STOCK MARKET WATCH, THURSDAY OCT 23....(#1)

[ozymandius]

Thursday October 23, 2003

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 459
REICH-WING RUBBERSTAMP-Congress = DAY 339
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 2 YEARS, 314 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 2 YEARS, 7 DAYS
WHERE'S SADDAM? WHERE ARE THE WMD'S? - DAY 214
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 698
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 17
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 1
Other Arrests of Execs = 53

U.S. FUTURES & MARKETS INDICATORS
NASDAQ FUTURES-----------------------------S&P FUTURES




AT THE CLOSING BELL ON October 22, 2003

Dow... 9,598.24 -149.40 (-1.53%)
Nasdaq... 1,898.07 -42.83 (-2.21%)
S&P 500.... 1,030.36 -15.67 (-1.50%)
10-Yr Bond... 4.27% -0.09 (-2.13%)
Gold future... 386.80 +4.80 (+1.26%)

DOW..........................NASDAQ.......................S&P

||


GOLD, EURO, YEN and Dollars


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PIEHOLE ALERT

Heads Up!
Preliminary info on appearances by Bush & Co. throughout the country. Details & links are added as they become available so check back. And if you know more, are organizing something, or would like to, contact [e-mail]

For information on protests and other actions Citizens For Legitimate Government

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[WillyT]

1. Hey Oz, You Check Out The World Markets Yet ???

Link: http://finance.yahoo.com/m2?u

What's up with THAT???

:shrug:

[Maeve]

2. Yesterday's Wall Street bears are getting the blame

"Tokyo's plunge was replicated across the region, as Asian markets reacted to Wall Street's biggest drop in a month Wednesday. Shaky U.S. earnings and a weaker dollar weighed on investors."
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/BUSINESS/10/23/asiastocks.thursclose/index.html

[ozymandius]

3. I caught a glimpse of that.

It looks sinister. I am heading over there to assess the situation. Thanks!

ON EDIT: I see nothing but bruise colored skies. Sturm und Drag underlays the financial news pages today.

[Maeve]

4. A cautious good morning, Marketeers

Because it looks like a bumpy ride today!

Thursday means Initial claims revisions, er, reports. Last week we had 384K, under the supposed break-point of 400K--higher means a contracting labor market, lower means job growth. Expectations are for a slightly higher figure this week--385K.

If the report comes out at 388K or less, I predict last week's number will be revised upward to show a drop, but I expect it to be revised upward in any case, showing a "not so bad" rise if that happens, too. Sigh.

edited to emphasize and I was RIGHT, damn it! I wish they'd prove me wrong once in a while!

[ozymandius]

6. Good morning Maeve.

It's good to be spending some time on the board with you today.
:donut: :donut: :donut: :donut: :donut:

The family and I have a leisure day planned. Tomorrow is back-to-work as usual.

[Maeve]

7. BTW, congrats on one of the longest running threads in the Lounge!

Day 23 of "How quickly will this thread die?"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=244916&mesg_id=244916

It's alive!!! :bounce::bounce::bounce:

[ozymandius]

9. Thank you.

That thread has become much more than I ever expected it to be. I honestly anticipated that thing dying a speedy death when I posted it.

[ozymandius]

5. WrapUp by Mike Hartman

Stocks and the Dollar Close Sharply Lower

Today’s sell-off in stocks was led by technology shares and expanded to nearly every sector of the market. The Dow Jones Sectors are divided into ten primary sectors with 66 sub-groups. Nine of the ten primary sectors lost ground today and of the 66 sub-groups, 58 closed with a loss. The Healthcare Index took the biggest hit for a loss of 2.9% followed by Basic Materials and Technology which dropped by just over two percent. For today’s session the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 149 points or 1.5% to close at 9,598, the NASDAQ Composite fell over 42 points or 2.2% to close at 1,898, and the S&P 500 shed 15 points or 1.5% to close at 1,030. For the last two hours the Dow struggled to hold onto the 9,600 level while the NASDAQ struggled with the 1,900 line.

<cut>

Treasuries and the Dollar

Today’s sell-off in stocks was led by technology shares and expanded to nearly every sector of the market. The Dow Jones Sectors are divided into ten primary sectors with 66 sub-groups. Nine of the ten primary sectors lost ground today and of the 66 sub-groups, 58 closed with a loss. The Healthcare Index took the biggest hit for a loss of 2.9% followed by Basic Materials and Technology which dropped by just over two percent. For today’s session the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 149 points or 1.5% to close at 9,598, the NASDAQ Composite fell over 42 points or 2.2% to close at 1,898, and the S&P 500 shed 15 points or 1.5% to close at 1,030. For the last two hours the Dow struggled to hold onto the 9,600 level while the NASDAQ struggled with the 1,900 line.

Commodities, Gold and Silver

<cut>
When it is all said and done, the lower dollar will mean less purchasing power for the money you earn. Wages will need to increase dramatically just to keep up with the falling dollar. I don’t see that happening. Unemployment is putting downward pressure on wages as can be seen by the labor strike from the grocery stores. It seems management has no desire to negotiate since they know they can hire workers for less compensation. I wonder if the striking workers know that the unemployment numbers are “massaged” to look good. I read independent reports that claim our true unemployment rate is closer to 10-11%. With that information they might have been more reluctant to go on strike. I feel bad for the workers that got locked-out, but management is trying to survive.

more to this.

Be sure to read about the misfortunes visited upon Seagate Technologies. I believe this accurately reflects the psychology of the market today.

[ozymandius]

8. Dollar sinks as equity markets fall

The dollar fell to fresh multi-year lows against a range of currencies on Thursday, as sharp losses on Wall Street prompted a broad flight from US assets.

The commodity currencies made the largest gains as the greenback slid to six-year lows against the New Zealand dollar and the Australian dollar, and neared a 10-year trough against the Canadian dollar.

But the main story was undoubtedly the tumbling equity markets. Overnight in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.5 per cent, while the Nasdaq Composite shed 2.2 per cent.

story

[UpInArms]

20. daily dollar watch

and it looks as though it's trying to find support

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DXY0

Last trade 91.53 Change +0.26 (+0.28%)

[JNelson6563]

10. There's a chill wind in the air....

Good morning all--

My oh my but futures are ugly again this morning! Asian markets battered and bruised. Europe not faring any better....ouch!

Bush isn't doin' so great abroad either. Protests everywhere. I wonder what it feels like to be the mosted hated man on the planet. And he's such a tough guy! His momma went on TV to snarl at all his enemies. hahaha!!!!!!!

Thanks to all for posting all the news this morning, lots to keep track of these days.

I hope everybody has the hatches battoned down. :hi:

Julie

[ozymandius]

12. Good morning Julie.

Ayiee! Ayiee! Ayiee! Battered and bruised is right. It really looks bad when the traditional cheerleading squad is wearing flak jackets. I see no positive spin at all in the day's news.

I hope everyone in your neck of the woods is doing great.

[ozymandius]

11. Stocks Set to Slide, Extending Rout - 9 minutes ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors girded for stocks to drop at Thursday's open as weak results from companies like software maker Computer Associates International Inc. (NYSE:CA - news) and a steep sell-off in Japan soured sentiment on Wall Street.

<cut>

The disappointing results come at the height of the third-quarter earnings season and on top of a big sell-off on Wednesday. The Dow and the Nasdaq notched their biggest daily percentage drops in a month as investors worried that much of the positive earnings news has already been priced into the market.

<cut>

Disappointing company earnings and sudden concerns about higher interest rates sent overseas stocks sliding on Thursday, lifting demand for U.S. Treasuries and battering the dollar against most major currencies.

story

[ozymandius]

13. JOBS DATA, EARNINGS IN FOCUS

From above article...

Wall Street will digest the latest weekly jobless claims number at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT). New jobless claims are expected to total 385,000 for the week ended Oct. 18 -- barely changed from the previous week's 384,000 new claims. Economists say claims above 400,000 suggest a deteriorating job market, while claims below that signal improvement.

[JNelson6563]

15. if jobs come in at 385,000

I'd wager that last week's numbers will have also been revised to make 385,000 a drop (I think Maeve has said this above). One would think more would be onto this game.

Of course the way things look lately, the jig may well be up already.

Do you all think this is the bad hit we've all been bracing for? I long held that the one-trick-ponies utilized to achieve decent qurterly reports were going to run out and I was convinced that would be this quarter. Then last week the reports started coming out and it was all sunshine and flowers. I was thinking maybe they pulled it off again. Then this week began and the cautious statements for 4Q earnings and '04 outlooks actually got mention among other things and BAM! Reality seems to have hit. Hard.

If nothing else we live in really interesting times. The kind that will be referred to for a long, long time to come. Hopefully not because that's how long we'll be fixing this mess! :-)

Julie

[Maeve]

16. Damn! Right again!

I wish they would stop being so damn predictable!!!
"Jobless claims declined to 386,000 in week ended Oct. 18 from revised 390,000 in prior week. Details coming."
http://money.cnn.com/

[Yavin4]

18. If Only You Could Make Money on These Predictions

then you'd qualify for one of Bush's tax cuts.

[JNelson6563]

19. haha! Claims down!

Down to 386,000 from last week's 385,000!!! LOL!!! When they announced this week's #s on CNBC they didn't state last week's #s OR the revision to 390,000. Just said claims down 4000 to 386,000 and that last week's #s were down too.

What next? An "increase" in chocolate rations? :eyes:

Julie

Edit from 900,000 to 390,000--no more whiskey with breakfast for me!

[ozymandius]

21. "the labor market was inching slowly toward health"

"Claims for the week ending Oct. 11 were revised up to 390,000 rather than the 384,000 previously reported, but still comported with economists' belief that the pace of layoffs are stabilizing."

link to story

At least they say it: "revised up to 390,000 rather than the 384,000 previously reported".

Question: How can layoffs be stabilizing when we are still shedding jobs at this pace as we head into the holiday buying season?

[jab105]

38. Wow, your prediction was dead on!!

impressive...

[Maeve]

39. Nah...just proof I've been at this too long!

There is no such thing as "too cynical" anymore....

But thanks. :hi:

[ozymandius]

17. Cult of Personality

Just as the Reagan Administration's criminal activities have been masked by Reagan's personality cult exhalting his 'grandfatherly' demeanor; Bush seeks to replicate the Reagan mystique. Only he cannot. Among staunch conservatives I know, Bush has blown his 'nice guy' image with his warmongering and his total inability to appreciate the value of money.

I do not believe that we have anything to fear of Bush assuming the charm and lyrical wit of Reagan. In fact, I believe that Bush's personality credit may already be exhausted.

[ozymandius]

14. Treasuries Rise as Shorts Run for Cover

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury prices climbed for the fourth straight session on Wednesday as a decline in stock prices reinforced a stubborn upward tug in government debt markets.

Many traders who had bet the recent slide in bonds would continue this week had borrowed Treasuries to sell them, hoping to buy them back at lower prices. Such short positions proved fruitless against a market that refused to go down, forcing investors to unwind their trades.

Given a dearth of new figures this week to remind bonds that the U.S. economy is probably still on a strong growth track this quarter, Treasury prices have slowly but surely ground their way higher.

story

[Maeve]

22. Ready, kids? Here we go!

Dow 9,566.17 -32.07 (-0.33%)
Nasdaq 1,878.15 -19.92 (-1.05%)
S&P 500 1,026.78 -3.58 (-0.35%)
10-Yr Bond 4.268% -0.005

[UpInArms]

23. can anyone say "PPT"?

Dow 9,578.61 -19.63 (-0.20%)
Nasdaq 1,878.05 -20.02 (-1.05%)
S&P 500 1,027.79 -2.57 (-0.25%)
10-Yr Bond 4.264% -0.009

http://www.quicken.com/investments/news_center/story/?story=NewsStory/dowJones/20031023/ON200310230859001075.var&column=P0DST

Stocks looked unlikely to reverse Wednesday's steep decline Thursday morning amid tepid earnings results and bruising losses for markets in Europe and Asia. A new report on U.S. unemployment levels showed little change in the labor market.

Futures-market activity on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index indicated that the Dow Jones Industrial Average was likely to drop about 80 points shortly after the start of trading.

Overseas, the mood was grim. Tokyo stocks plunged at their sharpest pace in two years as U.S. futures weakened and as worries about the outlook for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration prompted heavy profit- taking. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 554.46 points to end at 10335.16, marking the largest point fall for a single day since September 2001.

[JNelson6563]

24. yes, PPT & fake UE #s

anything it takes to make things appear healthy and stable.

10:30

Dow 9,615.50 +17.26 (+0.18%)
Nasdaq 1,890.35 -7.72 (-0.41%)
S&P 500 1,032.25 +1.89 (+0.18%)
10-Yr Bond 4.283% +0.010


Julie

[KoKo]

27. PPT Galloping to the Rescue.......I was wondering when they would wake up!

They must have been asleep while Shrubbie's been doing his "campaign" in Australia. That little "nappy" was too scary!

We don't want the "Consumer" to get too much of a jolt here.

[radfringe]

25. Hey all - how we doing?

am home for a short time today - have to take my partner to the dentist soon... 4-teeth getting pulled and a partial put in

ouchie....

meanwhile - it's snowing outside... too damn soon for the white stuff if you ask me

Speaking of snow -- SNOWjob is predicting 2 million new jobs by sElection time, Dollar is dropping, unemployment numbers being set on the stove to simmer, meanwhile the whistleass wants to increase the deficit by handing out another wealthy-fare taxcut

and what do the talking heads have to say about it? don't worry things will be better NEXT quarter... sigh....the problem is that they don't specify what quarter of what YEAR... 2004? 2005? 2006?

It may be nearing winter, but it's looking like the bears are not going to hibernate on wall street... I'm waiting for the next round of war jitters to hit ... Syria or Iran or both at the same time?

[Maeve]

28. Sympathies to your partner

Coming so soon after her birthday, too, poor dear!

I think we're going to keep threatening both Syria and Iran until one of them gives us an opening. Oh, and we'll ignore N. Korea as long as we possibly can.

[Maeve]

26. Looks like a freakin' tug-o-war

Bulls vs Bears--place your bets!

Dow 9,589.94 -8.30 (-0.09%)
Nasdaq 1,884.25 -13.82 (-0.73%)
S&P 500 1,029.56 -0.80 (-0.08%)
10-Yr Bond 4.310% +0.037

[wetbandit2003]

29. I vote bears

Is it just me or are the Wallstreet yuppies
are just money grubbing gluts??

[wetbandit2003]

30. wallstreet a-holes

These wall street a-holes need to stop selling off the economy.

[JNelson6563]

31. It ain't just Wall Street friend

you may want to drop a line to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. ;-)

11:54 and here's what we're lookin' at:


Dow 9,574.82 -23.42 (-0.24%)
Nasdaq 1,878.41 -19.66 (-1.04%)
S&P 500 1,028.74 -1.62 (-0.16%)
10-Yr Bond 4.288% +0.015

Still just open-hand smacks. Could be worse.

Julie

[Maeve]

32. An article to ponder--when hedge funds leave a market

The Hot Money Leave Japan
October 23, 2003: 10:39 AM EDT
By Justin Lahart, CNN/Money Senior Writer
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Japan's stock market got crushed Thursday and commentators were grasping for reasons for why.
It was worries over exporters, it was worry over the banks, it was a reaction to U.S. losses overnight, it was a report of a bribery scandal involving ruling Liberal Democratic Party Officials, it was early word that Sony would disappoint.
It was bad, certainly -- the Nikkei's 5.1 percent slide was its worst drop since the aftermath of Sept. 11 -- so bad that none of the reasons people cited for the decline seems quite right. Though they all may have acted as catalysts for the selloff, the depth of the plunge looks like something else was at work. It looks like hedge funds getting out.<more>

[Coventina]

33. The "I Ching" on today's market

Hello everyone!

I have come to the conclusion that Ching is done with market predictions. Lately the message that is being put forth is pretty much something like, "You know what to do....SO GO DO IT!" Take today's reading for instance: It is CREATIVE POWER changing to SOVEREIGNTY. The changing line from Creative Power is, "Your thinking is clearheaded. Because of this your influence is great and your milieu will look to you for inspiration." Sovereignty says, "You are in the spotlight, exposed to the view of both those you lead and those above you, therefore proper behavior is necessary in order to continue in your accomplishments."

I think Ching is saying that the Democrats' time has come! Bush is on the ropes. We need to press our advantage on every front. WE CAN TAKE OUR COUNTRY BACK!!
:grouphug:

Hopefully, we will still have shirts to do it in! If the market continues badly, I'm going to lose mine! ;)

[librechik]

34. Ching is great

I find it exact and helpful--but only if I cast it rarely. A daily reading tends to slip into meaninglessness.

Financial forecasting with the Ching as a tool is amusing (and overall accurate, probably) but misses the point somewhat. Prosperity is only a fraction of the Superior Person's character.

Just my 3 cents!

[Maeve]

36. Just a bit of context on why we Ching

Or rather, why Coventina does for us! It started when radfringe used to look into her Magic-8 Ball for advice/predictions, then I would chime in with the Ouija of the day--and now Coventina works the sticks. I still play seer (altho it takes no talent whatsoever to predict the Initial Claims revisions!), but the Wall Street Casino defies most rules and "Reply hazy, try again later" works for most days!

[mrsteve]

35. 1:15 check-in - spotty red ink on markets, 10 year up

Hello all - bumpy day indeed...

Dow 9,593.72 -4.52 (-0.05%)
Nasdaq 1,884.42 -13.65 (-0.72%)
S&P 500 1,031.35 +0.99 (+0.10%)
10-Yr Bond 4.350% +0.077

[mrsteve]

37. 1:45 - numbers and a bit of Yahoo Fi wisdom

Dow 9,596.91 -1.33 (-0.01%)
Nasdaq 1,886.14 -11.93 (-0.63%)
S&P 500 1,032.05 +1.69 (+0.16%)
10-Yr Bond 4.328% +0.055

Yahoo Finance Analysis:
"1:30PM: The market is drifting mostly sideways, with the Nasdaq underperforming the Dow and the S&P 500 on a relative basis and the blue-chip averages having veered off only marginally from the flat line... Most of the session thus far has been spent in indecision, as traders are trying to figure out if the market is positioned to move higher on the heels of yesterday's decline, or continue extending its losses in the near-term...
Longer-term, the stocks remain as the best investment alternative considering the historically-low interest rates, accommodative Fed policy and strong Q3 earnings, which have been coming in on averages 6.4% above expectations... Guidance, for the most part, has also been favorable and Q4 earnings (based on companies' guidance) are currently expected to be roughly 22.6%... Guidance for technology companies has not been as strong as that for blue-chip companies, which at least partially explains the relative underperformance of the Nasdaq over the last two sessions..."

[Maeve]

40. I swear, you really can't be too cynical around here!

So, we know the Wall Street folks and bankers are contributing to Dubya's war chest, right? That story is in LBN now. And what do we see happening in the markets?
" Among the sectors sponsoring the advance are biotech, drug, brokerage, banking, and gold... As previously mentioned, the banking sector is particularly influential in determining the direction of the market and its continued strengths bode well for an afternoon rebound, which is being currently witnessed..."
http://finance.yahoo.com/mo

Dow 9,611.42 +13.18 (+0.14%)
Nasdaq 1,889.84 -8.23 (-0.43%)
S&P 500 1,034.26 +3.91 (+0.38%)
10-Yr Bond 4.343% +0.070

[mrsteve]

41. 2:45 - Who needs cynicism - we've got full blown rage

Yeah, at times like this you realize just how clearly the powers that be are pulling the strings. And yet it seems people like us are the only ones vigilant enough to look through the proscenium of the puppet stage and point out the puppeteers.

</rant>

Looks like our little rally is petering out...

Dow 9,588.54 -9.70 (-0.10%)
Nasdaq 1,885.38 -12.69 (-0.67%)
S&P 500 1,031.85 +1.50 (+0.15%)
10-Yr Bond 4.330% +0.057

[mrsteve]

42. 3:15 - rally postponed for now

Dow 9,587.13 -11.11 (-0.12%)
Nasdaq 1,883.60 -14.47 (-0.76%)
S&P 500 1,031.26 +0.90 (+0.09%)
10-Yr Bond 4.310% +0.037

[Maeve]

43. Choppy day, mixed ending

Dow 9,613.13 +14.89 (+0.16%)
Nasdaq 1,885.51 -12.56 (-0.66%)
S&P 500 1,033.74 +3.38 (+0.33%)
10-Yr Bond 4.316% +0.043