I am such a slouch, leaving you high and dry all weekend…but you know, ‘shit happens.’
While I follow the stock market…I don’t ‘study’ it so I was a bit surprised to see that the markets took a nose dive this morning for, you guessed it…no discernable reason.
So we arrive at tonight’s offering which attempts to ‘gloss over’ the inexplicable, because you know what they say, if you can’t ‘dazzle ‘em with brilliance…baffle ‘em with…well, you know the rest.
Wall Street Gives Up Early Gains
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 26, 2009 [There it is again! For some reason nobody at the NY Times want’s their name attached to, er, ‘less than glorious’ reporting…]
Stocks gave up early gains Monday as a rising dollar stalled a rally in commodities and financial stocks fell. [which is bizarre all by itself…why would financial stocks fall on news of a ‘stronger’ dollar…unless US financial institutions are heavily invested in non-dollar assets! And considering there is no such thing as a US financial institution that ISN’T taxpayer supported, exactly how happy does this news leave you?]
A drop in the dollar initially gave a boost to stocks Monday, but a strengthening in the currency short-circuited the market’s advance. Oil is down $1.16 to $79.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. A gain in the dollar makes commodities more expensive for overseas buyers. [This naturally leads one to think the US actually makes export goods, which couldn’t be further from the truth! Our entire ‘export sector’ is identical to that of a Third World nation and consists solely of raw materials and food.]
At midday, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 97.64, or 1 percent, to about 9874.54. [At around 3:00 PM the markets were still ‘loitering’ in the same general vicinity.]
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 10.81 points, or 1 percent, to about 1,068.79, while the Nasdaq composite index was down 12.10 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2142.37 .
David Hefty, chief executive at Cornerstone Wealth Management, said the market’s recent gains — major indexes hit their highs for the year last week — will give investors pause.
“Anytime you’re flirting with the top, it’s hard to push through,” Mr. Hefty said. He added that with little economic data due out early in the week, a quiet start to trading is likely. [What strikes me as curious is how the media is always quoting people you’ve never heard of before and likely will never hear from again as everyday they pull someone new out of their backside to make us ask ‘Who is this clown and why should I care?”]
However, trading will probably pick up throughout the week ahead of the Commerce Department’s report on third-quarter gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy’s health. Economists predict the economy grew at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters. That would mark the first quarter of growth after four straight declines. [GDP at 3.2% when unemployment is off the charts and the only reason ANYONE is posting a profit is due to the massive slashing of both payrolls and headcount? Are they stupid or do they simply believe we are? Down is Up and Black is White indeed!]
Investors have been hunting for definitive signs of growth in recent weeks and the G.D.P. report, due out Thursday, would provide the clearest sign yet of how far the economy has bounced back from its depths earlier in the year. [Um, ironically, this part of the article has been deleted from the ‘updated’ version currently on display…]
Earnings reports released throughout the week should also provide the insight traders crave. The health of the consumer will be analyzed through the results of companies like Kellogg, Procter & Gamble and Visa. Consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of economic activity. [Um, if the consumer dies, do you think they will tell us? (survey says: Hell No!)]
The energy and insurance sectors will also take center stage throughout the week with ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil as well as Aetna and MetLife scheduled to release quarterly results.
Meanwhile, bond prices dipped slightly as the government is set to auction more than $120 billion in new debt. [So…how long will it be before confetti is worth more than the cash in your pocket (because confetti is rarer!)]
Demand for the new debt will be closely watched for signs that investors are still willing to buy up Treasuries, Mr. Hefty said. Strong demand shows there is confidence in the nation’s economy and markets, he said. [Um, not to be mean but it looks like the unspecified writer is having a conversation with a certain brand of garbage bag…just saying, you know?]
On Friday, American shares faltered as investors dumped stocks and locked in profits after the glow of a week full of strong earnings reports faded. [Hmmn…dumped stocks and locked in profits. Seems as though the wise move would be not to go there in the first place..]
But markets in Asia found new impetus Monday after South Korea’s central bank said economic growth accelerated to 2.9 percent in the third quarter from the previous quarter — the fastest rate of growth since the first quarter of 2002.
Asia’s fourth-largest economy has been bolstered by government stimulus spending, low interest rates, and a falling won which bolsters exports. Huge stimulus spending also played a part in China’s economic growth accelerating in the third quarter, according to official figures last week. [Before we get carried away with all of this ‘Happy Talk’ it is wise to remember that the only governments less transparent than our own just happen to be the Asians…]
“It’s a full-fledged recovery in Korea,” said David Cohen, chief of Asian forecasting at Action Economics in Singapore. He described as “dramatic” the economy’s turnaround from the depths it hit late last year as the financial crisis unfolded. [Oh really? Who the hell is buying their output if things are so wonderful? Bet ya dickhead doesn’t have an answer for that one! We can suppose the answer is China…the stumper would be ‘prove it!’]
Meanwhile, trade in Europe was subdued with little corporate news to digest. In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.5 percent to 5,267.14 points, Germany’s DAX was up 0.6 percent to 5,776.89 and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.5 percent to 3,828.69. [Um, all of these markets closed ‘down’ for the day, only the Asian markets had an ‘up’ day.]
“There is not a great deal of direction in the market,” said Keith Bowman, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, [Hello? Who is this and why should I care? (again!)]
Oil companies edged higher, helped by the price of crude. Although down slightly on the day, it was still not far off last week’s 2009 high of $82 a barrel. Total rose 0.6 percent, while Shell and BP both advanced 0.7 percent. [As of this afternoon oil was down $ 4 a barrel to $ 78.]
A big loser across Europe was ING Groep , one of the world’s largest financial services companies. Its stock plummeted 9 percent after it announced it would split itself in two, spinning off its insurance arm to simplify its business and issuing 7.5 billion euros ($11.3 billion) in new shares to repay state bailout money. [Good luck with that! If they keep this sort of crap up, people will stop buying insurance of all types because they are sick of being swindled!]
Earlier, in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.8 percent to 10,362.62 and South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1 percent to 1,657.11. Hong Kong’s market was closed for a holiday.
China’s Shanghai benchmark gained 0.1 percent in choppy trade as investors worried the government might temper its stimulus policies following the acceleration in third quarter growth. Taiwan’s market rose 0.3 percent, Singapore’s index gained 0.2 percent, and India’s Sensex was up 0.6 percent.
Australia bucked the trend with the S.& P./ASX 200 index falling 0.6 percent. In Sydney trading, the coal miner Felix Resources jumped 4 percent after the government approved a takeover by the Yanzhou Mining Company of China.
Oil prices slipped to near $80 a barrel in Europe after last week’s jump to a 2009 high. Benchmark crude for December delivery fell 15 cents, to $80.35 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 69 cents a barrel to settle at $80.50 on Friday
US markets closed down today 104 points as only the Brazilian market snuck back into positive territory during the last possible moments of trading (You should see it, the line is literally straight up and down, talk about ‘painting the tape’.) As I commented earlier, this particular ‘version’ of this article is the article as it was originally posted…as the day wore on, they cut more and more out of it. Which makes it a rather interesting example of ‘manipulative journalism’.
The current ‘spot price’ of oil is $ 78 a barrel but then again gold slid a dozen bucks today too.
Not that a single day tells you much by any stretch of the imagination. Other sources say the US markets are ‘overvalued’ by 40%…I’d put this figure considerably higher but were talking ‘subjective valuations’ here and it isn’t my assessment they are using to make the evaluation, so there it is.
Although at the end of the day this is where the real ‘bogeyman’ lies…how high is up?
Or more to the point, what constitutes a fair days wages for a day’s labor?
Not only does that answer come out in the wash but we can see precisely who makes out in the deal, can’t we.
There aren’t any (zip, zero, zilch, none) rich men working for a paycheck. Some of the wealthiest men in our predatory capitalist society don’t draw paychecks at all…so what’s this bull shit about all of the hard work they keep claiming they do?
These guys don’t even cut your paycheck although they do (sometimes) ‘authorize’ its signing (because they don’t actually ‘do’ that either.)
You bust your hump and they walk away with all of the, er, ‘reward’…because they are the ones ‘taking their chances’ You get a paycheck (you can barely live on) every week (until you don’t) oh yeah…and when the paychecks dry up…you’re on your own. Snickerdoodle ‘cashed in’ for a thousand times more than you’ll make for the rest of your natural days and all you’ve got to show for your years of sacrifice is an exhausted unemployment compensation account.
And conservative fucktards have the chutzpah to call you bitter-- like you don’t have every reason in the world to be Class A homicidal maniac!
Hard to believe ‘We the People’ put up with this nonsense…but we didn’t ask for this deal, we inherited it. Worse…it’s the only game in town.
That’s the coffee you need to get a good wiff of!
Thanks for letting me inside your head,
Gegner
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