Boenning & Scattergood : News

Morning Comment

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09/03/2010	Stocks staged another modest rally yesterday. Although it nowhere matched the robust move made on Wednesday, it was a healthy follow through.
09/01/2010	Stocks meandered about yesterday ending with little change in front of three days of data that will help to draw a fairly complete picture of where our economy stands today. Expectations are low.
08/30/2010	Stocks rallied sharply on Friday and closed at their best levels of the day, something that hasn’t happened all that often lately.
08/27/2010	Despite favorable jobless claims data, stocks fell once again on concerns that economic growth was fading. Today Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is going to give a highly publicized talk to a Federal Reserve retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
08/25/2010	Stocks fell sharply once again after a report showed a drop in existing home sales in July of 27%. I have often said that markets go up as problems get smaller and go down as problems get larger.
08/23/2010	Stocks fell again on Friday ending the week on a down note. But bulls may take a little solace in the fact that an important support level held, at least for the moment, and stocks finished off their worst levels for the session.
08/20/2010	Stocks fell sharply yesterday amid lousy economic news. Weekly jobless claims climbed back over the 500,000 level.
08/18/2010	Stocks registered strong gains yesterday breaking a five day losing streak although they faded a bit in the late afternoon. One got no sense that there was much conviction by either buyers or sellers.
08/16/2010	Stocks fell once again on Friday closing out a rather dismal week for stocks. Investors were clearly spooked by both the Federal Reserve’s actions last Tuesday and by its rather sudden change in outlook over the past two months.
08/04/2010	Stocks finished modestly lower in a rather quiet session. Most of yesterday’s data were on the disappointing side and earnings from Procter & Gamble and Dow disappointed.
08/02/2010	Stocks closed mixed on Friday in a quiet summer trading session. The big news Friday was the release of second quarter GDP.
07/30/2010	Stocks finished modestly lower yesterday but that hardly defines the session. The Dow gyrated over 300 points during the session seemingly without rhyme or reason, especially since very little newsworthy happened during trading hours.
07/28/2010	The Dow rose by more than 100 points last Thursday and Friday and again on Monday. Such a three day streak has only occurred 8 times in history.
07/26/2010	A listless dull trading session came to life late on Friday as stocks staged a healthy rally amid light trading. A month or two ago, a late afternoon selloff triggered by nothing would have left investors in a foul mood.
07/23/2010	Good economic news from Europe and good earnings news here moved stocks higher yesterday.
07/21/2010	After a miserable opening, stocks rallied throughout the day closing at their best levels. The theme in the morning was that some companies reporting second quarter results were coming up a bit short on the revenue line.
07/19/2010	Stocks fell sharply on Friday in response to some earnings disappointments and a sharp drop in consumer sentiment in a University of Michigan survey.
07/16/2010	Stocks finished mix yesterday. Early weakness related to disappointing reports on manufacturing in New York and the Mid-Atlantic regions sent stocks lower in the morning but rumors that an SEC settlement with Goldman Sachs was imminent spark recovery in the afternoon.
07/14/2010	Stocks rose for the sixth straight session virtually reversing a similar losing streak begun about 3 weeks ago. Good earnings news from Alcoa, CSX and Chevron sparked the rally.
07/12/2010	Stocks rose once again on Friday with the best performance once again coming late in the afternoon. After falling for 7 straight sessions, stocks made it a perfect 4-for-4 last week.
07/09/2010	Stocks rose smartly yesterday finishing at their highs for the day. It was a stunning performance on the back of Wednesday’s gains of almost 3%.
07/07/2010	Stocks went on a roller coaster ride yesterday spiking higher at the open, falling steadily throughout the day, and then rallying in the last five minutes to post modest gains and break a seven session losing streak. There was little or no news to move stocks.
07/02/2010	Stocks lost ground again yesterday although they recovered significantly from the morning lows. Once again signs of slowing economic growth weighed on equities.
06/30/2010	Stocks fell sharply yesterday as fears rose that the economy was stalling and worries increased that a second recession was just around the corner.
06/28/2010	Stocks finished mixed on Friday ending a lousy week for stocks. Investors finally got to see the final version of financial reform.
06/25/2010	Stocks got clobbered yesterday as investor moods continued to sour. On Wednesday afternoon, the Federal Reserve, in its post-FOMC meeting statement, offered a sober picture of the economy.
06/23/2010	Stocks fell sharply yesterday afternoon for the second day in a row. Once again, soft economic news was the culprit, this time a disappointing report on existing home sales.
06/21/2010	Given that Friday was a quadruple options expiration day and a day to rebalance leading averages, it was a surprisingly calm end to the second up week in a row.
06/18/2010	Stocks reversed course in the last half hour yesterday turning a sour session into a small gain. While technicians may like the way the market behaved, the economic data out this week were not very encouraging.
06/16/2010	Stocks rallied sharply yesterday. For the past week, it has been a pattern of one good day followed by a pause.
06/14/2010	Stocks vacillated all day Friday before a modest late afternoon rally lifted them into positive ground at the close. But it was far from what anyone could label as robust.
06/11/2010	Stocks rallied sharply yesterday. The economic backdrop was decent but hardly good enough to explain a move of over 270 Dow points.
06/09/2010	For six hours, yesterday’s market looked like a repeat of Monday. Stocks vacillated rising a bit and then falling a bit waiting for the real action in the last half hour.
06/07/2010	Stocks fell sharply on Friday after a weaker than expected employment report raised fears of some that a double-dip recession was imminent. A perceived threat that Hungary might default on its debt and rumors of a major derivatives based loss at a large French bank only added to investor woes.
06/04/2010	Stocks finished mixed yesterday with the NASDAQ sporting nice gains. Trading was fairly active. It wasn’t that second good day in a row that would trigger my two-day rule but it wasn’t a washout either.
06/02/2010	The market yesterday looked like a replay of last Friday when stocks opened lower, recovered part or all of their losses, and then collapsed in the last 20 minutes of trading.
05/28/2010	Stocks had their best session in a month but we have seen these one day wonders before. To be convincing the rally has to be followed by a solid session today.
05/26/2010	Stocks went for a wild ride yesterday opening sharply lower on a multitude of continued fears but then clawed their way back almost to break even by the end of the session. If we think back to last Friday, we had a sideways session that spiked 125 points late in the day followed by Monday which was the reverse falling about 135 points in the last 20 minutes.
05/24/2010	Stocks traded up and down Friday in a fairly narrow range for this market environment until a short covering rally in the final 15 minutes sent the Dow up 125 points. No one moans about a rally like they do about a decline but few were willing to read much into the late afternoon rise.
05/21/2010	The only word to describe yesterday’s trading session is ugly. Stocks fell big and acted the worst near the close.
05/19/2010	Another day, another triple digit decline. Over the past three weeks, 75% of the trading sessions have ended with a
05/17/2010	Stocks fell sharply again on Friday although a modest late afternoon rally enabled them to finish off the lows of the
05/14/2010	Stocks fell sharply yesterday with all the action taking place in the final hour. There was no real fundamental cause for the decline.
05/12/2010	Stocks finished modestly lower yesterday in a choppy session. Volume was moderately active.
05/10/2010	The EU acted over the weekend and the market has already reacted overseas staging a sharp rally. On Friday, stocks continued to fall in a very active and volatile session.
05/07/2010	The Dow fell by almost 350 points yesterday but that is only part of the story. In mid-session, the Dow was down close to 1000 points moving down and then back up a total of close to 1300 points in about half an hour.
05/05/2010	Stocks suffered their worst one day decline in three months yesterday. There was a perfect storm of bad news. Interest rates on the debt of Greece, Portugal and Spain rose once again reflecting skepticism that the Eurozone bailout of Greece is going to move forward as announced.
05/03/2010	Stocks fell sharply on Friday after news leaked that Federal prosecutors were investigating whether to indict Goldman Sachs (GS-$147) and/or some employees for criminal fraud relating to trading of mortgage related securities.
04/30/2010	Stocks rallied sharply yesterday as the Greek sovereign debt crisis calmed down a bit. Gains over the last two sessions have gone a long way to erasing Tuesday’s losses when Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greek debt to junk status and Goldman Sachs spent 10+ hours getting grilled in the Senate.
04/28/2010	Stocks fell sharply yesterday after the Greek sovereign debt crisis worsened and Standard & Poor’s lowered the rating on Greek debt to junk status. Seven Goldman Sachs executives, led by CEO Lloyd Blankfein, testified before a Senate panel.
04/26/2010	Stocks advanced again on Friday capping another solid week. Already this morning there has been a string of solid earnings reports led by Dow component Caterpillar (CAT-$69#).
04/23/2010	Stocks finished slightly higher yesterday recovering from sharp early losses. The Greek sovereign debt mess dominated the markets in the morning along with a few disappointing earnings reports.
04/21/2010	Stocks staged a modest rally yesterday although many companies that reported earnings before the session began lagged. For them, it was a return to the days of “buy the rumor, sell the news”.
04/19/2010	Stocks sank on Friday. It was a tale of two stories. The first was Google (GOOG-$550#*). Google announced earnings that exceeded expectations but it wasn’t an explosive beat-and-raise quarter so traders took profits.
04/16/2010	Stocks continued their winning streak rising modestly. After the close Google (GOOG-$595) reported better than expected revenues and earnings per share.
04/14/2010	Stocks closed modestly higher yesterday awaiting the first big earnings reports. Suffice it to say they were good and that should be reflected in a strong stock market this morning.
04/12/2010	Stocks staged a solid rally on Friday with the Dow Jones Industrials briefly crossing the 11000 barrier before pulling back slightly at the close. The reason for the market’s strength was simple; good fundamentals.
04/09/2010	Stocks started off slowly continuing Wednesday’s decline but rallied in the afternoon after very strong March sales reports from the nation’s leading retail chains began to sink in.
04/07/2010	Stocks finished mixed yesterday in a relatively quiet session. The most important news of the day was the release of the recent FOMC minutes, but they revealed little that market watchers didn’t already know.
04/05/2010	Stock markets were closed on Friday on a day when the Labor Department reported that March saw job growth of 162,000 jobs, the best single month in almost three years.
03/29/2010	Stocks finished mixed on Friday. The weekend was dominated more by political rhetoric than anything else.
03/22/2010	Stocks fell on Friday breaking an 8-day winning streak. But the losses were contained and stocks actually rallied slightly late in the day.
03/19/2010	The Dow made it 8 in a row yesterday, one of its longest winning streaks in recent memory.
03/17/2010	Happy St. Patrick’s Day and may all the prices on my quote screen today be green. Yesterday, stocks rallied in the afternoon after the FOMC maintained its language suggesting that interest rates would remain low for an “extended period”.
03/15/2010	Julius Caesar was told to beware the ides of March but if recent history sets the stage for today’s session, the ides of March are probably nothing to be feared. Stocks continue to mark time waiting for either a technical upside breakout or a failure to break decisively into new high ground.
03/12/2010	Stocks opened lower and finished higher led by technology and financial stocks. It was the sort of leadership and tape action one would like to see every day.
03/10/2010	Stocks finished about flat yesterday. Volume was up sharply from Monday but the increase was concentrated in just a few old has-been names like AIG, Citigroup, and Fannie Mae.
03/08/2010	Stocks rallied with vigor on Friday as the monthly employment report showed fewer job losses than anticipated. It topped a good week for data with strong manufacturing, sales and employment news all week long.
03/05/2010	Stocks rose yesterday climbing into positive territory for the year. Surprisingly good retail sales for February announced by chain stores yesterday added a bit of fuel to the market’s advance as did a decline in weekly jobless claims.
03/03/2010	Stocks rose modestly yesterday as the recent three day rally started to run out of steam in the afternoon. There was no news to spark the selling but there was no sense that bears were about to regain control of the market either.
03/01/2010	Stocks finished mixed in a muted session on Friday as traders were more anxious about the snowstorm than they were about the market.
02/12/2010	Stock prices are about where they were at the beginning of September. Bonds are essentially unchanged as well.
02/10/2010	Stocks rallied sharply opening higher and building on its early gains for most of the session.
02/08/2010	Stocks finished with a small gain on Friday but that fails to tell the tale of the tape. For much of the session stocks moved sharply lower continuing the decline of the past few weeks.
02/05/2010	The only word I know to describe yesterday is ugly. A lot of little things all combined to have a big trading impact. Weekly jobless claims remain persistently high and signal a worse than previously expected employment report today. We’ll know soon enough. Sovereign debt problems in Greece sent stocks falling in Europe and got U.S. markets off on the wrong foot. Those problems escalated thr...
02/03/2010	Stocks rose sharply for the second straight session. My two-day rule says we no longer have to play defense.
02/01/2010	Stocks fell again on Friday fading all afternoon to their lowest levels of the year. January ended with a decline of over 3%.
01/29/2010	Stocks fell across a broad front yesterday although they finished well off their lows for the session. Poor results from a few tech companies and a little “sell on the news” from Apple (AAPL-$200#*) after the iPad launch set the market into reverse.
01/27/2010	Stocks finished mildly lower yesterday after spending most of the day in positive territory. Traders moved to the sidelines awaiting the results of today’s two-day FOMC meeting, tonight’s State of the Union Address, a flood of economic data still to come this week, and the outcome of the effort to renominate Ben Bernanke as Federal Reserve Chairman.
01/25/2010	Stocks nosedived on Friday completing the worst week for the stock market since early 2009 before the big recovery rally began. Once again, Washington was the focus.
01/22/2010	Stocks fell sharply yesterday as President Obama escalated his attack on large banks. It is hard to separate politics from prudent constructive reform in the wake of the financial crisis we have just lived through.
01/20/2010	Stocks staged a solid rally as traders expressed their enthusiasm that Scott Brown would win the special election in Massachusetts to fill the Senate seat vacated by the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy. Health care stocks were market leaders. The gains offset losses incurred last Friday after Intel (INTC-$21#*) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM-$43) reported earnings.
01/15/2010	Stocks rose modestly once again awaiting the first major earnings reports of this season. After the bell, Intel (INTC-$21#*) didn’t disappoint, reporting earnings almost a third more than projected on very strong revenues.
01/13/2010	Stocks fell yesterday in response to some poor earnings news. Alcoa (AA-$15), the first Dow component to report fourth quarter results, came up short on the bottom line. In addition, another Dow member, Chevron (CVX-$80) said that earnings dropped sharply in the quarter because of poor refining margins. Electronic Arts (ERTS-$17*) took a beating after it said Q4 results were disappointing.
01/11/2010	Stocks advanced on Friday. The first week of the new year ended with solid gains, hopefully a harbinger of better things to come.
01/08/2010	Stocks finished higher yesterday in another listless session. Banks and homebuilders were the surprising leaders while profit taking hit the tech and energy sectors.
01/06/2010	Stocks were mixed yesterday, not a bad showing after Monday’s nice rally. But the enthusiasm and drive that gave traders mojo just a few months ago seems to be missing.
01/04/2010	Happy New Year! 2009 went out with a bit of a whimper as the averages fell about 1% on Thursday. Most of the decline took place right at the end of the session proving what can happen when both traders who stayed to the end decided to sell at the same time.
12/30/2009	Stocks closed mixed in yesterday’s session. Volume was light once again. Many traders have simply packed it in for 2009.
12/28/2009	Stocks rose for the fifth straight session again on Friday, again on light volume. The news background remained fairly benign.
12/23/2009	Stocks rallied once again as the Christmas rally continues. Shoppers were back out in force catching up after the weekend winter snowstorm in the Northeast.
12/21/2009	Stocks rallied again on Friday on large volume related to a big option expiration day. Over the weekend, of course, there was a rather large snowstorm that disrupted Christmas shopping on the biggest day of the year.
12/18/2009	Stocks sold off yesterday as the dollar rallied sharply in front of today’s quadruple options expiration. There was no particular news that sparked the selling.
12/16/2009	Stocks rallied once again on no particular news. Boeing (BA-$56) finally got its long delayed Dreamliner off the ground, even if it was just a test flight.
12/14/2009	Stocks rose on Friday as optimism surrounding Christmas sales seemed to gain some strength. Retailers were among the leaders.
12/11/2009	Stocks had another good day yesterday and seem ready to make it three in a row this morning. When all is said and done, it probably will be a sideways week but one that might end with a better feel than it began.
12/09/2009	Stocks fell sharply yesterday. There was a lot for bears to chew on.
12/07/2009	Stocks rose on Friday in a seesaw session after an employment report that was much better than expected.
12/04/2009	A sharp decline in the last half hour yesterday sent stocks tumbling in anticipation of today’s monthly employment report. Until then, it had been a pretty flat session.
12/02/2009	Stocks rose sharply yesterday with some averages including the Dow Industrials setting new recovery highs. Good economic data and fading fears related to a possible credit default in Dubai contributed to the gains.
11/30/2009	Stocks closed sharply lower on Friday in an abbreviated trading session after Dubai’s announcement that it would seek a six month moratorium on debt repayments of Dubai World. Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates, lacks any oil production.
11/27/2009	Although no letter was planned for this morning, the best laid plans were put to rest by a modest request from Dubai to its lenders asking for a six month debt repayment moratorium from its lenders. That is akin to you or I asking if we could defer mortgage payments for six months. The differences are that if we don’t meet our mortgage requirements, the bank takes the house. The banks and ot...
11/25/2009	Stocks finished modestly lower yesterday. Early morning profit taking after Monday’s big gain was reversed by some favorable economic news. Housing prices continue to stabilize and the FOMC minute notes predict a slow recovery, low inflation and a continued policy of low interest rates for some time to come. Health care stocks were market leaders and financials trailed.
11/23/2009	Stocks fell modestly on Friday in a quiet session. Over the weekend, the Senate, amid much pageantry and posturing, voted to begin debate on health care legislation.
11/20/2009	Stocks fell yesterday as the dollar rose. Commodity prices fell dragging down energy stocks and shares of raw material producers.
11/18/2009	Yesterday’s modest gains serve as testimony to the enduring power of the bulls in this market. There was no real news to push stocks in either direction.
11/16/2009	Stocks rose on Friday on no particular new data and they look to continue to gain today. Several factors remain in place.
11/13/2009	Stocks gave back some of their recent gains yesterday but it wasn’t exactly a cascade of selling or an eruption of fear. Just some old-fashioned profit taking.
11/11/2009	Bulls have to take comfort from yesterday’s flat market performance on the heels of a 2%+ gain on Monday. This is a week with very little in the way of economic or earnings news to drive stocks.
11/09/2009	Stocks managed a modest gain on Friday despite a very lackluster employment report.
11/06/2009	Stocks rose sharply yesterday. A favorable earnings report from Cisco (CSCO-$24#*), a drop in weekly jobless claims, and the unwinding of the mysterious last hour selloff Wednesday just before the close all contributed to the gain.
11/04/2009	Stocks closed mixed yesterday. Poor economic news overseas was offset by several big merger announcements in the United States.
11/02/2009	Stocks fell sharply once again on Friday more than erasing Thursday’s big rally. Last week was the worst for stocks since early July as investors raised questions regarding valuation and the sustainability of the economic recovery.
10/30/2009	Stocks rebounded sharply yesterday after a week of extended losses. The catalyst appeared to be a better than expected report on third quarter GDP.
10/28/2009	Although the Dow managed to post a modest gain yesterday, it was another down session overall with declining issues outnumbering advancing issues by better than 2:1. The NASDAQ Composite fell by more than 1%.
10/26/2009	Stocks fell Friday against a backdrop of very little news. Earnings reports continue to emit a good story but it appears by now to be one pretty well played out.
10/23/2009	Stocks rallied yesterday on a day that was generally void of major news events. Earnings continued to be good and excellent results from Dow components 3M (MMM-$79) and McDonald’s (MCD-$60#) helped.
10/21/2009	Stocks fell yesterday despite continued strong earnings. Weak housing starts reminded some that all isn’t well quite yet and many of the good earnings reports still lack a strong revenue growth component.
10/19/2009	Stocks fell on Friday in the wake of sloppy earnings reports from General Electric (GE-$16#) and IBM (IBM-$122#) and weak numbers from Bank of America (BAC-$16). But the losses were modest and well contained.
10/16/2009	Stocks rose once again yesterday to a new recovery high but the party might hit a speed bump this morning. Overnight three Dow components have reported results and all look like they will trade lower this morning.
10/14/2009	Stocks finished slightly lower yesterday although the NASDAQ Composite managed to post a slight gain. Early losses were erased by bargain hunting.
10/12/2009	Stocks rallied again on Friday bringing the gains for the week to about 4%. Most leading averages closed at new recovery highs by the close of trading on Friday.
10/09/2009	Stocks rose once again yesterday reacting to a smattering of good earnings reports, decent September retail sales, and comments from Fed chief Ben Bernanke suggesting that any increases in the Fed Funds rate are still quite a ways off.
10/07/2009	Stocks rose sharply again yesterday, the second straight day of 100+ point gains for the Dow. The Jim Meyer two-day rule once again says to stay with the trend.
10/05/2009	Stocks finished modestly lower on Friday, the eighth down day in the last nine sessions, the worst losing stretch since the March rally. But given the weak unemployment numbers reported Friday morning, most traders were happy to end the week with only minor further damage.
10/02/2009	Stocks started the fourth quarter on a sour note with a decline of over 2%. The bulls were never in the game.
09/30/2009	Stocks fell yesterday giving back a modest part of Monday’s gains. But the 47 point drop in the Dow pales in comparison to a year earlier when the Dow set an all-time record falling more than 775 points after the House of Representatives in its infinite wisdom voted against enacting the TARP legislation.
09/28/2009	Stocks closed lower on Friday and lower for the week. Although share prices fell three out of four days last week, there were no fireworks, no signs of panic and no indication that we were suddenly about to end the bull market rally we are in.
09/25/2009	Stocks finished lower yesterday for the second straight session and for the third time this week. But there was no panic apparent. The selling seemed orderly. Strength in the dollar and lower commodity prices were one catalyst for the decline. Another was a somewhat disappointing report yesterday on existing home sales in August. However, inventories of unsold homes dropped suggesting that ...
09/23/2009	Have you ever seen the movie, “Groundhog Day”, the one where Bill Murray wakes up every morning to the tune of “I’ve Got You Babe” and relives the same day over and over again? This market seems to be stuck in a similar repetitious pattern. Not that I am complaining. Every once in a while, like Monday, stocks open appreciably lower but then begin to claw their way back. Even when the day en...
09/21/2009	Stocks finished the week on an upnote with solid gains once again on Friday. The week ended up about 2 ½%. It marked the ninth up week of the last 11.
09/18/2009	Stocks fell slightly yesterday but it was hardly a victory for the bears. Right now no one seems to want to be on the sidelines for long.
09/16/2009	Stocks continued to rally yesterday. There simply hasn’t been any negative news to cause them to reverse course.
09/14/2009	Stocks finally took a breather on Friday declining modestly. After the sharp one-day downturn on the first trading day in September, everyone was looking for the proverbial September correction.
09/02/2009	Yesterday was a truly ugly day for stocks. Despite very good economic news regarding both the manufacturing and housing sectors, stocks dove sharply in mid-morning and never recovered.
08/31/2009	Stocks posted narrow losses on Friday in a sluggish session typical of the end of August. Tech stocks managed to eke out modest gains after Intel (INTC-$20#*) raised revenue guidance for the quarter and Dell (DELL-$16) reported better than expected earnings.
08/28/2009	The winning streak continued yesterday. None of the up days this week have been spectacular but the cumulative effect is nice.
08/26/2009	Stocks rose again yesterday. However, like Monday’s session, a good part of the rally was given back late in the day.
08/24/2009	Stocks staged a sharp rally on Friday. After the big loss last Monday, the reversal later in the week not only created the sixth up week in the last seven, but it clearly erased any corrective mode the stock market appeared to be entering.
08/21/2009	Stocks ended higher for the third day in a row mostly reversing the slide of last Friday and Monday. Put it all together and the markets seem to be churning in a sideways direction.
08/19/2009	Stocks rebounded yesterday recovering about half of Monday’s losses. But there was nothing impressive about the rally, nothing to make me feel that stocks are about to surge suddenly to new highs.
08/17/2009	Stocks fell on Friday and finished the week down for the first time in 5 weeks. Although a late afternoon rally cut the losses about in half, the rally wasn’t all that convincing.
08/14/2009	Stocks finished modestly higher yesterday in a quiet session. Actually, it was an impressive performance coming a day after a spike rally and after a morning that contained more than a bit of weak economic news.
08/12/2009	Yesterday stocks fell by more than a percentage point, the weakest performance in more than a month. There was no particular cause for the weakness other than profit taking.
08/10/2009	A better than expected employment report sent stocks soaring on Friday. By the close the market had held on to the bulk of the gains and as stocks finished up 2% for the week, its fourth up week in a row.
08/07/2009	Stocks finished modestly lower yesterday. A late rally mitigated losses but it was a sloppy looking day overall, the second in a row.
08/05/2009	Stocks finished mixed yesterday. A brief rally in the last few minutes allowed most averages to finish marginally in positive territory but it certainly wasn’t one of those days the bulls have been used to lately.
08/03/2009	Stocks closed mix on Friday ending one of the best months for stocks in years. With earnings season winding down, the news flow will begin to shrink.
07/31/2009	The rally continues as July gets set to close out its best month in 70 years. Lest we forget, at the end of the first week, traders were worrying that a retest of the March lows was about to begin.
07/29/2009	Stocks finished mixed yesterday recovering from a 1%+ loss in the middle of the day. Bulls still appear to be in control of this market.
07/27/2009	Stocks managed another gain on Friday albeit a modest one. But the gain was impressive nonetheless coming on the heels of a miserable earnings report from tech bellwether Microsoft (MSFT-$27#*).
07/24/2009	When stocks go up every day, it is a lot more enjoyable than when they go down everyday. But are sustained moves like this to be believed? The current rebound in stocks is the strongest since 1975 when stocks began to recover from what was at the time the worst recession since the Great Depression.
07/22/2009	Stocks squeezed out another gain yesterday and set a new recovery high but barely. Increased expectations for Caterpillar (CAT-$39#) lifted the averages. But as earnings season progresses, it is becoming harder to keep discounting the same essential story. Cost cutting is helping the corporate bottom line. When the top line begins to recover, there will be further sharp gains in profits.
07/20/2009	Stocks finished modestly higher on Friday making it 5 straight for the week. In fact, last week was one for the memory books, the best performance by stocks since the big rally began in March.
07/17/2009	It has been a heck of a week for stocks highlighted by Wednesday’s huge 3%+ rally after the blowout earnings report from Dow component Intel (INTC-$18#*).
07/15/2009	Stocks staged a modest late afternoon rally to finish in plus territory for the second time this week. Good earnings from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ-$58#) and Goldman Sachs (GS-$149#) set a positive tone. A sharp increase in June producer prices and a weak retail sales report were counterbalancing influences.
07/13/2009	Stocks finished mixed on Friday. The trading pattern mirrored earlier days in the week. Morning and early afternoon declines were erased for the most part by a modest rally toward the close.
07/10/2009	Stocks traded within a narrow range yesterday but bearish sentiment continues to hold the upper hand.
07/08/2009	Stocks fell sharply for the second time in three sessions. In the absence of any new hard data, traders continued to dwell on last Thursday’s weak employment report and the negative ramifications associated with it.
07/06/2009	Stocks fell sharply on Thursday on very light pre-holiday volume in reaction to a weaker than expected employment report for June. The unemployment rate rose to 9.5% and job losses during the month were both considerably weaker than expected and quite a bit higher than the losses posted for May.
07/01/2009	Stocks finished lower yesterday but ended the second quarter with the first gain since the third quarter of 2007.
06/29/2009	It is going to be a busy week coming up packed into four days. Actually, it may be packed into about 3 ½ days assuming traders leave for the 4th of July holiday after the June employment report is released early on Thursday morning, a day ahead of normal. Also this week we will see factory orders, a first look at June manufacturing plus monthly sales data from the auto companies. It will all b...
06/26/2009	Stocks rallied sharply yesterday in the aftermath of the Fed’s Open Market Committee meeting on Wednesday. As I always point out, the market’s conclusion becomes apparent the following day, not in the hours after the announcement when traders unwinding positions dominate the market’s behavior.
06/24/2009	Stocks were mixed yesterday in the wake of Monday’s sharp decline. Technicians were mildly encouraged by the market’s ability to find support but it is hard to find someone overwhelmingly bullish today.
06/22/2009	Although stocks posted modest gains on Friday it wasn’t enough to pull the week into the black thus creating the first down week in the last five. In fact, leading averages today are about where they were in early May. Suddenly it is hard to find a bull out there. Everyone seems to be saying in unison that stocks have come too far too fast and are setting up for a pullback.
06/19/2009	Stocks rallied yesterday breaking their losing streak. But it wasn’t a particularly impressive rally and volume remained light. There seems to be a lack of conviction both among bulls and bears right now.
06/17/2009	Stocks fell broadly yesterday on light volume. Although selling accelerated in the final 20 minutes, the tape action bore no resemblance to the frightening trading environment of last fall.
06/15/2009	A modest afternoon rally allowed the Dow to finish higher for the week, and for the first time since the first few days of January, up year-to-date as well. As I have noted often over the past several weeks, I think one should look at the stock market more in the context of all of 2009 rather than simply the sharp rally since early March.
06/12/2009	Stocks have spent the first two weeks in June within a narrow trading range.
06/10/2009	Stocks finished mixed for the second day in a row. Given the strong run since March, I will happily accept two flat days. Sellers just cannot get any traction. Simply said, there is more money on the sidelines waiting to get in than money in the market waiting to move back to the sidelines.
06/08/2009	Stocks finished mixed on Friday ending three straight up weeks for equities.
06/05/2009	Stocks rallied once again yesterday despite rather weak May sales announced by leading retail chains. Investors seemed to be ready to look past today’s employment report after Wednesday’s prediction from ADP was roughly in line with expectations.
06/03/2009	Stocks managed to eke out a gain for the fourth straight session. However, it was a much more mixed session than we saw Monday or last Friday. Bank stocks in particular came under pressure after several major banks completed large equity offerings as a prelude to paying back TARP funds to the Federal government.
06/01/2009	Stocks meandered for most of Friday’s session before staging a rally in the last hour to finish with solid gains. That created a string of three solid up months in a row, the first time that has happened since the middle of 2007 when the credit bubble was just starting to burst.
05/29/2009	Unless stocks collapse today, May will be the third consecutive up month. You have to go back to the late summer of 2007 to find such a streak.
05/27/2009	Stocks rose sharply yesterday. The rally appeared to be sparked by an upbeat report on consumer confidence. While it is great to see a consumer express some resiliency, it is rather odd to see stocks spike upward as they did yesterday on an economic indicator that is hardly supported by real data.
05/22/2009	Stocks fell sharply yesterday although they were able to pare their losses a bit in the afternoon. There was a lot of negative news for investors to dwell on. Initial jobless claims remained persistently high.
05/20/2009	Stock prices dropped in the last half hour yesterday erasing most of the day’s gains. At the close, most averages were slightly in the red but the NASDAQ Composite finished higher.
05/18/2009	Stocks fell on Friday ending the worst week since the March rally began.
05/15/2009	Stocks staggered higher yesterday in a very unimpressive fashion after a pretty nasty session on Wednesday. It isn’t hard to see why. After a somewhat extended period of good “green shoots” economic news, we have experienced some relatively disappointing stories this week.
05/13/2009	Stocks recovered a bit of lost ground yesterday in a rather lackluster session.
05/11/2009	Stocks continued to rally on Friday behind the announced bank stress test results and amid a monthly employment report roughly in line with expectations. Stocks ended the day at a new recovery high and gave greater confidence to the bull’s rally that began March 9.
05/08/2009	Stocks fell yesterday in front of last night’s release of the bank stress test results.
05/07/2009	Since I missed writing a comment on Monday and so much is going on this week, I thought I would write one today. Today was supposed to be the day the government released data about the bank stress tests. But in a city known for leaks, Washington and banking insiders might have set a world record yesterday for the number of leaks that have already trumped today’s news.
05/06/2009	Stocks fell slightly yesterday, a pretty strong performance after Monday’s sharp rally. Most indices remained near recovery highs. There have been two catalysts this week.
05/01/2009	Stocks got off to a strong start yesterday amid some good economic and earnings news but gave the gains back after Chrysler finally succumbed to bankruptcy.
04/29/2009	Stocks marked time yesterday in a lackluster session. Most averages finished marginally lower.
04/27/2009	Stocks rallied again on Friday but equities finished modestly lower for the week for the first time since early March. The alleged big news story of Friday was the release of the bank stress test methodology but the facts released were so benign and expected that they had little impact on the market.
04/24/2009	Stocks rallied yesterday in a seesaw session closing near the highs for the trading day.
04/22/2009	Stocks rallied yesterday partially recapturing Monday’s big loss. The sign of bullish market behavior is the ability to mitigate the damage, especially against a backdrop of bad news.
04/20/2009	Stock managed to achieve a small gain Friday despite a late afternoon selloff.
04/17/2009	Stocks finished strong yesterday and set a new recovery high reinforcing the bull’s case that the March 9 lows just might be the bear market bottom. JPMorgan Chase (JPM-$33) had better-than-expected earnings.
04/15/2009	Stocks fell broadly yesterday amid a fairly healthy dose of bad news. Probably the single most important data point was the release of March retail sales numbers that showed a reversal of the improvement reported for February.
04/13/2009	Stocks rallied sharply on Thursday after Wells Fargo (WFC-$20) said that it would have higher than expected first quarter earnings. The gain enabled the stock market to post its fifth weekly advance in a row. It was a nice way to end a holiday shortened week.
04/08/2009	Stocks finished lower yesterday, the first really lousy session in almost two weeks. Volume was extremely light. Profit taking, concern about first quarter earnings, and fears that bank losses might be higher than previously thought all weighed on investors.
04/06/2009	Stocks rose again on Friday completing four straight weeks of advances. Obviously, there has been a decided mood swing. While only a minority is convinced that the bear market of 2007-2009 is over, investors and consumers seem to have less of a panic feeling.
04/03/2009	Stocks rose again crossing the 8000 level on the Dow for the first time since early February. Indeed, while the rally of the past four weeks has been sharp and surprising to many, I think it is important to examine it within the context of the past four months.
04/01/2009	Stocks advanced yesterday although they gave back a good part of their gains in the final half hour. While it ended another down quarter, March was the best month for equities since October 2002.
03/30/2009	Stocks fell across a broad front on Friday and the retreat is continuing this morning. Over the weekend, the government forced the ouster of General Motors (GM-$3) CEO Rick Wagoner as restructuring progress continued to proceed at a pace that was simply too slow to reach a successful solution.
03/27/2009	Stocks rallied again yesterday as the market continued its strongest rally during this long bear market. Gains are now well over 20% in less than three weeks. The NASDAQ Composite actually climbed into positive territory for the week.
03/25/2009	Stocks faded at the close yesterday giving back about a quarter of Monday’s sharp gains. Despite the relatively quick selloff in the last half hour, there was no surge of selling or any sign that the bulls were losing control of this market. It still appears like the market wants to go higher.
03/23/2009	Stocks fell sharply on Friday as Congress moved quickly to punish the financial community for AIG’s apparent
03/20/2009	Stocks fell yesterday in a mixed session giving back most of Wednesday’s gains after the Federal Reserve announced an enormous expansion of its intent to buy Treasury securities and other fixed income assets.
03/18/2009	Stocks rallied again yesterday as news continues to point to a very slow healing within the economy.
03/16/2009	Stocks made it four in a row on Friday. The four day rally was about the best looking recovery we have seen since the bear market began in November 2007.
03/13/2009	Stocks staged their second sharp rally in three days exhibiting positive momentum that hasn’t been seen since the beginning of the bear market in the fall of 2007.
03/11/2009	Boy, did yesterday feel good! After months of constant declines, and even if it proves to be just another one-day, bear market rally, it felt great.
03/10/2009	Look at the attached table. I have divided the Dow Jones Industrial Average into thirds. The character of each third is a bit different. The first group of 10 companies comprises 63% of the Dow’s value.
03/09/2009	Stocks were mixed on Friday. A late day rally mitigated the losses but investors and traders alike aren’t about to take that rally to mean anything more than short covering.
03/06/2009	It was another ugly session yesterday and another new low. The economic news actually wasn’t all that bad.
03/04/2009	Stocks finished lower again yesterday, although it wasn’t as bad as the 4%+ pummeling we experienced on Monday. I have been in this business for just about 40 years. Over that span, I have never seen an economy worse than the one we are experiencing now.
03/02/2009	Friday, the market ended with a big thud once again.
02/27/2009	Stocks fell once again as February draws to a close. Simply put, it is the worst start for stocks at the beginning of a new year ever and it comes on the heels of a horrible 2008.
02/25/2009	Stocks rallied on Tuesday recovering almost all of Monday’s loss after Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke out strongly against nationalization.
02/23/2009	Stocks fell again on Friday bringing the worst week for stocks since October to a close. Once again financials led the decline as traders continued to fear nationalization of several large banks.
02/20/2009	The Dow fell to a six-year low yesterday led by a continued drop in financial stocks.
02/18/2009	Stocks came within a whisker of setting a 10-year low yesterday as the Dow fell almost 300 points.
02/13/2009	Stocks finished mixed after a seesaw session. Volume was relatively light despite the 6% swing during the day.
02/11/2009	I have said that this would be a critical week that could well define government economic policy for the next several years.
02/09/2009	Stocks rose sharply on Friday despite a reported huge surge in unemployment in January.
02/06/2009	Stocks rallied yesterday on hopes that Congress would pass a stimulus package quickly, perhaps before the end of next week.
02/04/2009	Stocks rebounded smartly yesterday led by health care issues. Financials lagged. The progress of Washington’s movements toward a stimulus package and a rescue package for the financial system dominated trading.
02/02/2009	Stocks finished lower on Friday after a dismal Q4 GDP report and concerns that efforts to set up a “bad bank” to receive toxic assets would fall apart.
01/30/2009	Stocks gave back all of Wednesday’s gains and then some yesterday after the House passed a huge pork-loaded spending bill under the guise of an economic stimulus package.
01/28/2009	Stocks rose yesterday although they finished off their best levels of the day. Financials continued to rebound and led the market. Energy stocks fell off amid a sharp slump in oil prices.
01/26/2009	Stocks closed mixed on Friday. Investors tussled with General Electric’s (GE-$12#) earnings, which came in about as expected but left unanswered questions regarding its dividend and credit rating.
01/23/2009	It was another miserable day for stocks. Although an afternoon rally cut losses by more than half from earlier in the day, it was a session filled with more bad economic news and worsening fears that the end of the recession may be further out than perceived earlier.
01/21/2009	It’s hard to find anything positive to say about yesterday’s stock market performance. It was the worst single day decline during a Presidential inaugural.
01/16/2009	Stocks closed slightly higher yesterday in a wild trading session that saw the Dow flirt once again with the 8000 level before rallying.
01/14/2009	Stocks were mixed yesterday. On the negative side, earnings season starts next week and it will probably be dismal. On the positive side, bond markets continue to heal suggesting (1) that investors are beginning to take risks as they (2) increasingly believe the economy is not about to meltdown completely.
01/12/2009	Stocks gave ground on Friday in the wake of an awful employment report.
01/09/2009	Stocks ended mixed yesterday. A disappointing earnings forecast from Wal-Mart (WMT-$51) sent its shares down over 7% and pulled the Dow into negative territory.
01/07/2009	If you listen to the message of the market, the recession should come to a rapid end around the middle of 2009.
01/05/2009	Friday started a new year and it was a much nicer beginning than 12 months ago.
01/02/2009	Today starts a new year and, hopefully, we will get off to a much better start than we did in 2008.
12/31/2008	The countdown is on! Less than eight hours to go. Before we ring in the New Year, we need to get rid of 2008.
12/29/2008	Stocks rose modestly Friday in a listless session.
12/26/2008	Stocks broke a 5-day losing streak on Wednesday in a shortened session.
12/24/2008	Stocks fell yesterday for the fifth day in a row.
12/22/2008	Stocks closed mixed on Friday in a very quiet session.
12/19/2008	Stocks fell yesterday for the second straight session. Stocks are now back in the middle of their recent 8000-9000 trading range and the two consecutive days of decline have certainly sapped any bullish momentum.
12/17/2008	Stocks rallied sharply after the Federal Reserve lowered the targeted Fed Funds rate to a range of 0.00-0.25% and indicated that it would buy a wide range of securities in the open market, especially mortgage related debt.
12/15/2008	Despite the Madoff scandal and the Senate’s rejection of a bailout plan for the auto industry, stocks managed to gain ground on Friday.
12/12/2008	Stocks fell yesterday partly due to another wave of institutional selling and partly due to fear that the Senate would balk at supporting the $14 billion loan package that would avert, at least for now, a bankruptcy filing by General Motors (GM-$4) and Chrysler.
12/10/2008	Stocks fell yesterday. But unlike most recent declines, this one, while significant, seemed orderly.
12/08/2008	Stocks turned in a stunning performance on Friday, reversing an early decline keyed to a dismal employment report to finish sharply higher.
12/05/2008	Today three huge storm clouds hang over the market.
12/03/2008	How do you describe a market that rises over 20% in 5 trading sessions, gives back over 50% of the gain in a matter of hours, and then rallies more than 3% the following day?
12/01/2008	Stocks rose again on Friday for the fifth straight session in a holiday shortened session.
11/28/2008	Stocks advanced again on Wednesday as investor confidence continued to build, short covering increased and, at least for the moment, mass portfolio liquidations decreased.
11/26/2008	Stocks rallied for the third day in a row yesterday.
11/24/2008	Stocks staged a sharp late day rally on Friday recouping much of Thursday’s losses.
11/21/2008	With yesterday’s decline, we are now in the worst bear market since the Great Depression by some measures.
11/19/2008	Stocks rallied in the closing hour once again closing above important support levels.
11/17/2008	After a one-day relief rally (unfortunately, that is all I can label it right now), stocks returned to their schizophrenic behavior on Friday falling well over 300 Dow points before fully recovering the entire loss by 3 PM.
11/14/2008	For the third time in a month, the Dow rallied by more than 800 points.
11/12/2008	In the midst of a bear market, some days are uglier than others.
11/10/2008	Stocks rallied on Friday recapturing a small part of the combined 10% decline experienced Wednesday and Thursday.
11/07/2008	President-elect Obama must wonder what he got himself into after two days of 5% declines in the stock market.
11/05/2008	Stocks celebrated an Obama victory hours before the actual results confirmed that result.
11/03/2008	Stocks rose on Friday topping off the best week since 1974 and finishing the worst month since 1987.
10/31/2008	Today is Halloween. For investors, more importantly, it is the last trading day of a very crazy month.
10/30/2008	If you think I was going to skip a letter on the day after the Phils won their first World Series in 28 years, well you were wrong.
10/29/2008	A rally of over 900 points feels a lot better than the torture we have been going through lately.
10/27/2008	After a very scary picture early Friday morning when markets tumbled overseas and futures in the U.S. were down the limit, stocks failed to collapse as so many people expected.
10/24/2008	Let me try and set the stage for what is likely to be a very tumultuous trading day, maybe even a historic one.
10/22/2008	Stocks fell sharply at the close yesterday reversing much of the momentum created by Monday’s sharp gain.
10/20/2008	Stocks had their best performance since 2003 last week despite the single worst day in 75 years on Wednesday.
10/17/2008	If you are finding it hard to make rhyme or reason out of this market, so am I.
10/15/2008	How do you explain a market that drops over 20% in a week, the largest decline in recorded history, and then starts the next week with an 11% advance, the biggest one-day rise in 75 years?
10/13/2008	What a week! In statistical terms, it was the worst ever. Stocks fell by well over 20% and it was all capped off on Friday by probably the most volatile day anyone has ever seen in the investment business.
10/08/2008	Stocks continued to fall like a rock yesterday.
10/06/2008	Stocks tried to rally on Friday in anticipation of passage of the economic stimulus bill but after the bill passed, stocks retreated.
10/03/2008	Wall Street has been selling snake oil for many more years than I have been in business.
10/01/2008	Stocks rallied sharply yesterday regaining well over half of Monday’s losses as investors began to gain confidence that the House of Representatives finally realizes that there is a credit crisis at hand that requires urgent action.
09/29/2008	It has been a tumultuous three weeks culminating over the weekend with an agreement among Congressional leaders to support a $700 billion economic stimulus package designed to purge the financial sector of a significant portion of its toxic assets, to restore liquidity, and to allow banks and other institutions to start lending once again.
09/17/2008	Before I left on my current journey, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and AIG were still alive as I knew them.
09/05/2008	Let me begin by noting that I will be out of the country for the next three weeks. This will be my last regularly scheduled letter until September 29.
09/03/2008	Stocks celebrated the near-miss of Hurricane Gustav. For about 15 minutes. Then traders quickly realized that the fact we dodged a bullet doesn’t help the economy recover any faster.
08/29/2008	Stocks staged a broad rally yesterday. Trading remained light in front of the Labor Day holiday weekend. Oil prices fell despite the threat that Tropical Storm Gustav would become a major hurricane affecting the Gulf of Mexico. Probably the biggest spark that ignited the rally, however, was a revised report for second quarter GDP that suggested the economy continued on a solid course of growth in...
08/27/2008	Stocks were mixed yesterday in an usually quiet session. Maybe the dog days of August are kicking in about 3 ½ weeks late. Financials were up on the strength of optimism that Fannie Mae (FNM-$6) and Freddie Mac (FRE-$4) may be able to avoid recapitalization. Oil prices rose as fears increased to Hurricane Gustav may deal a real haymaker to the Gulf Coast oil producing region. The dollar ros...
08/25/2008	Although stocks staged a solid rally on Friday, they finished down for the week. It was another five days of see-saw action with little net change. Is it simply a consolidation within an ongoing bear market or signs of stabilization within a market that wants to begin to move higher? That is the question all of us have to ponder.
08/22/2008	Stocks overcame continued wobbles in the credit markets and a sharp spike in oil prices led to a mixed close yesterday. How much of the spike in oil can be attributed to tropical storms and geopolitical risks in Georgia and how much can be attributed to speculators doing some bargain hunting remains to be seen. As for the credit markets, traders today will be listening to a well publicized speech...
08/20/2008	Before you get worked up, I am not about to start one of my rants on how bad our economy is. As a reference point I will, however, start by noting that I agree with the above comment. But, as an equity investor, that is not the crucial point. Stocks look ahead. Even if I knew for sure that the worst was yet to come, the real questions are (1) how much worse will it get, (2) how long will it be un...
08/18/2008	Stocks managed another gain on Friday although there wasn’t a whole lot of momentum in either direction. Another decline in oil prices and continued strength in the dollar were the two biggest catalysts.
08/15/2008	The stock markets Wednesday and Thursday were mirror images of each other. Renewed fears about large losses in the financial sector sent stocks lower on Wednesday but a modest late afternoon rally cut the losses. Yesterday, stocks shrugged off some bad economic data related to inflation, employment and housing to rise sharply in midday only to give back part of the gains before the close.
08/13/2008	Stocks gave ground once again on Friday but after the huge volatility earlier last week, Friday’s market was almost anticlimatic. The Dow fell over 50 points after a reported rise in unemployment and a flat manufacturing survey from the Institute of Supply Management. A huge loss from General Motors (GM-$10) and very weak auto sales in July also contributed to the gloom.
08/06/2008	Stocks had a great day yesterday rallying strongly both in front of the Fed decision on interest rates and afterwards. Readers of my letters will know that I put very little weight on what happens in the past hour and forty five minutes after a rate decision, but it was genuinely nice to see the biggest one-day rally since April 1st. I don’t want to throw a bucket of cold water on such a ni...
08/04/2008	With stocks rallying, oil prices retreating, and the dollar doing a number against the euro, credit markets were still struggling to find some stability. Yesterday, as some analysts lowered estimates for financial companies and JPMorganChase (JPM-$3*)announced a large trading loss, the pain in the credit market took its tool on the stock market. The Dow and S&P 500 went back into retreat mode...