Market Summary

Wall Street was successfully able to rebound from the sharp declines in the prior session as trading came to a close on Wednesday. The gains were moderate in light trading, with second tier economic indicators on the calendar throughout the session. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 46.32, or 0.5 percent, to close at 10,387.01. The S&P 500 index gained 7.03 points or 0.6 percent, to 1,098.87, while the Nasdaq climbed 19.98 points, or 0.9 percent, to 2,228.87. Speaking of light trading, we saw a whopping 880 million shares traded on the NYSE. A very positive session, where we saw a quick recovery following yesterday’s drop, and didn’t let the downward trend snowball. September is continuing to look good!

U.S. crude oil futures rebounded on Wednesday, after two losing sessions, as a weaker dollar and stronger equities encouraged investors to turn to riskier assets. October crude settled up 58 cents, or 0.78 percent, at $74.67 a barrel on the NYMEX. In other commodity action, the weaker greenback sent gold up for the third consecutive session, edging closer to new highs.

Economic Rundown

The Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy maintained its expansion while showing “widespread signs of a deceleration” in mid-July through the end of August. Five regional banks reported “economic growth at a moderate pace” and two pointed to “positive developments or net improvements.” The remaining five banks said conditions were mixed or decelerating.

The Fed’s Beige Book of regional activity within their 12 districts definitely signaled a slowdown in growth since its earlier reports. The news is not new to anyone on the street, as seen by how traders shrugged off the news to lead equities green on the session.

Market Summary

What a successful week on Wall Street, with more impressive gains registered on Friday following a better than expected August Employment Situation. The August decline is in the past and the September rally is here, at least for now. Obviously any move has been exaggerated because of the low holiday volume, but green is green. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial average closed up 127.83, or 1.2 percent, at 10,447.93. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 14.41, or 1.3 percent, to 1,104.51, while the Nasdaq composite index gained 33.74, or 1.5 percent, to 2,233.75.

For the week, the blue chips rose 2.9 percent, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are both surged 3.7 percent.

On the NYMEX, crude for October delivery settled down 42 cents, or 0.56 percent, at $74.60 a barrel. For the week, front-month crude fell 57 cents, or 0.76 percent, ending lower for the third time in four weeks. The decline came on the heels of a disappointing reading for the service sector, which grew for the 8th consecutive month, but at a slower pace than the street had expected. The sector comprises 80 percent of the economy.

Economic Rundown

Inside the Numbers

67,000 jobs were added in the private sector in August according to the Labor Department, a large deviation from the ADP report and much better than the street had feared (Economists were looking for a 40,000 private payroll advance). Obviously the net job loss of 54K was poor, it beat consensus estimates of a 90K loss. The theme of not as bad as expected held true. Overall payroll employment fell for the third straight month. In addition, we saw a net upward revision in June and July of 123K, not too shabby as the direction of employment has been following the revisions.

A big part of the latest month’s weakness was seen in the government sector, which still includes layoffs of temporary Census workers. Government jobs dropped 121,000 after falling 161,000 in July.Looking at private sector components, private service providing jobs rose 67,000 after a 70,000 boost in July. Leading the way was a 45,000 boost in education & health services, with health care up 40,000. Professional & business services returned to positive territory, rising 20,000 after dipping 3,000 in July.

In other indicators, temporary workers increased by 17K, a nice leading indicator to potential future full time employment. Average hourly earnings improved to 0.3 percent from up 0.2 percent in July. The August number topped the market estimate for a 0.1 percent gain. The average workweek for all workers was unchanged at 34.2 hours in July. The market forecast was for 34.2 hours.

Market Summary

What a terrible month of August on Wall Street, with major averages having their worst August since 2001. It was a mixed finish by the closing bell, however there is most certainly a wait and see attitude with investors until the jobs data. The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 4.99, or 0.05 percent, to close at 10,014.72; a whopping gain for the blue chips. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged up 0.41, or 0.04 percent, to 1,049.33, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 5.94, or 0.3 percent, to 2,114.03. There was no way the S&P was closing above 1,050 to spout a new round of buying ahead of the private sector employment report in tomorrow’s premarket. The fundamentals are extremely bearish.

For the month, the blue chips lost 4.3 percent in August, while the tech heavy Nasdaq tumbled 6.2 percent. August wasn’t a particularly good month for crude either, closing out the month with a move that could test $70 on weak jobs data. Crude for October delivery settled down $2.78, or 3.72 percent, at $71.92 a barrel on the NYMEX.

Economic Rundown

Home prices rose 1.0% in June compared with May in 20 major U.S. cities according to the Case-Shiller home price index. This is the third straight increase in home prices as demand picked up due to tax incentives. More recent data point to a sharp slowdown in demand as the tax breaks ended and foreclosures continue.
Prices have moved up 4.2% in the past year, however the sharp downturn in new and existing home sales post stimulus.

Consumer confidence continues to be weak reflecting an increasingly negative assessment of the jobs market. U.S. consumer confidence rose more than expected in August, lifted by a mild improvement in the short-term outlook. The Conference Board’s index did rise 2-1/2 points from July but August’s 53.5 level is still down almost 10 points from May. The reading did beat the street’s estimates of a 0.6 point rise to 51.

Market Summary

Well, here we go. The jobs week to close out August started with a bust, with major averages losing over 1 percent as confidence in this week’s data remains low. Futures were negative in the premarket, and had no chance of recovering after the opening bell.  We did have some economic data, with wages increasing which almost sent equities red to green. The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 140.92, or 1.4 percent, to close at 10,009.73; holding above 10K at the closing bell. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 15.67, or 1.5 percent, to 1,048.92, to drop below the 1,050 resistance. The tech heavy Nasdaq composite index dropped 33.66, or 1.6 percent, to 2,119.97. The drop on Wall Street erased nearly all of the sharp gains we saw on Friday.

For the remainder of the week, we have the ADP private sector employment report, weekly jobless claims, and Friday’s Employment Situation. We will no doubt see a loss of over 100K jobs, with an uptick in the unemployment rate.

We saw a 12 point drop in the 10 year treasury yield to 2.53 percent, a great gauge of confidence in the economy and equity markets. October crude settled down 47 cents, or 0.63 percent, at $74.70 a barrel on the NYMEX as equities declined. Energy is faces the same downward pressures as the equity markets with uncertainty looms ahead of the data of the week.

Economic Rundown

Commerce Department reported that purchases rose 0.4 percent in July, the most since March. Personal income in July posted a 0.2 percent gain, following no change in June. The July figure was a little lower than the consensus expectation for a 0.3 percent rise. the wages & salaries component rebounded 0.3 percent after slipping 0.1 percent in June. Year on year, personal income growth for July came in at up 3.0 percent, advancing from up 2.4 percent in June.

Core prices posted a healthy 0.2 percent gain in the month, following two consecutive months of declines. Inflationary pressures as a sign of increased demand is no doubt positive, obviously this wasn’t the case.

Market Summary

Wall Street surged on Friday, closing out a week full of action. Today’s session goes to show that data doesn’t have to be good, just better than expected. We got an initial revision to Q2 GDP, followed by consumer data and comments by the big poomba himself, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. You also saw a lot of short covering in equities.

Overall, the market liked what it heard, as the blue chips climbed back over 10K while the broader market broke and held 1,050. By the closing bell, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 164.84, or 1.7 percent, to close at 10,150.65. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 17.37, or 1.7 percent, to 1,064.59 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 34.94, or 1.6 percent, to 2,153.63.

The yield on the 10 year benchmark Treasury note soared 15 basis points to 2.65 percent. On the NYMEX, crude for October delivery settled up $1.81, or 2.47 percent, at $75.17 a barrel. Black gold has recovered after reaching an intra day low of under $71 on Wednesday.

Economic Rundown

Bernanke stated the economic recovery had softened but downplayed concerns the economy might dip back into recession. The U.S. should see a modest expansion in the second half of this year, with the pace picking up in 2011. I agree with the pace accelerating modestly in 2011, however I don’t see modest growth the remainder of the year. You are going to have roughly a 1.6 percent annual expansion in the second quarter. The April through June period was full of better employment numbers and was in the midst of the housing tax credit. July and August have been horrific on both fronts, and most likely wont get 1 percent in Q3. Companies try to9 make year end budgets, and you will most definitely see a pullback in corporate spending on technology and labor.

The second reading of Q2 GDP saw a reading of 1.6 percent, like I said earlier. The initial reading came in at 2.4 percent, so that was a pretty sharp downgrade. The street was expecting for an even worse reading of 1.4 percent.

Market Summary

On Wall Street, stocks edged higher following a breakthrough on the technical side, with the S&P holding 1,050 led a reversal from sharp premarket declines despite weak economic data. Major averages ended a four session decline as the Dow Jones Industrial average ended with a gain of 19.61 points, or 0.2 percent, at 10,060.06. The Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 3.46, or 0.3 percent, to 1,055.33, while the Nasdaq rose 17.78, or 0.8 percent, to 2,141.54. These slight gains were by no means led by any fundamentals within the economy. Maybe traders do believe that this is as bad as the data is going to get, and they want to be ahead of the curb. However, back in this place we call reality, we have not seen any signs of stabilization on the downside.

The street will get a look at weekly jobless claims, which stand at 500K for their highest levels since the beginning of the year.

Crude oil for October delivery rose 89 cents, or 1.24 percent, to settle at $72.52 a barrel on the NYMEX, reversing a five-day streak of lower settlements.

Economic Rundown

New factory orders for durable goods in July rebounded 0.3 percent, following a 0.1 percent decline the prior month. The gain was below even the low end of consensus forecasts. The July rebound came in significantly below the consensus forecast for a 2.5 percent rebound. The bounce back in July was led by the transportation component. Outside of transportation, durable goods for the month would have posted a sharp decline of 3.8 percent. I am not going to lie, I had no idea why the forecast was so high to begin with.

People expected bad, and the report didn’t disappoint! New home sales fell 12.4 percent in July to a record low 276,000 unit annual rate. Supply rose steeply, to 9.1 months from June’s 8.0 months. After the horrific numbers we have seen over the past two days, will we see a new round of housing stimulus? The median price is down 6.0 percent to $204,000, the lowest since 2003 for a 4.8 percent year-on-year decline.

Market Summary

Wall Street tanked once again on Tuesday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 slumping for a fourth day as an unexpectedly large drop in home sales last month raised more concerns about the economic recovery. The economic decline has been obvious, but the market is so propped up by many different factions, that the true value is hard to determine outside of technical levels. There was no chance of any positive movement as futures were down sharply and only extended declines after the report. By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial average fell 133.96, or 1.3 percent, to close at 10,040.45. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 15.49, or 1.5 percent, to 1,051.87, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 35.87, or 1.7 percent, to 2,123.76. The blue chips did hold 10K, at least for today, after dropping below the barrier earlier in the session.

There is no let up on the economic front, with July Durable Goods and New Home Sales hitting in the morning.

As equities continued to tumble, black gold hit an 11 week low. October crude settled down $1.47, or 2.01 percent, at $71.63 a barrel on the NYMEX.

Economic Rundown

According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of previously occupied homes plunged 27.2 percent in July to an annual rate of 3.83 million, the lowest rate in 15 years. That’s much worse than the 4.65 million estimate from economists before the 10 AM release. The drop from the previous month was the biggest since record-keeping began in 1968. Yeah, it doesn’t get any worse than this reading. Not shocking since the extension of the homebuyer tax credit called for all sales to be closed by June 30th.

As sales plunged, the inventory of unsold homes on the market grew to nearly 4 million in July. That’s a 12.5 month supply at the current sales pace, the highest level in more than a decade. A healthy level of inventory is around six months or so.

How can you have a sustained economic recovery where there is no housing market, despite record low mortgage rates, and near 10 percent unemployment?!

Market Summary

A horrific manufacturing reading and extremely troubling jobless claims number in the premarket sent futures negative before the bell. Stocks extended their losses throughout the session, aided by a weak regional manufacturing survey. The economic news is not good, and when the street is reacting from economic data point to corporate news, you are going to see moves like this. I said a few days ago that stocks were holding up well, surprisingly with the blue chips still well over 10K, despite the fact that the data is not ruling out a double dip.

By 4PM on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 144 points, or 1.4 percent, to 10,271. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index lost 18, or 1.7, to 1,075, while the Nasdaq composite index declined 36, or 1.7 percent, to 2,178.

September crude fell 99 cents, or 1.31 percent, to settle at $74.43 a barrel on the NYMEX, trading as low as $73.96 on the disappointing economic data.

Economic Rundown

The Labor Department reported that weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rose in the week ending August 14th. Initial claims advanced by 12,000 to 500,000 last week from an upwardly revised 488,000 a week earlier. The street was looking for a 4K fall to 480,000. The four-week average of 482,500 is the largest since December. This is a flashing red light for Q3. We could be looking at 1 percent with numbers like these as employers are still cutting costs to meet demand.

The Philly Fed manufacturing survey was negative 7.7 for August after a reading of positive 5.1 last month. Economists were expecting a reading of around positive 7. Manufacturing has helped lead the economy out of the deep recession. This is not a good sign whatsoever. Regional activity will be watched closely throughout the rest of the month in hopes that this was an outlier in the overall economic malaise, rather than a turn down to negative territory.

On the Corporate Front

Dell Inc. (DELL) saw a 16 percent jump in net income to 32 cents per share on $545 million, beating the street’s estimates of 30 cents. Earnings came in at $472 million, or 24 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 22 percent to $15.5 billion, from $12.8 billion. That’s more than the $15.2 billion analysts predicted. All in all, a very good quarter for the world’s second largest PC maker.

A second quarter top and bottom line win for DELL! I am feeling positive right now, and will overlook the week consumer business and drop in margins for the company’s products.

Market Summary

The blue chips snapped a five session losing streak, with major averages posting their best gains in over a week on Tuesday. Corporate earnings from Wal-mart Stores Inc (WMT) and The Home Depot Inc (HD) and potential M&A activity sent stocks higher in the premarket, and equities never looked back after the opening bell. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 103.84, or 1 percent, to 10,405.85. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 13.16, or 1.2 percent, to 1,092.54, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 27.57, or 1.3 percent, to 2,209.44. Another slow day of volume on the exchange, but that is to be expected at this point in the year. There was a lot to digest on the economic calendar, however nothing came in well out of consensus ranges and the market did little in terms of reaction.

Yields rose alongside equities, with the 10 year treasury moving back over 2.60 percent. The dollar headed lower, which helped crude snap its recent slide. September crude settled up 53 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $75.77 on the NYMEX.

Economic Rundown

U.S. producer prices rose in July for the first time in four months, pulled by higher prices for food and consumer goods. The overall PPI increased 0.2 percent in July, following a 0.5 percent fall in June. The reading matched Wall Street’s expectations. In the month, energy posted a 0.9 percent decrease while food prices jumped 0.7 percent.

Inflation would be a good sign in this economy, a sign that velocity is picking up and slack is diminishing.

U.S. housing starts rose in July but at a much weaker rate than expected, while permits for future home construction fell to their lowest level in more than a year. Housing starts in July posted a modest comeback, rising 1.7 percent after an 8.7 percent decrease in June. The July annualized pace of 0.546 million units came in below the median forecast for 0.565 million units and is down 7.0 percent on a year-ago basis.

The July “improvement” was led by a 32.6 percent bounce back in multifamily starts, following a 33.3 percent drop in June. The reading is coming off of historic lows, however, if the prior month wasn’t revised downward to 0.549 million, we would actually have seen a decline month over month.

Market Summary

It was a mixed day on Wall Street to kick off the new week, with equities trading in a narrow range throughout the session. It was an extremely quiet session, with only 5.73 billion shares traded on the combined NYSE Arca, Nasdaq and American Stock Exchanges for the lowest daily volume of the year. The end result was a mixed bag for the major averages.

By the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial average fell 1.14, or 0.01 percent, to 10,302.01. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 0.13, or 0.01 percent, to 1,079.38, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 8.39, or 0.4 percent, to 2,181.87. Despite the heavy losses last week, I think the markets are holding up reasonably well as economic growth has weakened around the globe, and the second half of 2010 will produce weaker results.

Interest rates continued to fall through the floor, with the 10 year U.S. Treasury losing 10 basis points to 2.58 percent. It is the lowest level in 17 months.

Crude for September delivery settled down 15 cents, or 0.2 percent, at
$75.24 a barrel on the NYMEX for the 5th consecutive decline, while gold closed at a 6 week high.

Economic Rundown

U.S. homebuilder sentiment unexpectedly fell for a third straight month in August to its lowest level since March 2009. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the monthly housing market index of builders’ sentiment about the housing market fell to 13 in August from 14 in July. Economists had expected the index to rise to 15.

Like the ISM readings, anything below 50 indicates a negative attitude towards the sector. We haven’t seen a reading above that mark since April….of 2006!

Without any government stimulus to help boost the housing market, these low readings are no surprise. Despite historic interest rates, there is just too much supply on the market and not enough demand. This economy needs to generate demand in many sectors to drive employment forward. It is extremely frustrating because, outside of creating the optimal conditions for the economy to expand, neither monetary nor fiscal policy can do much at this point.