggest gainers (percentage-wise) were -
- Bank Of America (BAC) +0.60 (4.9%) to $12.90 on volume of 337.55m shares;
- JPMorganChase (JPM) +1.44 (4.4%) to $34.17 on volume of 60.42m shares;
- Merck (MRK) +0.88 (3.6%) to $25.65 on volume of 20.46m shares; and
- Coca-Cola (KO) +1.62 (3.4%) to $49.55 on volume of 12.06m shares.
The S&P500 index (SPX) advanced 7.66 points (0.84%) to 918.37 points. Total volume traded in the 500 components of the index was 3.91bn shares. Advancers outpaced decliners by 1.5 to one, with 288 advancers to 188 decliners. Advancing volume exceeded declining volume by 2.46bn to 1.41bn shares. The biggest gainers (percentage-wise) were -
- American CapitalLtd. (ACAS) +0.8 (32.4%) to $3.27 on volume of 11.64m shares;
- Coventry Health Care Inc. (CVH) +1.54 (9.2%) to $18.3 on volume of 3.78m shares;
- CIGNA Corp. (CI) +1.82 (8.3%) to $23.66 on volume of 8.13m shares;
- Humana Inc. (HUM) +2.3 (8.1%) to $30.64 on volume of 5.28m shares; and
- KeyCorp (KEY) +0.41 (7.5%) to $5.87 on volume of 21.11m shares.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.34 points (0.02%) to 1807.72 points. while the Nasdaq100 dropped 2.09 points (0.14%) to 1453.80 points. Total volume traded in the 100 components of the NDX was 787.59m shares. Decliners outpaced gainers by 1.3 to one, with 55 decliners to 42 advancers. Declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 564.13m to 216.37m shares. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) -0.0555 (14%) to $0.3405 on volume of 109.75m shares;
- SanDisk (SNDK) -0.92 (6.1%) to $14.13 on volume of 10.61m shares;
- UAL (UAUA) -0.16 (4%) to $3.82 on volume of 6.78m shares;
- Marvell Technology Group (MRVL) -0.39 (3.3%) to $11.27 on volume of 18.4m shares; and
- Broadcom (BRCM) -0.84 (3.2%) to $25.12 on volume of 7.53m shares.
Volatility
The CBOE Volatility Index dropped 1.51 points (4.79%) to 30.03 points. and the CBOE Nasdaq100 Volatility Index lost 1.44 points (4.58%) to 30.03 points..
Breadth and Internals
A total of 3834 issues traded today on the NYSE; 2156 stocks posted gains for the day, and there were 1569 losers. 15 stocks made new 1-year highs on the NYSE, while 40 shares plumbed new 52-week depths.
On the Nasdaq 2815 tickers traded today; total Nasdaq volume was 2.04bn shares. A total of 1418 stocks posted gains for the day, with aggregate volume of 0.79bn shares changing hands in the day's winners. The red zone of the Nasdaq exchange comprised 1258 losers, and total declining volume was 1.21bn shares. 24 Nasdaq-listed stocks hit new 52-week highs, while 11 shares dipped to new 1-year lows.
| Major Market Statistics | |||
| Index | Close | Gain(Loss) | % |
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 8555.60 | +58.42 | 0.69% |
| S&P500 Index | 918.37 | +7.66 | 0.84% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 1807.72 | -0.34 | -0.02% |
| Nasdaq100 | 1453.80 | -2.09 | -0.14% |
| CBOE Volatility Index | 30.03 | -1.51 | -4.79% |
| CBOE Nasdaq100 Volatility Index | 30.03 | -1.44 | -4.58% |
Dow Darlings
- Bank Of America (BAC) +0.6 (4.9%) to $12.9 on volume of 338.6m units
- JPMorganChase (JPM) +1.44 (4.4%) to $34.17 on volume of 60.4m units
- Merck (MRK) +0.88 (3.6%) to $25.65 on volume of 20.5m units
- Coca-Cola (KO) +1.62 (3.4%) to $49.55 on volume of 12.1m units
- Alcoa (AA) +0.29 (2.8%) to $10.78 on volume of 40.1m units
Dow Duds:
- Caterpillar (CAT) -0.72 (2.1%) to $34.08 on volume of 16.2m units
- Intel (INTC) -0.27 (1.7%) to $15.87 on volume of 56.6m units
- General Electric (GE) -0.18 (1.5%) to $11.97 on volume of 175.9m units
- Home Depot (HD) -0.3 (1.3%) to $23.35 on volume of 11.4m units
- Microsoft (MSFT) -0.18 (0.8%) to $23.5 on volume of 58.5m units
Most Traded Dow stocks:
- Bank Of America (BAC) +0.6 (4.9%) to $12.9 on volume of 338.6m units
- General Electric (GE) --0.18 (1.5%) to $11.97 on volume of 175.9m units
- Pfizer (PFE) +0.34 (2.3%) to $14.92 on volume of 66.8m units
- JPMorganChase (JPM) +1.44 (4.4%) to $34.17 on volume of 60.4m units
- Microsoft (MSFT) --0.18 (0.8%) to $23.5 on volume of 58.5m units
Precious Metals
The Gold Bugs index (XAU) dropped 2.23 points (1.6%) to 137.54 points. Total volume traded in the 16 components of the index was 105.81m shares. Decliners outpaced gainers by 7 to one, with 14 decliners to 2 advancers. Declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 83.75m to 22.05m shares. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Pan-American Silver (PAAS) -1.8 (8.8%) to $18.59 on volume of 3.88m shares;
- Silver Wheaton (SLW) -0.5 (5.7%) to $8.3 on volume of 9m shares;
- Silver Stand Resources (SSRI) -1.09 (5.7%) to $18.13 on volume of 1.87m shares;
- Coeur d'Alene (CDE) -0.58 (5.3%) to $10.45 on volume of 2.44m shares; and
- Royal Gold (RGLD) -1.75 (4%) to $41.98 on volume of 0.68m shares.
Energy Complex
The Oil Services index (OSX) lost -0.25 points (0.15%) to 167.46 points. Total volume traded in the 15 components of the index was 75.62m shares. Decliners outpaced gainers by 4 to one, with 12 decliners to 3 advancers. Declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 59.41m to 16.21m shares. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -
- Global Industries (GLBL) -0.16 (2.5%) to $6.2 on volume of 1m shares;
- Halliburton (HAL) -0.31 (1.4%) to $21.52 on volume of 16.77m shares;
- Rowan Co (RDC) -0.2 (1%) to $20.37 on volume of 3.53m shares;
- Cameron International (CAM) -0.23 (0.8%) to $28.53 on volume of 2.87m shares; and
- Smith International (SII) -0.21 (0.8%) to $27.15 on volume of 3.4m shares.
Bellwethers
The nine-stock group that makes up the Rant bellwethers advanced on average by 0.6%. The fallout occurred as follows:
- General Electric (GE) -0.18 (1.48%) to $11.97 on volume of 175.93m units.
- Citigroup (C) +0.05 (1.62%) to $3.13 on volume of 224.67m units.
- Wal-Mart (WMT) +0.12 (0.25%) to $48.68 on volume of 13.83m units.
- IBM (IBM) -0.67 (0.63%) to $106.33 on volume of 6.19m units.
- Intel (INTC) -0.27 (1.67%) to $15.87 on volume of 56.63m units.
- Cisco Systems (CSCO) -0.21 (1.09%) to $18.99 on volume of 36.75m units.
- Google (GOOG) -1.1 (0.26%) to $414.06 on volume of 3.06m units.
- Fannie Mae (FNM) +0.02 (3.17%) to $0.65 on volume of 5.56m units.
- Freddie Mac (FRE) +0.04 (5.88%) to $0.72 on volume of 3.1m units.
Other Indices of Interest...
The Banks index (BKX) rose 1.05 points (2.96%) to 36.57 points. Total volume traded in the 24 components of the index was 905.98m shares. Advancers outpaced decliners by 9.5 to one, with 19 advancers to 2 decliners. Advancing volume exceeded declining volume by 883.02m to 22.96m shares. The biggest gainers (percentage-wise) were -
- Keycorp (KEY) +0.41 (7.5%) to $5.87 on volume of 21.11m shares;
- Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB) +0.43 (6.3%) to $7.24 on volume of 31.25m shares;
- Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) +0.23 (5.6%) to $4.33 on volume of 26.36m shares;
- Bank Of America (BAC) +0.6 (4.9%) to $12.9 on volume of 337.55m shares; and
- Comerica Inc (CMA) +0.91 (4.5%) to $21.29 on volume of 3.4m shares.
The ChildKiller ("Defence") index (DFX) gained 0.02 points (0.01%) to 250.68 points. Total volume traded in the 17 components of the index was 199.92m shares. Advancers outpaced decliners by 3 to one, with 12 advancers to 4 decliners; however declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 179.54m to 20.38m shares. The biggest gainers (percentage-wise) were -
- Gencorp (GY) +0.05 (2.5%) to $2.08 on volume of 0.66m shares;
- Lockheed Martin (LMT) +1.44 (1.8%) to $83.49 on volume of 2.06m shares;
- Alliant Tech (ATK) +1.25 (1.5%) to $86.69 on volume of 0.33m shares;
- Raytheon (RTN) +0.6 (1.3%) to $45.91 on volume of 2.78m shares; and
- General Dynamics (GD) +0.59 (1%) to $58.21 on volume of 1.64m shares.
