Market Summary

Stocks soared on Wall Street Wednesday despite an extremely dreadful private sector employment report. The hope that the Fed will issue a new round of quantitative easing sent futures higher in the premarket. Stocks rallied as U.S. and China manufacturing figures showed continued strength in the sector. The boost gave major averages their best finish in nearly two months, and honestly, a surprise to many as we head into the holiday weekend.

By the closing bell, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 254.75, or 2.54 percent, higher at 10,269.47. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was up 30.96 points or 2.95 percent, at 1,080.29 as all 10 sectors advanced, while the Nasdaq rose 62.81 points, or 2.97 percent, to 2,176.84.

October crude rose $1.99, or 2.77 percent, to settle at $73.91 per barrel on the NYMEX on hopes demand will pick up on the heels of the data, while a lower greenback put additional upward pressure on commodities.

Economic Rundown

U.S. manufacturing expanded in August for the 13th straight month, lifting hopes that economic growth won’t reverse into a double dip. Manufacturing in the U.S. expanded at a faster pace than the street had expected in the month of August. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index rose to a three-month high of 56.3 from 55.5 in July. Readings greater than 50 signal growth, and the figure was projected to drop to 52.8

The ADP employment change showed that private employers in the United States shed 10,000 jobs in August, compared with the prior revised added jobs of 37,000 back in July, and opposite to expectations of 15,000 added jobs.

Elevated unemployment remains rather the major obstacle facing the economy. Conditions in the U.S. labor market are still very weak, especially since companies are still struggling amid low demand levels from consumers, and that is forcing companies to shed more jobs in a bid to cut costs and reduce expenses, and that is forcing unemployment to remain elevated, which continues to suppress the recovery process. The lone bright spot was service-producing firms, which added 30,000 jobs in August.

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.

Morning Outlook

Hesitant and cautious would describe Wall Street this Wednesday morning. Futures are trading in a narrow range ahead of two key July economic reports. It should be a great premarket with a good reaction in equities following the premarket reports. Ahead of those reports, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 2, or less than 0.1 percent, to 10,021. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures were unchanged at 1,049.80, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 3.75, or 0.2 percent, to 1,770.00. Lets be realistic, how can anyone have confidence in these numbers? There is no economic momentum, and stocks are finally waking up to that. Will the blue chips be able to hold 10K once again?

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 DJIA 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.

Currencies and Commodities

The dollar gained 0.7783% at 84.5550 yen in the currency market. The euro fell 0.1093% at $1.2614 while the pound gained 0.0931% to $1.5410. Gold gained $3.80 to $1237.20, while silver surged 1.07% at $18.62. Light, sweet crude for October delivery was flat at $71.61 on the NYMEX, also cautious ahead of the economic news of the day. Crude has followed equities down over these past few weeks, standing at an 11 week low.

Economic Calendar

8:30 AM
Durable Goods Orders: Measures the month over month change in orders placed with domestic manufacturers for immediate and future delivery of factory hard goods. Usually durable goods orders follow the trend in consumer spending, and therefore, a measure of strength in the economy. The consensus estimate is for a gain in July of 2.5%, following a 1% decline in June.

10:00 AM
New Home Sales: Measure the number of newly constructed homes with a committed sale during the month of July. The level of new home sales indicates trends in the housing market. We saw a drop in existing home sales yesterday that was much larger than expected. For July, new home sales are expected to be at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 340,000 after rebounding 23.6% in June to 330,000, which is still near record lows.

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

Wall Street finished lower on Monday, giving up early gains as equities closed weakly. Despite no economic reports being issued today, it is a very full week on the calendar, and market sentiment turned during the session in anticipation of those reports. Who wants to be the cat left holding the bag? By the closing bell, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 39.21 or 0.4 percent, to close at 10,174.41. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 4.33, or 0.4 percent, to 1,067.36, while the Nasdaq composite index lost 20.13, or 0.9 percent, to 2,159.63. As you can see from the results of today’s session, there is absolutely no confidence heading into this week’s data points. With housing and consumer data coming in below par over the last few months, there is no expectations at this point. Are we heading for a trip below 10K?

Crude oil for October delivery fell 72 cents, or 1%, to $73.10 a barrel on the NYMEX, reversing earlier gains as equities fell. The greenback rose, putting downward pressure on commodities.

Best Buy Sign I Have Seen in a While

Cramer Sees Very Negative Trend in Market

Cramer during Monday’s Stop Trading! blamed it on an overall “bearishness of the market.”

The trend started in tech, Cramer said, spread to retail and now has entered the food sector. He called it “a very negative development,” especially in light of what was a “beautiful” quarter for Williams-Sonoma Inc (WSM).

“It is remarkable to see how little enthusiasm there is,” Cramer said, “even for companies that are doing well.”

Cramer did recommend Time Warner Inc (TWX) saying a New York Times interview with CEO Jeffrey Bewkes changed his mind about the company.

Ah god that last sentence cracks me up. Do you know any CEO’s which would crap on their product in front of a TV “celebrity”. You know, after watching the Jersey Shore, GTL is the way to go because Snooki and the Situation told me so. What a joke Cramer has become. He has said the same thing countless times before, highlighted by Six Flags, which, filed Chapter 11….

Market Summary

On Wall Street, renewed fears about the U.S. economy and bearish action in expiring August options kept many investors at the sidelines. Major averages came off of session lows in the noon time hour, and by the closing bell, the Dow Jones industrial average had lost 57.59 points, or 0.56 percent, to 10,213.62. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 3.94 points, or 0.37 percent, to 1,071.69, while the Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.81 points, or 0.04 percent, to 2,179.76. The dollar hit a one-month high as investors left equities. As we close out earnings season, three-quarters of the companies have topped analysts’ average estimates. However, the street is down roughly 12 percent since April highs.

For the week, the S&P 500 was down 0.7 percent, led by energy shares which retreated 2.3 percent, the most among 10 industry groups. The blue chips slipped 0.9 percent, while the Nasdaq gained 0.3 percent. It was the second week of declines for the S&P and the Dow.

Expiring September crude ended lower for the third day in a row and down for the second straight week as worries about a stalling economic recovery hampering demand. The contract settled down 97 cents, or 1.3 percent, at $73.46 a barrel on the NYMEX. For the week, September crude ended $1.93 lower, or 2.56 percent. October will be the front month contract as the new week kicks off.

What’s on Tap

Monday brings us the start of the last full week of August. The kiddies are getting ready to go back to school, and the street will be shoveling snow not before long. Next week brings July data on new home sales, which will be terrible, home resales, aka existing home sales, which will also be terrible, and durable goods orders, which usually is unpredictable as well as the first of two revisions to the country’s second-quarter economic growth rate.

All in all, the poor economic data which has driven the market lower, highlighted by 500K in jobless claims for the week of August 14th, will no doubt direct trading in the coming week.

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.