Thursday, September 3, 2009

Financials gain again!

Greetings good citizen,

Here we are, the day before August Unemployment numbers are due to be announced and the markets managed to post a positive day after bleeding red ink all week.

Um, last night’s post pretty much spells out the phony nature of the stock market rally and there’s no reason to believe that today’s modest uptick isn’t merely ‘more of the same’.

I’m sort of skating here so I’ll ‘cut to the chase’ and present tonight’s offering

Financials Rise, Helping to End 4 Losing Days for S.&P. 500
By BLOOMBERG NEWS
Published: September 3, 2009

Stocks rose, snapping a four-day losing streak for the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, as some retail stores reported sales that topped projections and Chinese equities rallied the most in six months. [Word is the Chinese markets are in a huge bubble right now, which will end badly…but that doesn’t stop the fucktards from reporting it as ‘good news’…]

Alcoa and Caterpillar led the Dow Jones industrial average higher after a 4.8 percent advance in the Shanghai Composite Index. [Say what?]

The S.& P. 500 climbed 8.49 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 1,003.24 in New York after tumbling 3.3 percent this week. The Dow average added 63.94 points, or 0.7 percent, to 9,344.61. More than four stocks rose for each that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. The MSCI world index of stocks in 23 developed countries rose 0.5 percent. [remember good citizen, volume is still very light, so this 4 to 1 crap is pretty meaningless.]

“Corporate profits are going to continue to surprise investors on the upside,” said Hank Smith, who helps oversee $6 billion as chief investment officer of Haverford in Radnor, Pa. “On a fundamental basis, we don’t think the market has gotten ahead of itself.” [Jeez, when do you suppose ‘Hank’ actually said that; way back in January? In all honestly, the only thing companies have to do to ‘beat expectations’ is not go bankrupt.]

The S.& P. 500 halted its longest daily losing streak since May, even as jobless claims exceeded forecasts and a report on service industries did not bolster speculation that the economic recovery would be strong enough to justify a six-month rally in equities.

The government is scheduled to release its monthly jobs report Friday and may say the unemployment rate climbed to 9.5 percent in August, which would be the highest level since 1983.

Costco Wholesale rose 8.6 percent to $54.99. Its same-store sales declined 2 percent in August, less than the 5.6 percent analysts had estimated. Gap increased 7.6 percent to $21.18. The company, which also operates Old Navy and Banana Republic clothing stores, said sales at stores open at least a year fell 3 percent in August from a year ago, less than the 6.7 percent estimated. [Doesn’t this just slay you? Instead of SLAMMING the idiots that continue to make horse-shit ‘estimates’, the freaking markets ‘reward’ companies for doing ‘less bad’ or beating really horse-shit results! Wouldn’t it be nice if you could screw up this consistently and keep your job too?]

Ford Motor advanced 6.4 percent to $7.48. Its credit rating was raised by Moody’s Investors Service because of cost reductions, available funds and a “robust” vehicle lineup.

Alcoa rallied 3.6 percent after increasing its forecast for global aluminum demand because of stimulus spending in China. Caterpillar rose 3.5 percent to $45.04.

The S.& P. 500 financial shares climbed 2.3 percent collectively for the best gain among 10 groups. The average mortgage rate for 30-year fixed home loans fell to 5.08 percent this week, from 5.14 percent, reducing borrowing costs for buyers amid signs the housing market was stabilizing, according to data from Freddie Mac.

The Treasury’s 10-year note fell 11/32, to 102 11/32. The yield rose to 3.34 percent, from 3.3 percent late Wednesday.

A group of mining companies, seed producers and chemical makers increased 1.6 percent as prices for raw materials jumped. Gold advanced to a six-month high, reaching $999.50 an ounce. Copper rose for a second day. [Despite the ‘rise’ in equities, the ‘flight to safety’ continues…]

Amgen, the largest biotechnology company, and Merck slid more than 1 percent after President Obama said he would take a more direct role in the legislative fight over health care. Mr. Obama plans to make his case directly to lawmakers and the public next week by addressing a joint session of Congress.

Chinese stocks jumped Thursday after Liu Xinhua, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said authorities would promote a “stable and healthy” market, tempering concern the government wants to curb equity speculation. Ministers from the Group of 20 nations are likely to suggest the global economy is healing as they meet in London this weekend. The European Central Bank kept interest rates at a record low.

The Shanghai stock index has climbed for the last three days after slumping 22 percent last month as banks reined in lending to avert asset bubbles, and policy makers advised industries to curb overcapacity. The measure had rallied 103 percent from a November low on prospects a $586 billion stimulus package and record lending would revive growth in the world’s third-largest economy. [Same problem there as here, lending to the public is a risky proposition…]

China’s stock market has foreshadowed moves in global equities the last two years. It peaked on Oct. 16, 2007, two weeks before the MSCI All-Country World index. The Shanghai index fell 72 percent from its 2007 high and bottomed on Nov. 4, 2008, four months before the MSCI index.


I’ve noticed a recent ‘trend’ good citizen, the deeper the bullshit gets, the more, er, reluctant reporters are to take ‘credit’ for the piece…look at who was credited with this steaming pile…

Thanks for letting me inside your head,

Gegner

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