Market Summary

Well the morning outlook was spot on, Wall Street did fall out of the open after the release of weekly jobless claims and revised 2nd Quarter GDP. However the market rebounded, and at the closing bell all the major averages found themselves in positive territory. We saw some large swings in the market as volume has been very light as the summer winds down. The Dow rose 37.11, or 0.4 percent, to close at 9,580.63, after giving up as much as 84 points early in the session. That marks the 8th consecutive win for the blue chips. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 2.86, or 0.3 percent, to 1,030.98, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 3.30, or 0.2 percent, to 2,027.73.

The market reversed early losses as oil rebounded. Crude had been down to $69.83 per barrel before closing up $1.06 to settle at $72.49 for the front month October contract.

Regional Banks Face Serious Challenges

The number of problem US banks rose to the highest level in 15 years between April and June, the according to the FDIC. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) said 416 banks had failed its test criteria during the quarter, up 111 from January to March.
The agency has seized 81 banks so far in 2009.

Their commercial loan holding continue to be the big elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about.

Dell Beats Estimates After the Bell

Dell Inc. (DELL), like others in the sector had an extremely rough quarter as business spending has been anemic, while margins have dropped on oversupply. Profit for the world’s number 2 PC maker fell 23% to $472 million, or 24 cents per share, in the three months ended July 31. That compares with profit of $616 million, or 31 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Sales fell 22 percent to $12.8 billion.