STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday 13 January 2004 (#1)

[ozymandius]

Tuesday January 13, 2004

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 377
REICH-WING RUBBERSTAMP-Congress = DAY 000
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 3 YEARS, 32 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 2 YEARS, 84 DAYS
WHERE ARE SADDAM'S WMD? - DAY 296
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 780
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 January 12, 2004

Dow... 10,485.18 +26.29 (+0.25%)
Nasdaq... 2,111.78 +24.86 (+1.19%)
S&P 500... 1,127.23 +5.37 (+0.48%)
10-Yr Bond... 4.08% -0.00 (-0.07%)
Gold future... 426.60 -0.20 (-0.05%)

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

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

[ozymandius]

1. WrapUp by Jim Puplava

The Silver and Gold Train Wreck: Part Two

Gold prices are up 2 this year after rising 20% last year. Gold prices have advanced 66% since reaching their nadir on April 2, 2001. The price of the precious metal is up but it is going higher, much higher than anyone can now imagine. Right now gold is acting as it should in the early stages of a new bull market. It is climbing a proverbial “wall of worry” as traders, professionals and gold bugs sell off their shares mindful of times past when gold would break down after reaching the $400 level. To many in the gold camp this has been too much too soon. Everyone would like to believe this is a new bull market, but their mindset is steeped in the bear market past. When prices rise this quickly there is a tendency to get cautious and retreat from the market battlefield settling for nickels and dimes when big dollars are at stake.

<cut>

Supply and Demand Imbalance

There is another fundamental factor that I believe will exert a more powerful influence on the price of gold and silver going forward and that is the supply and demand imbalance which appears to be worsening. Gold, like silver, has been running a supply and demand imbalance for well over a decade. It has taken central bank sales, gold leasing, and forward selling to balance out the books. In the case of silver, above-ground stockpiles of silver are being consumed at an alarming rate. Industry forecasts for gold and silver mainly focus on industrial demand. Investment demand for precious metals has been small and mainly confined to the coins. However, demand for the metal is increasing from the size of open interests on the COMEX, the introduction of gold ETFs, to demand for gold and silver mining shares. As demand increases the supply is ready to fall. Both gold and silver production should be declining over the next few years at a time when the demand for the precious metals is accelerating. Unfortunately for the industry, the supply of gold and silver can’t increase at the flip of a switch. It takes time to explore for and develop a gold or silver mining deposit. From the time of discovery to the time a new mine is brought into production may take as long as 5-7 years.

Train Wreck

While I expect that the acquisition game is getting to ramp up as exploration staffs at the majors face very few promising prospects, I believe that the acquisition game will be played out much differently this time. Instead of buying production future acquisitions, the majors will focus on buying reserves. Buying smaller gold producing companies will not ameliorate the majors' reserve problems unless the acquired company has a longer reserve life.

<cut>

Therefore, the future course of acquisitions will be focused almost entirely in the junior sector. It is the junior exploration companies that have been doing most of the exploration. They are more nimble and aggressive with their exploration programs. The majors are just now ramping up their exploration budgets. I believe there has been very little acquisition activity in this area because of price increases in the junior sector. Only a few companies such as Wheaton River have been willing to pay up to own reserves or producing properties. The majors are still acting as if we are still in a bear market. With the price of gold and silver rising and the shares of many junior mining companies exploding, the majors have been reluctant and hesitant to buy. For almost a decade most juniors were sitting at the front of the majors' table looking for any scraps from the big boys just to stay alive.

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm

[JNelson6563]

3. Gold, gold, gold!!

It haunts me, it calls to me! "Juuuuuuuulie, you need more of meeeee!!!" heh heh I see my $$ guy today, we'll see. I'd think more about copper if I didn't think it were too costly already.

Looks like futures are unsure, they hug the flat line.

Who else loves the bru-ha-ha O'Neil's book has kicked off? Funny how concerned the WH is now about "secret" documents/info gettin' out. Helllooooo??????? What about outing a CIA agent? That doesn't seem to be viewed to be as bad as outing the boy king as a disengaged moran.

By the time all is said and done we'll all be experts on fascism.

Could be a fun day at the casino! :toast:

Julie

[54anickel]

4. Morning Julie

Be interesting to see what you $$ guy has to say. Back when I was rolling over my 401K, my money guy wasn't hot on gold - knew I shouldn't have listened to him. But, alas, he is from the old school of buy and hold, looking at the historical perspective of the average return on gold. I should fire his a$$ - heh heh!

Ino is down again for maintenance, so Dollar Watch opening will have to wait.

Meantime, for entertainment, an article from the cluless file.

http://www.nationalreview.com/kudlow/kudlow200401080848.asp

[ozymandius]

2. Good morning Marketeers!

:donut: :donut: :donut: :donut: :donut:

I must be going so early on - my voice is needed for a local production. I'll check in later, if possible.

Ozymandius

[Maeve]

5. Here's an article for Julie on her favorite company

;-)
Report alleges Wal-Mart labor abuse
Audit said to show employees forced to work unpaid through breaks, child labor law violations.
January 13, 2004: 7:05 AM EST
NEW YORK (Reuters) - An internal audit warned top executives at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. three years ago that employee records at 128 stores showed extensive violations of child-labor laws and state regulations, according to a published report.
The New York Times reported the audit Tuesday. An official at Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, did not immediately return calls for comment, but a spokesperson told the paper the audit was meaningless, since what looked like violations could simply reflect employees' failure to punch in and out for breaks and meals they took.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeah, must be the workers' fault! :eyes:

[JNelson6563]

8. Though I think of Wal-Mart as the Great Whore

I have to say that things like this are actually issues after Sam Walton died. I began working for this company within a year of his death. I read his autobiography which is really interesting and I recommend it for anyone interested in business, especially the retail sector of course.

I digress....

Back in the day when I worked there, and it's been like 6 or 7 years since I left the Co., though the cold grasping fingers of Bentonville wer felt throughout the operation, the GM of that Sam's Club was from the mothership but was a great guy. It was a cardinal sin to work while not on the clock. Forbidden! NO exceptions! It was also big trouble for anyone to go over the 37.5 hrs. and goddess help you and your immediate boss if you hit or exceeded 40 hrs. He worked hard, dealt with almost all things immediately, very pleasant disposition and was a very good example. I learned a lot from him about store level managment of an operation that size (massive). Used that knowledge to futher my career rather nicely, elsewhere.

I was in the marketing division so while not in the trenches daily I did spend substantial time in every aspect of the club and knew each operation thoroughly. While all worked very hard, insurance was reasonably affordable (unlike now) and all were treated well. Injuries were addressed immediately with a trip to the hospital/clinic--depending on severity, all safety precautions were strictly enforced and it was a pretty open operation.

It started to worsen during my tenure there and that particular GM got to transfer "home" to Arkansas soon after I left the company. Everyone I see now complains bitterly, just like all the stories you read on-line and in the media. It seems to me that the management choices made beginning with Sam's death have had much different philosophies than ol' Sam did.

And now we see the end products of these new philosophies. The souless kind.

Sorry for rambling. Wanted to give you a less common perspective. It is like many things, it began as something positive but has grown into some horrid mutation.

Julie

[54anickel]

6. Looks like everyone is waiting for the Greenman to speaketh again

http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?storyID=4116741&type=bondsNews

snip>
The tumbling dollar was held off record lows against the euro (EUR=: Quote, Profile, Research) in reaction to Monday's comments by ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet that "brutal" exchange rates were unwelcome.

Investors were waiting to see what hints Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan would give about the U.S. economy and the outlook for interest rates at a Berlin event later in the day.

[54anickel]

7. What would define a dollar crash? Article that suggests they are clueless

http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=e3bb0ce5-bb1b-486e-809d-2522f37c024d

Gotta love the paragraph that quotes the Citigroup guy.

snip>
"It's a bit alarming to find officials on both sides of the Atlantic so laissez-faire about the pace of the decline," Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at Bank of New York, said.

"It certainly suggests ... that it might not be until the G7 meeting on Feb. 6-7 that we get any kind of guidance. The problem with that is that the way in which the market has been trading recently -- in which the dollar has been perceived as a one-way bet downward -- we could hit 1.30 well before that."

The US$1.30 mark is important in two respects. It is a big fat round number and traders like to target those. More importantly, Mr. Woolfolk thinks it represents a pain threshold for financial officials.

A slide to US$1.30 against the euro would bring its losses to 20% over the last 12 months and no Group of Seven currency has dropped more than 20% in a single year since 1980, except in three specific instances.

These were the co-ordinated efforts to bring down the greenback under the Plaza Accord in 1985-87 (it dropped 22.4% against the German mark in 1985, 21.4% in 1986 and 18.3% in 1987), the 22.8% devaluation of the Italian lira during European currency crisis of 1992 and the 22.8% drop in the euro against the Japanese yen after the euro's launch in 1999.

"In light of this, it appears that the 'maximum speed limit' for the devaluation of a G7 currency is 20% a year," Mr. Woolfolk said.

Yet markets were abuzz last week with strategists trying to define what would be a "crash" in the U.S. dollar . Putnam Investments in Boston was quoted as characterizing a crash as a 20% drop or more over three to six months. Morgan Stanley in London meanwhile said it would take a 5% drop per month over several months or a 3%-per-month fall against on a trade-weighted basis. That has been down about 1% per month for the past 24 months.

But many others say forget percentages.

"The question is whether is impacting other asset markets, corporate competitiveness or anything like that and in that regard I find it difficult to believe anybody in the the U.S. administration is is concerned about it," Bob Sinche, senior currency strategist at Citigroup in New York, said. "Bond markets are behaving well, equity markets are behaving very well, inflation is under control, so you have difficulty finding a reason why one would not be pleased about these developments."

Indeed, it is clear a substantial fall in the dollar is one plank in the Bush/Greenspan recovery plan along with the tax cuts and ultra low borrowing rates.

Still, central bank and financial officials will undoubtedly have to step in to arrest the greenback's decline at some point, even if stock markets don't melt down.

"One of the first rules of foreign exchange is that stop without policy intervention," Mr. Woolfolk said, pointing out it took the Louvre Accord to put a rug back under the greenback in the mid-1980s.

[Maeve]

9. 9:38 and another cheerful start to the trading day

Dow 10,505.40 +20.22 (+0.19%)
Nasdaq 2,114.82 +3.04 (+0.14%)
S&P 500 1,129.00 +1.76 (+0.16%)
10-Yr Bond 4.102% +0.019

[Maeve]

12. 10:20---Houston, we have flush

Dow 10,489.26 +4.08 (+0.04%)
Nasdaq 2,106.80 -4.98 (-0.24%)
S&P 500 1,126.58 -0.66 (-0.06%)
10-Yr Bond 4.098% +0.015

[54anickel]

10. Dollar Watch - flat lined

Looking at the chart, you'd think the patient was dead. Maybe reflective of the time the servers at ino were down.
Second look shows a little more movement.


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

Last trade 85.58 Change +0.03 (+0.04%)

Settle 85.55 Settle Time 22:36

Open 85.46 Previous Close 85.11

High 85.62 Low 85.44

[JNelson6563]

11. markets flat-lining too

10:17 and there seems to be no joy in Mudville at the moment:

Dow 10,489.33 +4.15 (+0.04%)
Nasdaq 2,107.05 -4.73 (-0.22%)
S&P 500 1,126.56 -0.67 (-0.06%)
10-Yr Bond 4.101% +0.018


Good thing "Casey's at bat" today. The question is, will he strike-out? haha

Julie

[JNelson6563]

13. 11:03 and money leaving everywhere

Dow 10,462.59 -22.59 (-0.22%)
Nasdaq 2,096.89 -14.89 (-0.71%)
S&P 500 1,124.15 -3.09 (-0.27%)
10-Yr Bond 4.100% +0.017

Uh-oh.

Julie

[Coventina]

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

Hello everyone!

I have submitted my application to grad school, and was told I should hear back sometime in late February!

Anyway! Today's reading is RETREAT with no changing lines. Here is a quote: "Difficulties and hostilities are on the rise in worldly affairs. Do not attempt to compete with these forces. Instead, concern yourself with small internal reinforcements."

Well, RETREAT brokes no ambiguity. It has to be a down day for the markets!! I am going to guess that they may be down considerably, by close of day.

Take care everyone!
:hi:

[4dsc]

15. IS the NADAQ's vaulation higher than in 2000??

I heard someone state that the NASDAQ's valuation's were higher than they were before the bubble crashed. Can anybody confirm this?? Is this a new bubble??

I must admit, that since the crash, I am no longer a stock watcher. But when I heard this piece of news, it made my hair stand up again. I remember all the people who couldn't get out as their stock were pummeled to nothing..

Is history going to repeat itself??

[Maeve]

22. Historic chart

Nasdaq

Short answer--not by half. High in March, 2000--5,132.52

[Maeve]

35. I'm too tired today--my apologies

Misread the question--valuation, you said! Fortunately, I'm not the only one handing out answers around here.... :spank:

[mth44sc]

28. A partial answer (or at least a clue)

Doesn't address NASDAQ specifically - but

"Market capitalization as a percentage of GDP is one of the few reliable measures of over- or undervaluation. We saw gross overvaluations in 1929 at 87 percent and in 2000 at 172 percent. Today? We're looking at 106 percent -- far higher than the 57 percent norm of the past 75 years and exceeded only by the absurd valuation of 2000. These data cannot be fudged to make the current bullish case. As I have stated repeatedly, this market is not cheap. Momentum was the name of the game in 2003. Forget value. Unfortunately, this is the type of market which crucifies investors."

http://old.better-investing.org/bi/gso/gso-reprints.html

[54anickel]

30. Ouch!

[54anickel]

16. Latest from Greenman

http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/13/news/economy/fed_greenspan.reut/

Do nothing policy holds, wants other to do the same....

snip>
The Fed chief said that if the globalization of trade is allowed to proceed unimpeded, then the likelihood is that current imbalances will resolve themselves with minimum pain.

"We may not be able to usefully determine at what point foreign accumulation of net claims on the United States will slow or reverse, but it is evident that the greater the degree of international flexibility, the less risk of a crisis," Greenspan said.

[aneerkoinos]

19. dollar up

gold&euro down a bit and stocks drop. He must have said something, cause the opposite didn't happen in a big way?

[54anickel]

17. Markets are overvalued, but hey, they can go higher

I really cannot understand these people

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/business/7697957.htm

snip>
But just because the broad market is pricey doesn't mean it can't go even higher; many analysts think it will. And it doesn't mean there are no bargains left; there are plenty, said Bob Cordiak, senior vice president/investments at RBC Dain Rauscher Inc. in Dallas.



So, go looking for those Big B little Argain Bargains!!!
Right now, I be thinking that would be gold.

[Sir_Shrek]

25. Sure it can...

There's no cap on the market.

There's another important point in that artciel too, though a little veiled. In essence, the stock market is not all stocks. The averages may mean exactly nothing in terms of certain stocks' performance.

[htuttle]

26. Hooray! Gravity finally defeated!

Again!

(however, if you don't mind, I'll stick with the laws of physics).

[TrogL]

18. Musta slipped on the ice

NASDAQ 2091.3700 -20.410
DOW 10435.9200 -49.260
S&P500 1122.1500 -5.080

[JNelson6563]

20. ouch! They must not like what they hear

Not a pretty picture.

Peeked a couple minutes later and it's getting downright ugly:

Dow 10,398.88 -86.30 (-0.82%)
Nasdaq 2,086.60 -25.18 (-1.19%)
S&P 500 1,118.98 -8.25 (-0.73%)
10-Yr Bond 4.098% +0.015


Gold anyone? ;-)

Julie

[KayLaw]

21. WHAT?

All of a sudden the DOW is down over a hundred points! What the deck happened?

[aneerkoinos]

24. Greenman spoke

and dollar goes up, stocks down. What did he say - or didn't say?

[Frodo]

31. Not being attributed to Greenspan

Some "sell the news" anticipation on tomorrow's Intel earnings report.

[mth44sc]

40. This happened?

U.S. Stocks Down as Greenspan Disappoints
Tue January 13, 2004 12:53 PM ET

By Rachel Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell at midday on Tuesday after comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, which investors said were less bullish than expected and prompted some to lock in recent gains.

Greenspan addressed a seminar in Berlin organized by Germany's central bank.

"It seems like expectations were for Greenspan to say the economy is going to be spectacular," said Adam Tracy, director of listed trading at Thomas Weisel. "While his comments were positive I don't think they lived up to expectations."

http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=M5BP5ZRRE1HOUCRBAEOCFFA?type=businessNews&storyID=4119811

[54anickel]

41. Scary that one old fart has the world markets by the balls.

[Maeve]

23. I hear the sound of Ching!

Retreat, indeed!
Dow 10,377.56 -107.62 (-1.03%)
Nasdaq 2,081.80 -29.98 (-1.42%)
S&P 500 1,117.26 -9.97 (-0.88%)
10-Yr Bond 4.088% +0.005

[54anickel]

29. Bit early in the day for profit taking, must be looking at earnings

reports for a change and maybe not liking what they see :shrug:

[Frodo]

32. I don't think so.

Pre-announce adjustments have been upward almost 2-1 which is almost unheard of. The earnings season is going quite well. In fact, if profit gain expectations are even close to correct, we are actually at a lower forward P/E ratio than we were last anuary before the market ran up 30%.

[54anickel]

27. I gave up trying to figure these guys out a long time ago. Must be some

rumor flying around.

Historically, gold has moved opposite of stocks, most recently they've been moving together. I still think that has something to do with the new gold securities - think that's going to mess a bit with the fundamentals between gold and stock.

The fundamentals between the buck and gold should still be sound. So I don't quite get golds drop, unless it's just another consolidation. That would tend to bare witness that gold is finding an open market of its own, I think that would be a good thing.

JMHO pure speculation.

[htuttle]

34. The gold swings I've been noticing are synchronized with the dollar

Today is a good example (at least it was, when I last checked). Gold down, dollar up. Or dollar down, gold up.

What I figure is happening is that central banks are selling off some of their gold (either owned or 'leased') for cash, which they use to buy up dollars.

The effort seems to be failing, however. As soon as someone throws a few billion of support at the dollar, it seems like someone else takes advantage of the temporary uptick to sell more of their own holdings.

One of those Sisyphusian situations, I guess.

[54anickel]

36. Not as synchronized as in the past - just these last couple of weeks

Just early this am, dollar was flat, gold was taking a pretty good hit. The other day gold and dollar were up together. Just little nuances being noticed in the past 2, maybe 3 weeks. There's more going on lately with currency, PMs and oil. Also with central banks foreign and gold reserves - some repositioning going on.

[54anickel]

33. Bit o' Blather

http://www.thestreet.com/markets/marketstory/10136408.html

Stocks were down, but off session lows Tuesday, as investors took a breather from the market's recent rally, ahead of key economic and earnings reports due out later this week.

The Dow was down 78.52 points, or 0.7%, to 10,406.66; the S&P 500 fell 8.09 points, or 0.7%, to 1119.14; and the Nasdaq lost 23.29, or 1.1%, to 2088.49, after closing at a new 30-month high Monday.

"It appears that today we have a combination of a buyers strike, profit taking and fast money moving in," said David Briggs, head of stock trading at Federated investors. "Let's face it, we are up for nine months, and haven't had a 5% decline."

[mrsteve]

37. 1:03 - hello all - markets moving slowly higher

In the last hour, the Dow and Nasdaq have moved off the day's lows. Still well into the red, however.

Dow 10,412.00 -73.18 (-0.70%)
Nasdaq 2,088.11 -23.67 (-1.12%)
S&P 500 1,119.08 -8.16 (-0.72%)
10-Yr Bond 4.076% -0.007

A little Yahoo Fi explanation:
"12:25PM: Major indices bounce off their session lows, but continue to trade with a firmly negative bias... Decliners hold a lead over advancers at the NYSE and Nasdq, and down volume is also outpacing up volume... Talk that institutional investors are looking to sell into what is expected to be a strong earnings season has contributed to today's swift pullback... Additionally, chatter that two tier-one brokerage firms have placed sell programs has also driven equities lower...
The treasury market, conversely, has found a bid off the stock market's collapse, the price on the 10-year note rising 2 ticks and bringing its yield to 4.08%..."

[JNelson6563]

38. 1:36 and not as ugly

but still ugly:

Dow 10,417.18 -68.00 (-0.65%)
Nasdaq 2,091.26 -20.52 (-0.97%)
S&P 500 1,120.09 -7.14 (-0.63%)
10-Yr Bond 4.067% -0.016

Dissembling doesn't seem to cut it for the Greenman anymore. ;-)

Julie

[Changenow]

39. Will it rally by the end of the day?

I'm taking bets, which are safer than the market right now!

[Maeve]

42. Possible, but I'd still bet it stays negative

It's been bouncing along at about the same levels since shortly after noon.
Dow 10,410.06 -75.12 (-0.72%)
Nasdaq 2,088.61 -23.17 (-1.10%)
S&P 500 1,118.95 -8.28 (-0.73%)
10-Yr Bond 4.073% -0.010

[54anickel]

43. Setting the stage for the rally tomorrow on those great earnings numbers

and whatever other fantastic data is set to come down the pipe.
Everything coming up roses (due to excessive use of fertilizer), trouble is you planted corn for ethanol.

:evilgrin:

Reminds me, that CAFTA is not only going to effect sugar, but also corn and it will allow for duty free imports of ethanol.

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/nation/7699984.htm

[NeoConsSuck]

44. Be careful 54anickel

In the last quarter the earnings came out great, and the traders sold on the news. Only until the earnings week came to a close did the market rebound.

I'm hoping it is not a repeat.

[54anickel]

45. Dollar update - amazingly flat from what we've been seeing

Really hugging that 85.5 range. The graph has again been re-numerated to better show the changes. Now in .05 increments.

Last trade 85.52 Change -0.03 (-0.04%)

High 85.72 Low 85.27

Either everyone is hands off or the interventions are being made in much smaller increments.

[mrsteve]

46. 2:41 - giving back a little more

Down .85 - 1% across the board. With the leaks on the good profit reports that are expected tomorrow, it seems we are looking on "sell on rumor", which doesn't generally happen, does it?

Dow 10,393.84 -91.34 (-0.87%)
Nasdaq 2,084.53 -27.25 (-1.29%)
S&P 500 1,117.26 -9.98 (-0.89%)
10-Yr Bond 4.049% -0.034

(on edit - fixed cut/paste error)

[mrsteve]

47. Closing numbers - better late than never

Seems those DU problems we've been warned about kicked in this afternoon, preventing us from noting the close of the NY Markets.

But DU must improve, and a few days of odd behavior is well worth the cost.

So...markets for the day went into a long slide from open till noon, then rose a little and stayed flat for the rest of the day. All closed below water level, though, with a fair loss.

Dow 10,427.18 -58.00 (-0.55%)
Nasdaq 2,096.44 -15.34 (-0.73%)
S&P 500 1,121.22 -6.01 (-0.53%)
10-Yr Bond 4.028% -0.055

Yahoo Finance tries to figure out today and looks to tomorrow:
"Close: Today's action reflected some nervousness over the upcoming earnings reports, particularly Intel...the markets opened higher, then sold off mid-day and rallied slightly late in the day...Fed Chairman Greenspan made some comments early in the day, but they were mostly about trade and the dollar, and although the market sold off about the same time, there was really nothing startling or market-moving about his comments...
there was also an uninspiring report from software company SAP (SAP ) but it wasn't really all that bad...rather, the decline really started when the SOX semiconductor index started to slide, and the Nasdaq followed, then the broader market...there was talk about possible "selling on the news" after Intel's report Wednesday after the close that seemed to spark the weakness...indeed, with the Nasdaq having risen seven of eight trading sessions so far this year, some selling would be warranted, and today's action understandably reflects some nervousness about how the markets will react to upcoming earnings reports...there was broad weakness on fairly active trading...techs were broadly lower, but wireless was a rare up sector on a Lehman sector upgrade..."


See all the usual suspects in the casino tomorrow!

[54anickel]

48. That Yahoo Finance blurb hits on just about everything mentioned here as

to the causes of todays market moves.

Looks like you and Frodo win - selling on the news.

See what tomorrow brings. :hi: