STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday 22 August

[ozymandius]

Tuesday August 22, 2006

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 883 DAYS
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 2068 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 1768 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 1729
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 6
Enron execs conveniently deceased = 3
Other Arrests of Execs = 54


U.S. FUTURES & MARKETS INDICATORS
NASDAQ FUTURES-----------------------------S&P FUTURES




AT THE CLOSING BELL WHEN BUSH TOOK OFFICE on January 22, 2001
Dow - 10,578.24
Nasdaq - 2,757.91
S&P 500 - 1,342.90
Oil - $27.69/bbl
Gold - $266.70/oz.

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON August 21, 2006

Dow... 11,345.05 -36.42 (-0.32%)
Nasdaq... 2,147.75 -16.20 (-0.75%)
S&P 500... 1,297.52 -4.78 (-0.37%)
Gold future... 635.20 +13.50 (+2.13%)
30-Year Bond 4.96% -0.01 (-0.18%)
10-Yr Bond... 4.82% -0.02 (-0.33%)






GOLD, EURO, YEN, Loonie and Silver


PIEHOLE ALERT

Heads Up!
Preliminary info on appearances by Bush & Co. throughout the country. Details & links are added as they become available so check back. And if you know more, are organizing something, or would like to, contact [e-mail]

For information on protests and other actions Citizens For Legitimate Government

[ozymandius]

1. WrapUp by Rob Kirby

NICKEL PLATED DOMINOS

On August 16th, Nickel had its biggest price gain since January 2004, prompting the London Metal Exchange to impose restrictions on trading to ease a shortage of the metal.

What exactly is the significance of all this anyway?

-cut-

Most of us encounter or interact with “nickel” every day because it’s a key component of stainless steel. To most in the western world, this might mean little more than the proverbial “kitchen sink.” But stainless applications go much further than this. Stainless steel systems (tubing, vats) are absolutely required in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, most foodstuffs and virtually all of the beverage industry.

What some might fail to realize is that nickel has other applications ranging from building and construction to widespread use in electronics, and particularly batteries that power a wide range of mobile devices, including laptop computers.

-cut-

That day is fast approaching; not only for nickel but nickel may end up serving as the first domino – that seals the same fate for copper, then toppling silver and then gold and ultimately topples U.S. Dollar (fiat) hegemony.

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm

[ozymandius]

2. no Fed economic reports due today

[ozymandius]

3. Oil holds ground as Iran nuclear deadline nears

SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) - Oil held steady at $72.50 barrel on Tuesday, underpinned by Iran's determination to continue enriching uranium and run a risk of international sanctions.

The world's fourth biggest oil exporter will respond to a nuclear package backed by six nations at 4 p.m. (1230 GMT) in Tehran, a journalist for Iran's Arabic-language news channel Al-Alam reported. Iranian officials have already ruled out suspending uranium enrichment, the key demand.

U.S. crude oil was down 1 cent at $72.44 a barrel by 10096 GMT, after surging $2.39 in the past two trading days. London Brent crude was up 6 cents at $73.44 a barrel.

A report that an Iranian helicopter had fired on a Romanian oil rig before troops boarded it added to market nerves.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060822/bs_nm/markets_oil_dc_12

[ozymandius]

4. Romanian oil rig in Iran waters occupied

BUCHAREST, Romania - A Romanian oil rig off the coast of Iran came under fire Tuesday from an Iranian military warship and was later occupied by Iranian troops, a company spokesman said.

The Iranians first fired into the air and then fired at the Orizont rig, said GSP spokesman Radu Petrescu. Half an hour later, troops from the ship boarded and occupied the rig and the company lost contact with the 26 crew members shortly afterward.

Petrescu said he had no information about any injuries or deaths. The Orizont rig has been moored near Kish island in the Persian Gulf since October 2005, he told the Associated Press.

GSP, also known as the Oil Services Group, is a private Romanian company established in 2004 which operates six offshore rigs that it bought from Romania's largest oil company, Petrom.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060822/ap_on_re_eu/romania_iran_shooting_2

[UpInArms]

18. Sept Crude @ $72.15 bbl - NatGas @ $6.71 mln btus

10:03 AM ET 8/22/06 SEPT. CRUDE FALLS 30 CENTS TO $72.15/BRL IN EARLY DEALINGS

10:03 AM ET 8/22/06 OCT. CRUDE DOWN 25 CENTS AT $73.05/BRL

10:03 AM ET 8/22/06 SEPT. NATURAL GAS UP 8.6 CENTS, OR 1.3%, TO $6.71/MLN BTUS

[ozymandius]

5. Big Box Battle: Home Depot vs. Lowes

A tough year for home-improvement retailers just got tougher. Home Depot (HD) reported soft second-quarter earnings on Aug. 15 and cautioned that it expects only slight gains for the rest of 2006 (see BusinessWeek.com, 8/16/06, "Wal-Mart, Home Depot Hit Potholes"). Fast-forward nearly one week, and it's a similar story: Lowes (LOW) echoed its larger rival on Aug. 21, posting lackluster second-quarter results and warning of a sales slowdown.

Higher energy prices and a weakening housing market have already helped pour cold water on both companies' stock prices. Adjusting for dividends and splits, shares of both Atlanta-based Home Depot and Mooresville (N.C.)-based Lowes were down about 15% for the year through Aug. 21. By comparison, the broader Standard & Poor's 500 stock index gained 3.9% over the same period.

By and large, analysts expect both of the fix-it chains to grow impressively over the long term. In the months ahead, however, the company best known for its big orange boxes may be a better bet to ward off the retail blues. Home Depot's expanded wholesaling business could help insulate its stock against a consumer-spending freeze, analysts say.

BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES. Either way, the economic headwinds blowing against the chains are formidable. The latest data suggest the worst is yet to come in the housing slowdown (see BusinessWeek.com, 8/21/06, "Why the Housing Market Looks a Little Rickety"). An Aug. 23 report is expected to show that existing home sales declined again in July. Specialty retailers, such as home-improvement stores, are "particularly sensitive" to existing home sales, according to Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Bank.

more

[ozymandius]

6. Carmakers must reveal black boxes

WASHINGTON -- After more than a decade of study, federal safety regulators outlined minimum requirements for "black boxes" in vehicles Monday, but stopped short of mandating them.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a new rule that says the devices, officially known as "event data recorders," must be made more durable and that all automakers must collect the same type of data from them.

The rule, which takes effect in September 2010, also requires automakers to tell consumers if their vehicles are equipped with a black box by including the notification in owners' manuals.

The devices collect a variety of data in the moments before, during and after a crash, such as speed and acceleration, whether the driver was wearing a seat belt and whether the driver hit the accelerator or the brake.

more

[AnneD]

19. Morning Marketeers,

:donut: and lurkers. Is it just me and my paranoia-or are you as creeped out by this story about car black boxes as I am. I can see them putting a GPS device in there too.:tinfoilhat: Can we remove the devices if we don't want them in our car? The government already knows more about me than I think they have a right to. Talk about big brother. Looks like I'll be buying a new car in 2009 and to hell with 'em.:hide:

I have decided that one of the reasons the average American doesn't mind these invasions of privacy is that they are ignorant of our rights according to the DOI, Constitution, and the BOR. For democracy to work we need an educated populace. It seems that the GOP has destroyed everything else and now they are trying to gut the public education too.:eyes:

Happy hunting and watch out for the bears.

[54anickel]

21. Not creeped out so much as I'm pissed off. It's another gift to the

insurance companies. Funny how these free-marketers are against any type of regulation unless it's to the benefit of the corporations. Remember when regulations were instituted for the benefit of the greater society, the public in general, we the people?

Just another example of the back scratching going on between the government and corporate elitists. Imagine how many claims they can refuse with that type of information - too fast, too slow, no seatbelt, etc.

[ozymandius]

7. Have a wonderful day folks.

:donut:

Work calls. And then, more work calls. Thanks to 54anickel who agreed to post the thread on Thursday and Friday while the Ozymandius household pulls up tent stakes for better surroundings. We will drastically cut down on our daily commute and gas expenses (hoo-ee).

Catch you great folks later.

Ozy :hi:

[skids]

8. You guys might have some fun with this...

...not exactly a stock thread but for your amusement, this dkos diary details Sen George Allen (R-VA)'s love affair with small electrical appliances, speicifically, reducing the duty on products cooincidentally manufactured in Mexico by VA "based" Hamilton Beach/Proctor Silex, which is being spun off by NACCO and merged with Applica.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/8/21/152952/895

Probably not really much to make hay with -- bringing home the bacon, blah blah blah, but who knows what you wisened folks with your bookmark lists full of corporate profiles might unearth :shrug:

(Note to self -- when you can turn off your desk lamp due to sunlight, you are up too late.)

[54anickel]

22. Old Felix was just doing the job he was elected to do.

The guy is such as ass. But I wouldn't be surprised if he gets re-elected as there's just nothing that shocks me anymore. I wonder how much backing he and/or his opponent have gotten from AIPAC? Maybe none, but Virgina has been very important to their interests.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/states/VA.html

Interesting blog on "Felix", though nothing to do with his corporate masters:
http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2006/08/how-did-george-felix-allen-get.html

[UpInArms]

9. daily dollar watch

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX&v=i

Last trade 84.92 Change +0.12 (+0.14%)

Dollar Looks Ahead To Housing

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/dailyfx_financial_markets_headlines/Dollar_Looks_Ahead_To_Housing_1156178337727.html

The dollar was slipping to three and a half month lows against the euro in the opening hours of the week as the expectations of a rate hike this year continued to slip away and traders increasingly turned their attention onto the indicators that have been quietly chipping away at the currency. Looking to dollar spot action in the majors, the currency was marked with a steady sell.

For the benchmark EURUSD, market participants have sold the dollar since the return of Asian liquidity. Starting off at around 1.2820, the pair has steadily risen to 1.2940 with only mild resistance. The same scenario played out against the British pound, as it rallied 195 points off of a very quick touch of 1.8800. For the USDCHF, the dollar move has brought the pair to a large support level. The franc collected 155 points against the dollar, bringing the pair all the way down to 1.2180. This was the lowest level in over three months, though the bounce seems to confirm the triple touch around 1.2200. Finally, the USDJPY was the only pair not following the pack. Until London trading hours, the pair was declining 115.35, but quickly retraced to set a new session high at 115.95.

Even the most resolute bulls, the ones holding out for another rate hike, are beginning to loose their conviction in the world’s most liquid currency and the economy that supports it. Though the market was offered no new fundamental reason to redouble their doubt in the dollar, the combination of last week’s poor data, the event risk inherent with potential poor reports scheduled for the coming days and the summer’s thin liquidity is putting most on their guard and erring towards caution. What could be the big sector reports for the week ahead are the two housing indicators on deck: new and existing home sales for the month of July. Both are expected to decline substantially and this seems a likely probability given last week’s housing numbers. New housing sales are likely to follow suit with the previously released housing starts and building permits numbers for the same month. Starts slowed to a 1.795 million units pace, the slowest in two years. More alarming though were filings, which plunged 6.5% for the biggest decline in nearly seven years to 1.747 million units. Developers are responding to fewer opportunities to build in a market that has consumers worrying about the financial feasibility in taken on a mortgage rate that is at recent highs while other non-discretionary items continually drain bank accounts. Back to the debate over the necessity of rate hikes, opposing sides will find official words from Federal Board members illuminating. Tomorrow, Federal Bank of Chicago President Michael Moskow and Federal Bank of Atlanta’s Jack Guynn will speak at separate events on the economy. Only Guynn currently has voting rights on the Board. Their statements will be good lead-ins to Fed Chairman Bernanke’s speech at the Fed Symposium in Wyoming scheduled for Friday.

Shares turned lower for the first session in six Monday as oil prices rebound and home improvement-related shares fell on poor results from Lowes. The biggest decline amongst the major indices came on part of the Nasdaq Composite, which fell to 2,141.37 after a 1.0% drop. Following up at a distance, the Dow was 0.5% lower at 11,328.48 and the SP 500 was at 1,296.46 off 0.4%. The biggest earnings related move today was made by Lowes Companies Inc. whose shares dropped 4.4% or $1.29 to $28.23. Though its quarterly profit report was just below Wall Street’s consensus, it had also cut its full year forecast to put investors off. Following the giants lead, competitor Home Depot’s shares were also off Friday’s close by $0.70 or 2.0% to $34.07. Also making the market movers list, homebuilder Tolls Brothers Inc. shares were down 4.3% or $1.11 to $24.68 ahead of its earnings report tomorrow. The firm announced not long ago that its orders had been cut nearly in half in the quarter ending July from a year ago.

...more...

[Tace]

17. Looks Like They're Defending The Dollar Today

It's back up over 85 on the dollar index.

Edit to add: Bloomberg reports the Euro took a plunge due to a fall in German investor confidence.

[54anickel]

23. Euro retreats as German sentiment index plunges

http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?StoryId=89bdd46b-c22c-4d2c-8379-8d55ed2a3fa7

LONDON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - The euro retreated from this week's record high against the yen and a two-month peak versus the dollar on Tuesday after a German economic sentiment indicator tumbled to a five-year low in August.

The ZEW economic research institute said its economic expectations indicator for Germany, based on a survey of 307 analysts and institutional investors, fell for a seventh straight month to -5.6, the lowest since June 2001, from 15.1 in July.

"It would appear that institutional investors are nervous over a number of factors...a number of headwinds are probably affecting sentiment and we've seen that reflected in the index," said Jeremy Stretch, market strategist at Rabobank.

Analysts also said however that while the survey highlighted investor concerns, it would not blow the European Central Bank off course in its determination to raise interest rates further from the current 3.00 percent to ward off inflation.

more...

[UpInArms]

10. Ten reasons we're past the tipping point on economic disaster

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?dist=newsfinder&siteid=mktw&guid=%7B9FE7F780%2DDF3B%2D46FA%2DBB3D%2D5104309EEEA5%7D&symbol=

excerpt:

1. Mortgage lender: 'Never seen a soft landing'

When a CEO like Countrywide's Angelo Mozilo speaks, his message is far more important than all the happy talk coming out of Washington and Wall Street: "I've never seen a soft-landing in 53 years, so we have a ways to go before this levels out. I have to prepare the company for the worst that can happen." Investors better prepare too.

2. Housing warns of sustained downturn

Robert Toll, CEO of luxury home builder Toll Brothers reports dramatically declining sales and revenue. Toll says the slowdown "will last for at least six months more, it may last for two years more. We don't know." Reminds us of the 2000-2002 recession.

3. Hedge fund losers the past two months

Hedge funds have been in the news a lot since topping the $1 trillion mark in assets. This unregulated industry is a loose cannon. They've become the new dot-coms now that most retail markets are so volatile and flat, forcing portfolio managers and investors to look for alternatives to the $9 trillion mutual fund market. As a result, hedge funds are chasing anything that hints of higher returns.

For example, the main data tracker, the Hennessey Group, just announced that hedge funds have underperformed the S&P 500 for the second straight month. Other warnings have all been reported in the news lately, screaming risk, risk, risk! Flashing like neon signs on the Vegas Strip:

Congress is giving hedge funds more access to pension fund money.
In spite of underfunding due to past errors, corporate and state pension funds are now betting more on riskier hedge-fund deals to increase returns.
The success of Yale and Harvard has inspired small-college endowment funds to start betting on similar risky hedging games.
The lure of huge, fast profits for hedge-fund managers has young inexperienced college grads jumping into the business and getting backers.
Retail mutual funds are asking shareholders for permission to engage in more aggressive hedging strategies, like short-selling and derivative trading.
Like hedge funds, private-equity funds are now signaling a top; too much new capital is forcing them to chases fewer, riskier deals.
After a record year, IPOs, a hedge fund competitor for new capital, are also topping as many deals are falling below issue prices.

...more...

[54anickel]

26. Ugh! Just the little ray of sunshine today, aren't you? Makes me want

to crawl back under the covers for the day.

[AnneD]

32. Good Article

:thumbsup: and cofirms what many have been saying here.

[54anickel]

42. Mega Change!

http://www.kitco.com/ind/Saxena/aug222006.html

The eternal truth in the investment world is that every asset-class goes through boom and bust cycles, which typically last for several years. However, it is ironic that towards the end of any bull-market, when the risk is extreme, optimism towards the booming asset-class is usually at a record-high! On the other hand, during the final phase of a bear-market, when the downside risk is limited, the asset which is selling at a huge discount is always neglected and hated by the public! The reason for this irrational behaviour is that most people find it hard to foresee and accept change. The conditions which have been prevalent for a long-time are considered to be permanent and investment decisions are made accordingly.

In the late 1990’s, the entire world was in love with “new era” inspired by technology. Fund managers, economists, media commentators and even the shoe-shine boys were drooling over the prospects of retiring young, thanks to their Microsoft and Intel shares. Of course, that turned out to be the worst time to be invested in the hype as the technology shares came crashing down to earth in March 2000. Back then, I recognised that commodities were on the bargain table relative to financial assets. Therefore, I started buying precious metals but most people thought that I had been affected by the “Millennium Bug”! “Why are you buying gold? I lost a lot of money in gold 15-20 years ago and I’ll never touch it again,” were comments I often heard. Once again, the great majority failed to identify change, thereby ignoring the birth of a new bull-market.

Once the great technology bubble burst and the US slipped into a recession, the central bankers decided to fight the slump by lowering interest-rates to a multi-decade low. In the US, interest-rates were pulled down to a miniscule 1%. As the cost of borrowing came down, Americans turned to real-estate as the next sure thing. Real-estate prices surged as demand rose due to cheap and abundant credit. As home prices continued to rise, Americans started using their real-estate as collateral to borrow money. Falling interest-rates and appreciating home values also created an explosion in re-financing activity and the US embarked on a gigantic spending-spree. It is worth noting that over the recent years, Americans extracted a ridiculous amount of equity from their homes (Figure 1). In fact, since the beginning of this decade, Americans extracted a whopping US$4.6 trillion! Figure 1 also highlights the negative savings rate in the US, which confirms my view that the loans taken out against homes weren’t saved for the proverbial rainy day; instead the money was spent on consumption.

Figure 1: Americans using their homes as ATM’s!


The above recklessness has put the US economy in a precarious situation. Interest-rates are now rising all over the world and after a multi-month pause, I expect interest-rates to continue their upward trend. So far, the Federal Reserve has raised rates 17-times to 5.25% and the impact is already being felt on American real-estate. I’m afraid, the property industry in the US is falling into a serious recession. In June, new home sales fell to 1.49 million units, the lowest since November 2004 and down 18.1% from the record-high of 1.81 million units during January 2006. Furthermore, the supply of US-homes for sale has recently jumped to a multi-decade high. In summary, rising-interest rates are starting to bite into the real-estate boom and trouble may be on the horizon.

more...

[54anickel]

44. Growth of ETFs likely to continue

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/afd76f60-3140-11db-b953-0000779e2340.html

Assets within exchange traded funds will quadruple to more than $2,000bn within the next five years as the investment vehicle attracts increasing numbers of institutional and retail investors.

Morgan Stanley’s prediction follows another six months of strong growth for ETFs, with assets under management expanding from $417bn at the end of last year to $487bn at the end of June.

ETFs are funds that trade on exchanges like stocks, and have proved popular because of their transparency and low charges.

They have expanded to cover a broad range of assets, including equities, fixed income, foreign exchange and commodities.

Deborah Fuhr, Morgan Stanley’s ETF specialist, said: “ETFs have been accepted by institutional and retail investors, which is one reason why we expect such rapid growth over the next few years.”

more...

[UpInArms]

11. Toll Brothers profit falls, cuts forecast

http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-08-22T115736Z_01_N22212238_RTRIDST_0_CONSTRUCTION-TOLL-EARNINGS-UPDATE-2.XML

NEW YORK, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. (TOL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday said its quarterly profit fell 19 percent, partly on write-downs on land options, and slashed its forecast for the year for the third time, underscoring deteriorating U.S. market demand.

The market continues to be bear the burden of an oversupply of homes on the market allowing buyers to take their time and look for the best deal or cancel orders they had for higher-priced homes, Robert Toll, chairman and chief executive said.

"The speculative buyers of 2004 and 2005 are now sellers," Toll said in a statement. "Builders that built speculative homes are trying to move them by offering large incentives and discounts and some anxious buyers are canceling contracts for homes already being built."

<snip>

Earlier in the month, Toll reported that new orders fell 47 percent to 1,443, while the value of the contracts sank 45 percent to $1.05 billion from $1.92 billion. On Aug. 9, Toll said cancellation rate ran about 18 percent and were highest in last year's hottest markets of Orlando, Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona, and Palm Springs and Northern California.

...more at link...

[UpInArms]

12. United Airlines to cut 504 jobs in Sterling, Virginia

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2006/08/21/daily16.html

United Airlines, which only several days ago said it would increase its service to Dulles International Airport by 13 percent, will shut down a reservations facility in Sterling by mid-October, leaving more than 500 people without jobs.

The Chicago-based airline sent a letter to the Virginia Employment Commission Aug. 17 revealing its intent to close the Dulles reservations center at 22800 Davis Drive. The letter stated that 504 workers will be laid off on or about Oct. 16 or within a 14-day period beginning Oct. 16.

The company expects the cuts to be permanent.

United's layoffs include 427 reservation sales and service representatives, 39 service directors, 17 unnamed salary employees and 21 managers, according to United's filing with Virginia officials, who provided the document to Washington Business Journal.

...more...

[UpInArms]

13. pre-opening blather

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -0.4. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -1.0.

09:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -0.6. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -1.0. Futures indications are still signaling a rather subdued open for the indices as investors continue to believe the market may have gotten a little ahead of itself last week. While benign core-inflation reports for July have been very welcoming for the financial markets, the fact that one month of data does not reflect a trend leaves participants questioning the possibility of what one single bad monthly number on inflation might do to stocks since a better inflation outlook has already been priced into the market.

08:30 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -1.2. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -3.0. Still shaping up to be a slightly lower start for stocks as investors look to continue Monday's consolidation efforts. With the Nasdaq up an impressive 5.2% last week, it looks to fare worst among the majors today; but an analyst upgrade on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) may limit further consolidation throughout the semiconductor group.

08:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -1.6. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -2.8. Futures versus fair value suggest that yesterday's cautious tone will carry over into this morning's open. On the earnings front, Toll Brothers (TOL) topped analysts' estimates but cut its Q4 profit outlook due to reduced deliveries. Couple that with rising oil prices amid ongoing uncertainty related to Iran's nuclear ambitions and the absence of any noteworthy economic data to help set a more definitive tone and buyers are so far finding little reason to return from the sidelines.

[UpInArms]

14. US Treasuries little changed ahead of Fed speeches

http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-08-22T131807Z_01_N22220162_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-BONDS.XML

NEW YORK, Aug 22 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury prices were little changed on Tuesday as investors awaited speeches from two Federal Reserve officials and Iran's anticipated response to the international community on its nuclear program.

Prospects of a weakening economy and a Fed on hold have pushed benchmark 10-year Treasury yields to their lowest levels since March in recent sessions.

"While prices are high, certainly, they are not extended technically and we see little reason to fade the move just now," said David Ader, U.S. government bond strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital. "The biggest threat in the near-term is for the shorter end."

Chicago Fed Bank President Michael Moskow and Atlanta Fed Bank President Jack Guynn are scheduled to speak about the economy at separate events.

Guynn, a voting member of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee is set to speak at 12:40 p.m. EDT (1640 GMT) in Atlanta while Moskow, a voting member in 2007, will speak at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) in Bloomington, Illinois.

The speeches are not expected to push forward the idea that the Federal Reserve has stopped raising rates for this cycle, Ader said, and they will likely highlight that vigilance against inflation is still key for the Fed.

...more...

Will it be the usual pump-and-dump kind of day?

[UpInArms]

15. Printing Press Hums: Fed adds bank reserves via overnight repos

http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-08-22T133248Z_01_N22342950_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-FED-OPERATIONS.XML

NEW YORK, Aug 22 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve said on Tuesday it added temporary reserves to the U.S. banking system through overnight repurchase agreements.

Fed funds last traded at 5.25 percent, the Fed's target for the benchmark overnight lending rate.

For further details on the operation, see http://www.ny.frb.org/markets/omo/dmm/temp.cfm

[UpInArms]

27. Guynn: Consequences of high inflation remain 'poisonous'

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BD3CAAF67%2DC97E%2D43FD%2DACE4%2D00CDA4C36DE3%7D&dist=newsfinder&symbol=&siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Outgoing Atlanta Fed president Jack Guynn summed up his four decade career at the central bank in a speech Tuesday and warned his colleagues not to forget the lessons from the 1970s that high inflation can ruin an economy. "The consequences of high inflation were and remain economically poisonous: increased uncertainty and risk, the added incentive to consume rather than invest, cost of living adjustments, and other marketplace distortions," Guynn said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Kiwanis Club of Atlanta.

[UpInArms]

30. More rate hikes may be needed to curb inflation: Moskow

1:01 PM ET 8/22/06 <$INDU> DOW INDUSTRIALS TURN LOWER AFTER MOSKOW SPEECH

1:00 PM ET 8/22/06 MOSKOW: RECENT JOB GROWTH NOT AS WEAK AS ANALYSTS THINK

1:00 PM ET 8/22/06 MOSKOW SEES LITTLE EVIDENCE OF WORRISOME SLOWDOWN

1:00 PM ET 8/22/06 MOSKOW: AUG. 8 PAUSE GIVES FED TIME TO ASSESS OUTLOOK

1:00 PM ET 8/22/06 MOSKOW: Q2 GDP SLOWDOWN DUE TO TRANSITORY FACTORS

1:00 PM ET 8/22/06 MOSKOW: INFLATION RISK IS GREATER THAN SLOWDOWN RISK

1:00 PM ET 8/22/06 FED'S MOSKOW: CENTRAL BANK MIGHT NOT BE DONE HIKING RATES

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B3A94B8C8%2DE9C6%2D41A6%2D9D7A%2DC79D767A97FF%7D&dist=newsfinder&symbol=&siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Financial markets should not assume that the Federal Reserve is done tightening, just because it paused at its last meeting after 17 straight rate hikes, said Michael Moskow, the president of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank on Tuesday. Moskow has persistently delivered an anti-inflation warning to financial markets this year, and his remarks today were no exception. He said his assessment of current economic conditions is "that the risk of inflation remaining too high is greater than the risk of growth being too low. Thus some additional firming of policy may yet be necessary to bring inflation back into the comfort zone within a reasonable period of time."

[UpInArms]

16. 9:43 EST All is Good with updated blather

Dow 11,366.82 +21.77 (+0.19%)
Nasdaq 2,152.78 +5.03 (+0.23%)
S&P 500 1,299.15 +1.63 (+0.13%)
10-Yr Bond 4.817 -0.002 (-0.04%)

NYSE Volume 127,978,000
Nasdaq Volume 103,680,000

09:40 am : Stocks kick off what is expected to be another quiet session in lackluster fashion as Monday's guarded tone carries over into the opening bell. The headlines this morning revolve almost entirely around continued concerns over the Iranian situation, as investors wait to see if Iran will formally reject a U.N. resolution regarding its uranium enrichment program. Since a rejection is widely expected, the market is currently trying to look past it and get buying efforts back on track, as evidenced by a recent uptick in all three major averages; however, modest gains at best suggest little conviction behind early recovery efforts. DJ30 +16.45 NASDAQ +4.97 SP500 +1.58 NASDAQ Vol 98 mln NYSE Vol 70 mln

[54anickel]

20. The Bear’s Lair: Towards energy autarky

This is another one of those pieces that gets you thinking. :freak: Sort of the view thru the eyes of a free-market, globalist, non-neocon types that you find in both parties. IMO, it's a good example of how the corporatist re-education has influenced capitalist thinking. Societal and environmental concerns are somehow thought of as anti-economical and labeled negatively as political strategy or protectionism. Only economical (corporatist) concerns are considered virtuous. If countries that are against such corporatism are automatically labeled as "hostile to the US", then it seems the reasonable remedy to that thought pattern is war....We (humanity) are sooooo screwed.

http://www.prudentbear.com/internationalperspective.asp

The collapse of the Doha round of trade talks in July raised fears that the world might be about to descend into 1930s style autarky, with a huge negative effect on prosperity. Unless things get very much worse, that’s unlikely in trade as a whole, if only because the historical memory of the 1930s remains strong. However in the energy sector autarky increasingly appears a rational strategy, and free-trading globalization an unattainable and dangerous alternative.

The theoretical economic superiority of globalization rests on a number of foundations, some of which are rather shaky in the modern world. However, its principal requirement is that states themselves (to the extent that they control resources) be economically rational, acting to maximize their own wealth through entering into trade agreements with each other. In such a world, the doctrine of comparative advantage dictates that a country should not worry about losing a particular industry to cheaper competition, because the purchasing power created overseas through outsourcing will increase demand for other products for which it is the low cost producer. In a world of free markets and economically motivated actors, a country will always be able to get the supplies of a particular product or commodity it needs, at a price that reflects the global marginal cost of production.

However, we don’t live in such a world. Not only economically marginal countries such as North Korea and Cuba, but major producers of valuable goods such as Iran and Venezuela are governed by political forces more or less hostile to the United States, and to a lesser extent to the West in general. Other countries, notably Russia and China, are by no means so well disposed to the West as to miss an opportunity to use any economic weapon that falls into their hand – and with great effectiveness too, as has been shown by the collapse of the Orange Revolution government in Ukraine after Russia unilaterally imposed a new pricing regime on natural gas exports in mid winter.

snip>

It’s now clear that a large portion of the world’s oil production volume derives from countries whose motivations are not primarily economic. Venezuela under its current government is motivated primarily by dislike of the United States, while Russia is motivated by the strategic leverage brought by its position as a major oil producer. Iran’s motivations are unclear; dislike of the United States and the West is certainly part of them, however. More ominously, the long term political stability and pro-Western orientation of Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, cannot be assured in an era when radical jihadism commands substantial popular support across the Middle East. Thus a moderate share of the world’s oil production is already controlled by governments motivated by political/strategic rather than economic objectives; if Saudi Arabia were to fall, the non-economic portion of the world’s internationally traded oil production would become a majority. There's quite the assumption - "motivated primarily by dislike of the US" :eyes:

big snip>

The use of oil as a political weapon by producers, and the attempts by consumers to lock up long term supply contracts or move to other energy sources that are only marginally competitive even at present prices will keep oil prices at or above $70 much longer than they need to be. Eventually, of course, the oil market will break, reducing Russia once again to a second class power with a bankrupt economy, removing the Middle East almost entirely from the world’s headlines, and producing a fawning Venezuelan government that begs for World Bank handouts to feed its starving people. However that outcome, so devoutly desired by armchair strategists of the neocon persuasion, will only happen in only one way: through a really devastating world recession that slashes oil demand.

more.... I think Mussolini was onto something in coining "Corporatism".

[54anickel]

33. 2006 will be a major disappointment. So will 2008.

Came across this one at Daily Kos while digging around for something completely different. Thought it was interesting - the touted lie of what "republicanism" means.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/5/20/0218/16068

snip>

And what IS Republicanism? Any average voter can tell you: smaller government, stronger military, and "moral values."

The fact that Republicans have failed entirely to shrink the government; the fact that they have wrecked our military; the fact that they have failed to foster anything but amorality; these things are irrelevant. The only thing that IS relevant is that the GOP machine has sold the idea of Republicanism to the average voter.

And the corollary of that premise is that, if a Republican fails to deliver on the promises of Republicanism, it can only be for one reason: he/she wasn't Republican enough.

Or, to put it another way: When you look at Bush's 32% approval rating, have you ever asked yourself how many of those people hate him because he's not far enough to the right? I know I have--and the answer scares me.

Right now, the public is disgusted with their elected leaders. But as campaign season rolls around again, the sheeple will be inclined to forigve the actual practitioners of the greed and corruption, so long as they stay on message: the message of Republicanism. The message of smaller government, stronger military, and "moral values."

more...

[54anickel]

50. Stephen Lendman: Alternatives to the collapsed WTO Doha Round talks

http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=66654

VHeadline.com commentarist Stephen Lendman writes: On July 24, 2006, World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy was forced to halt the five years of negotiating of the so-called Fourth WTO Ministerial Doha Round that began in Doha, Qatar in November, 2001 and ended (for now, at least) in Geneva, Switzerland.

The talks had been ongoing to strike a trade deal but broke down because the US, as usual, demanded all take and little give in return expecting it could strong-arm developing nations to accept whatever it proposed as it's always been able to do in the past.

No longer, apparently, as nations with growing clout like Brazil, India and others justifiably refused to knuckle under.

Even European (EU) Trade Commissioner and US ally, Peter Mandelson expressed his ire when he accused the US of trying to exact a "disproportionate" price from developing countries. He added: "Surely the richest and strongest nation in the world, with the highest standards of living, can afford to give as well as take." Mandelson is right, of course, but he also understands the US considers itself the de facto ruler of the world and claims the right in that status to make all the rules and expect all other nations to agree to and obey them.

It wasn't to be this time in Geneva and may never be again as a growing number of nations are fed up with Washington's notion of trade that's "free" in words but never "fair" in fact.
The tone of frustration was expressed by India's Commerce and Industry Minister in his concluding comment that Doha is "definitely between intensive care and the crematorium." He and others thought it would be months to years before further talks could be restarted and likely never again on same basis as the current round that broke down.

That basis is the same business as usual one when the US is involved -- promise them (the developing nations) everything, or at least an equitable arrangement for rich and poor countries alike, but in the end deliver little or nothing. It's just another example of US duplicity and disingenuousness as the initial Doha declaration promised that the rich nations would make most of the concessions and the poorest ones would need make few or none.

more...

[54anickel]

24. "Tame inflation" watch

Inflation to dent average 3.7% raise for '06
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0822biz-payraises0822.html

Employees can expect raises in the next year that are only slightly better than years past, and much of the gains will be eaten up by inflation.

Employers plan to grant average pay raises of 3.7 percent in 2006, just up from the 3.6 percent average in 2005, according to a study by benefits consultants Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Increases are projected to be 3.7 percent in 2007 also.

Employers are trying to ease the financial pain with more one-time incentives, such as sign-on and spot bonuses, that don't add to fixed compensation costs.

"Employees are saying, 'My cost of living is going up, and the salary increase is barely covering that cost,' " said Steven Gross of Mercer. "In one sense, the economy is looking good, you think there would be higher salary (increases). But the economy is slowing down, and job creation just isn't that strong."

more...


Coffee at seven-year high
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/3e89b41e-3139-11db-b953-0000779e2340.html

Coffee prices rose 4 per cent yesterday to a near seven-year high after recent heavy rainfall hit supplies from Vietnam, the largest producer of the robusta bean.

In London, robusta futures for November delivery rose $56 to $1,522 a tonne, with global demand continuing to rise but short-term supply availability deteriorating. The tight market is reflected in the spot price trading above futures for the first time in several years.

London inventories have dropped by half in 2006 to 19,428 lots, their lowest level for five years. Each lot is five tonnes.

In common with metals markets, shrinking inventories have given hedge funds justification to push prices higher. Hedge funds account for an estimated 30 per cent of the trading positions in London and dealers say their speculative long position is substantial.

more...


Bernanke, Trichet Have to Sacrifice More Jobs to Curb Inflation
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=adN8w9qgRznU&refer=home

Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- When Ben S. Bernanke, Jean-Claude Trichet and other central bankers gather this week amid the comfortable resort surroundings of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the talk will be of sacrifice.

Meeting at their annual conference, the bankers will hear in research papers and panel discussions that the cost of fighting inflation in terms of lost jobs and growth -- what economists call the ``sacrifice ratio'' -- is higher than it's ever been, and rising worldwide.

The pain is starting to be felt in the U.S., the result of the Federal Reserve's two-year campaign of interest-rate increases. And it may be even more acute for Trichet, president of the European Central Bank. Just as the $10 trillion economy of the dozen euro nations starts to outpace the U.S. for the first time since 2001, and with unemployment at a five-year low, he faces the prospect of raising rates higher and for longer than economists once anticipated.

With prices increasingly influenced by factors, such as developing countries' labor costs and raw-materials demand, that are outside their control, ``central banks must administer more pain to achieve the same effect on inflation,'' says David Kotok, who manages about $850 million as chairman and chief investment officer of Cumberland Advisors Inc. in Vineland, New Jersey. ``The ECB may even have to struggle more than the Fed did.''

The sacrifice ratio measures how much unemployment has to increase to bring inflation down by 1 percentage point. In the U.S., the ratio has risen to 4 percent from 2 to 3 percent during the mid-1980s, according to Fed economists.

more...

Government Study: Textbook Prices Grow Twice the Rate of Inflation
http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=5308087&nav=14RT

The University of Arizona student government is taking part in a national campaign to make textbooks affordable. Arizona students will spend an average of about $900 to $1,000 a year on textbooks.

According to a study released last year by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO): "Increasing at an average of 6 percent per year, textbook prices nearly tripled from December 1986 to December 2004, while tuition and fees increased by 240 percent and overall inflation was 72 percent."

The report goes on to investigate why prices have risen so dramatically and why textbooks sold in other countries are less expensive.

Meanwhile, The Arizona Board of Regents has also formed a task force to examine what the university system as a whole can do to lower textbook prices.

[54anickel]

37. Freight demand lets US barge owners dictate terms

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=reutersEdge&storyID=2006-08-21T174629Z_01_N21129456_RTRUKOC_0_US-TRANSPORT-GRAIN-BARGES.xml

CHICAGO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Empowered by strong demand for river transportation, U.S. barge operators are increasingly flexing their muscles and dictating shipping terms to customers, said grain traders and barge brokers.

This summer several barge operators announced grain elevators would have fewer free days to load and unload grain and would have to pay higher demurrage fees once they exhausted the free days.

And some out-of-the-way grain elevators are being cut from regular barge routes, such as the CHS Inc. (CHSCP.O: Quote, Profile, Research) elevator at Myrtle Grove, Louisiana, the state's southernmost grain export elevator.

The terminal is about 30 miles south of New Orleans and several miles south of where most vessels drop off barges loaded with grain and oilseeds from the Midwest.

"We're going on two years of great demand for barges and we've never had that in the barge industry," said a barge broker in the Midwest. "Barge lines are getting more finicky on what they will and won't do."

Demand for barges and the cost of barge freight has increased sharply during the past year, fueled by more inbound cargo and demand to transport construction materials, grain and coal.

more...

[54anickel]

43. Is The "Commodity Super Cycle" Fizzling Out?

http://www.kitco.com/ind/Dorsch/aug212006.html

Since reaching a 25-year high of 365.45 on May 11th, the Reuters Commodity Index, (CRB index), has been showing signs of fatigue, after a relentless four-year climb. The CRB index doubled from four years ago, led by commodity superstars, such as crude oil, copper, gold, platinum, silver, and sugar. However, since topping out three months ago, the CRB index has slumped about 9%, whipping up speculation that the “Commodity Super Cycle” is fizzling out.

Defending its decision to pause its two-year rate hike campaign at 5.25% on August 8th, the Federal Reserve predicted that a softer US economy would take the steam out of commodity prices. “Inflation pressures seem likely to moderate over time, reflecting contained inflation expectations and the cumulative effects of monetary policy actions and other factors restraining aggregate demand,” the Fed said.

Putting his fragile reputation on the line, Fed chief Ben Bernanke hinted at a rate pause on July 19th, despite elevated commodity prices. “The recent rise in inflation is of concern, and possible increases in the prices of oil as well as other raw materials remain a risk to the inflation outlook. On the other hand, a slowing economy should reduce inflation pressures,” he told lawmakers on Capitol Hill.



The Reuters CRB index has see-sawed since July 19th, when Bernanke predicted a slower US economy would contain inflation pressures. Initially, the Reuters CRB index rallied 5% to the 355-level ahead of the Fed’s August 8th meeting. However, schizophrenic commodity traders decided to dump the Reuters CRB index after the Fed meeting, knocking the index 6.5% lower to the 332-level, a two month low. Bernanke’s reputation hangs in the balance, subject to the whims of CRB traders.

The Fed is betting that a slowdown in the US economy, can keep the “Commodity Super Cycle” under wraps. If commodity prices are confined into a sideways trading range for an extended period of time, the year-over-year comparison of inflation readings would start to look good. The US economy slowed to a 2.5% annual growth rate in Q2, after sizzling at 5.6% in the previous quarter. Also, Labor Dept apparatchniks have reported US producer prices rose a scant 0.1% in July.

snip>

Fortunately, the Fed is getting outside support in the battle against the “Commodity Super Cycle.” With the Fed moving to the sidelines on June 29th, other central banks from around the globe are picking-up the slack with baby-step rate hikes, or other methods of tightening global liquidity. Foreign central bankers do not want to see the Fed tilt the US economy into recession with a too tight money policy, which could hurt undermine the global economy, and hurt exports to the US market.

Most notably, the Bank of Japan (BOJ), the European Central Bank (ECB), the Bank of England (BOE), the Bank of Australia (RBA) the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the Bank of India (RBI), the Swiss National Bank (SNB), the Reserve Bank of South Africa (RBSA), and the Bank of Korea (BoK), have all stepped up to the plate to raise short-term interest rates over the past three months.

The concerted round of central bank rate hikes are starting to wear down the “Commodity Super Cycle,” and more rate increases look likely in Australia, China, the Euro zone, England, Japan, South Africa, and Switzerland by year’s end. It’s probably fair to say, that the legion of 8,800 hedge funds, which control $1.2 trillion, are losing their speculative appetite for commodities, as global interest rates rise, and were behind the August sell-off in the Reuters CRB index.

more...

[54anickel]

25. 12:30 update - maintaining "lackluster" stance

Dow 11,352.25 +7.20 (+0.06%)
Nasdaq 2,155.40 +7.65 (+0.36%)
S&P 500 1,300.42 +2.90 (+0.22%)
10-yr Bond 4.799 -0.02 (-0.42%)
30-yr Bond 4.944 -0.02 (-0.40%)
NYSE Volume 909,891,000
Nasdaq Volume 739,264,000

12:00 pm : Market remains in positive territory midday after Iran agreeing to begin talks about its nuclear ambitions eases worries about potential supply disruptions and removes much of the market's early nervousness heading into Iran's decision.

Amid a lack of any market-moving reports on the economic or earnings calendar this morning, most eyes have been on Iran and how it would formally respond to a U.N incentives package. Since the world's 4th largest oil exporter said it is "ready to start serious negotiations" tomorrow, focusing on the nuclear issue, economic cooperation and the region's security, the news has acted as a source of support for stocks since the market, as evidenced by the impact a 1.9% surge in oil prices yesterday had on equities, was pricing in an all-out rejection.

It is worth noting though that a rebound in Technology is behind the bulk of today's recovery efforts, as reflected in the Nasdaq outpacing its blue chip counterparts. Most notably, chip stocks are getting a boost after Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 24.90 +1.50) was upgraded at Bear Stearns.

However, another session of limited participation following one of the lightest volume days of the year, lends little conviction behind today's bargain hunting efforts which have left a plethora of beaten-down areas among today's best performers. To wit, Homebuilding (+1.4%), the second worst performing S&P industry group this year, is one of today's leaders after Toll Brothers (TOL 25.83 +1.06), despite providing further evidence of a slowdown in housing by cutting its Q4 profit outlook, topped downwardly revised estimates.

Further, some Fed speak hitting the wires this afternoon will refocus investors' attentions on the economy and monetary outlook, which could erase market gains that remain modest at best. Atlanta Fed President Jack Guynn will be speaking at 12:40 ET while Chicago Fed President Michael Moskow is scheduled to offer some commentary at 1:00 ET. BTK +0.6% DJ30 +21.15 DJTA +0.9% DJUA +0.4% DOT +0.8% NASDAQ +11.74 NQ100 +0.7% R2K +0.5% SOX +1.1% SP400 +0.3% SP500 +3.91 XOI +0.2% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1033/1741/648 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1141/1943/486 mln

11:30 am : Indices continue to recoup much of yesterday's modest pullback, but most of today's industry leadership continues to be seen in some of this year's most beaten-down groups -- areas that also have little influence on the overall market. To wit, Internet Retail (2.1%), the worst performing S&P industry group in 2006 (-37.4%), has gotten a boost and ranks third today following eBay's (EBAY 27.52 +0.78) decision to raise certain listings fees immediately. Forest Products (+4.4%) is today's best performer after Weyerhaeuser (WY 60.04 +2.99) agreed to sell its composite panel business while an analyst upgrade on Goodyear Tire (GT 11.67 +0.20) is bringing bargain hunters back to the Tires & Rubber group (+1.6%), this year's third worst performer but ranking fifth among the leaders this morning. DJ30 +31.77 NASDAQ +13.52 SP500 +4.55 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1169/1551/534 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1281/1750/416 mln

11:00 am : Not much has changed since the last update as the market continues to hold onto modest gains. The Nasdaq, fueled by turnarounds throughout the tech sector and a rebound in biotech, is pacing the way higher among the majors. Preventing the blue chip averages from keeping pace has been a pullback in the Energy sector as oil prices consolidate some of yesterday's 1.9% advance following mixed messages out of Iran. BTK +0.5% DJ30 +30.09 NASDAQ +10.86 SOX +0.6% SP500 +3.95 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1115/1540/446 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1240/1704/342 mln

10:30 am : Market continues to inch higher as investors get some details about Iran's recently reported counteroffer which claimed to have a new formula for resolving the ongoing dispute regarding its nuclear ambitions. Within the last 15 minutes, Iran said it is "ready to start serious negotiations" tomorrow, which will focus on the nuclear issue, economic cooperation and the region's security. The news so far is acting as a source of support for stocks since the market, as evidenced by the impact that a 1.9% surge in oil prices yesterday had on equities, was pricing in an all-out rejection. DJ30 +36.12 NASDAQ +10.76 SP500 +3.60 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1152/1405/330 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1414/1462/254 mln

10:00 am : Major averages extend their reach to the upside, albeit modestly; but the advance is being led almost entirely by rebounds in Technology and Industrials. The latter is benefiting from renewed enthusiasm for Transports, as Trucking (+1.5%) and Airlines (+1.2%) are among this morning's top ten performers, while a 4.0% surge in shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 24.33 +0.93), which was upgraded at Bear Stearns, is largely responsible for the recovery in Technology.DJ30 +27.86 DJTA +0.6% NASDAQ +7.01 SOX +0.8% SP500 +2.60 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1068/1261/176 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1302/1303/136 mln

[UpInArms]

28. 2Q Apartment Rent Index Rises to Record 85.0: NAHB

12:24 PM ET 8/22/06 U.S. 2Q APARTMENT RENT INDEX RISES TO RECORD 85.0: NAHB

12:24 PM ET 8/22/06 U.S. HOME BUILDERS VERY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT RENTAL APARTMENTS

[54anickel]

36. Unsold Manhattan Apartments at 10 Year High

http://www.nypost.com/business/unsold_manhattan_apartments_at_10_yr__high_business_tom_bawden.htm

August 22, 2006 -- Even with the average home price now at an astonishing $880,000, Manhattanites are starting to feel the pinch from rising interest rates and fears about the economy.

The Manhattan real estate market - with a median price now four-times the national average - has always been a law unto itself, but increasingly apartments are sitting on the market, unsold for months.

Although the average price per square foot of a Manhattan apartment hit a record $1,083 in the second quarter, the number of units on the market is at its highest in more than 10 years, according to Miller Samuel, the real estate research firm. The inventory in Manhattan rose from 3,922 units at the end of 2004 to 7,640 in the second quarter.

"We have a classic stand-off between buyers and sellers in New York," said Miller Samuel CEO Jonathan Miller. "Housing inventory is at the highest level since the late 1980s and demand has cooled off."

[UpInArms]

29. U.S. condo developers' confidence in market falls sharply

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B81A0FB80%2D0C52%2D41B7%2DA0DB%2D5BDC13A6B16A%7D&dist=newsfinder&symbol=&siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- A majority of U.S. home builders believe the condominium market is weakening, according to a quarterly survey conducted by the National Association of Home Builders released Tuesday. The condo supply index fell to 32 in the second quarter from 61.3 a year ago. The reading indicates that pessimistic builders outnumber optimists roughly two-to-one. The traffic index fell to 26.8, while the prices index fell to 46.3. In response to a special question, 82% of developers said they noticed buyers' resistance to prices, with a fourth dropping prices. About three-fourths of developers said they are offering non-price incentives to buyers, including offering upgrades for free, or paying closing costs.

[UpInArms]

31. 1:23 EST There goes the neighborhood

Dow 11,322.23 -22.82 (-0.20%)
Nasdaq 2,146.46 -1.29 (-0.06%)
S&P 500 1,296.68 -0.84 (-0.06%)
10-Yr Bond 4.807 -0.012 (-0.25%)


NYSE Volume 1,102,480,000
Nasdaq Volume 894,509,000

1:00 pm : Little has changed since the last update as investors digest commentary from the first of two Fed officials speaking today. However, since Atlanta Fed President Guynn had nothing new to offer aside from reiterating that policy makers are confident that inflation will be contained, reaction in both stocks and bonds has so far been muted. DJ30 +10.45 NASDAQ +9.33 SP500 +3.53 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1130/1708/802 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1215/1922/602 mln

12:30 pm : Market is pulling back slightly, with the biggest moves lower being seen among blue chips so far. Largely responsible has been a reversal in Microsoft (MSFT 25.88 -0.24), which is now plunging to session lows as investors may be viewing potential discounts for upgrades to its Windows Vista operating system as another potential earnings disruption. As a reminder, Microsoft is the fifth most influential component on the S&P 500.DJ30 +9.92 NASDAQ +9.19 SP500 +3.24 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1086/1737/734 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1222/1894/546 mln

[54anickel]

35. Blather blames the Feds

1:30 pm : All three major averages turn negative within the last 15 minutes following hawkish commentary from Chicago Fed President Michael Moskow. In contrast to Guynn's recent remarks, Moskow saying that "the risk of inflation remaining too high is greater than the risk of growth being too low" and that "some additional firming of policy may yet be necessary to bring inflation back into the comfort zone within a reasonable period of time" has single-handedly changed the market's course of action. Bonds are also modestly lower as the yield on the 10-year note (-02/32) is now up to 4.82%. DJ30 -19.53 NASDAQ -0.54 SP500 -0.12 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1267/1602/928 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1374/1778/692 mln

[54anickel]

34. Data Dependent - (Hussman)

http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc060821.htm

“A pack of lemmings looks like a group of rugged individualists compared with Wall Street when it gets a concept in its teeth.”

- Warren Buffett

One of the perspectives that I often find useful is to view market fluctuations as the gradual adoption, playing-out, and abandonment of various “themes” or “concepts.”

Sometimes these themes are valid and conceptually reasonable. For example, once the market has experienced deep losses, valuations are cheap, interest rates are falling, earnings are disappointing, a recession is well-recognized, and conditions are expected to worsen, it's not unusual to observe a high-volume lopsided-breadth reversal to the upside. At that point, investors have seen enough false rallies to hold out any hope. But depending on the quality of market internals, that sort of abrupt shift in “sponsorship” is often a good indication that the underlying “theme” of the market has changed for the better, and that the market sees legitimate potential for the economy to improve. While valuations never got particularly “cheap” during the 2000-2003 bear market, that sort of shift in sponsorship was the reason we lifted 70% of our hedges in the Strategic Growth Fund early in 2003.

Other times, the “theme” of the market is neither valid nor conceptually reasonable. The dot-com bubble was one example, where the basic economics of free entry ensured that growth in the internet would not easily translate into explosive profits for every dot-com floating an IPO. Eventually, the dot-com's crashed, but the theme continued to what I called the “dot-nets” – companies that helped to form the backbone of the internet, such as Cisco, Sun Microsystems, and EMC. Unfortunately, that theme also went far beyond reason, and crashed as well.

At present, the market is struggling between two different themes. On one hand is the notion that the economy is slowing, that inflation will slow with it, but that corporate earnings will remain strong, prompting some analysts to dredge up the word “Goldilocks” (If I ever use this, or the phrase “sweet spot”, in a description of the economy, please, somebody slap me). On the other hand is the notion, which I continue to argue, that the economy is likely to slow, but that (barring default problems and widening credit spreads) inflation will remain persistent and structural.

Given this debate, we've got to allow for the possibility that investors will grab onto one theme or another, or even bounce between them, until the evidence becomes decisive.

more...

[AnneD]

54. God...

I love Warren Buffett, he cracks me up. He has made a fortune by doing the right things all these years. Wall Street is still looking for that fast buck and killing off companies to make it.:rofl:

[54anickel]

38. Shareholders Seek Political Spending Receipt

As the fall election season draws near, shareholders are increasing their demands for corporate disclosure of political spending.

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/7816126/c_7816474?f=home_todayinfinance

With almost all of the results from the 2006 proxy season in, it is clear that some shareholders have their eyes on another season: the coming November elections.

Indeed, the number and sophistication of shareholder resolutions related to corporate political contributions continues to rise. "The goal is to get companies to agree to disclose and require board oversight of their political spending," says Bruce Freed, co-director of Washington, D.C.-based Center for Political Accountability, which researches corporate campaign contributions and helps shareholder organizations file proposals with corporate boards.

The center, along with 17 institutional investor partners that include large public pension funds, files resolutions at companies to force management to disclose and account for "soft money" spending. Companies have been banned from making "hard money" donations — that is, money given directly to a particular candidate — since the Watergate era. Soft money, by contrast, consists of contributions to political parties or other political organizations.

During the 2006 proxy season, the Center for Political Accountability and its partners went beyond simply asking for disclosure of soft money amounts and filed resolutions urging the disclosure of corporate payments to trade associations that are used for political purposes. The reason: the increasing political activism and spending by trade associations since the passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, also known as the McCain-Feingold bill, after its main Senator sponsors John McCain (Rep., Ariz.) and Russ Feingold (Dem., Wisc.).

more...

[54anickel]

39. Bundesbank rules out gold sales to fill budget gaps

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060822/bs_afp/germanyecbbankpoliticsgoldbudget_060822082552

FRANKFURT (AFP) - Bundesbank President Axel Weber ruled out the use of Germany's huge gold reserves to help fill the gaps in federal budget.

Asked by the mass-circulation daily Bild whether the German central bank could simply sell some of its gold to plug the gaping holes in the budget that the government wants to fill by means of an increase in valued-added tax (VAT), Weber replied: "You can't be serious.

"Such one-off measures are never a good idea," the Bundesbank chief said. "Drawing on capital is not an alternative. It is better to press ahead with consistent debt reduction. And here a lot can be done on the spending side."

Germany has 3,428 tonnes of gold, worth an estimated 54 billion euros (69.5 billion dollars) at current market prices, making it the second largest holder of gold reserves in the world after the United States.

In addition, it has a further 28 billion euros in reserves of foreign currency, such as the dollar and the yen.

more...

[Ghost Dog]

57. If you do the math, I think you'll find these are EU billions...

(million million)... = US trillions.

BTW just how much is there in Fort Knox or in the US wherever?

[54anickel]

59. Heh-heh, nobody knows for sure. It's one of those mysteries since

they've never allowed an independent audit. The official reports claim 8,100 tonnes. The grape vine claims 1,000 maximum as it all got shipped to the London markets back in the late '60s and was sold to "the banks" to cover our asses while they figured out what to do next (which ended up being Nixon closing the gold window). What's the truth? I dunno. Probably something in between. :shrug:

[54anickel]

40. (Aussie) Housing crash puts sellers in debt crisis

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/housing-crash-puts-sellers-in-debt-crisis/2006/08/20/1156012414995.html

A THREE-BEDROOM brick-veneer house in St Clair sold for just $260,000 at the weekend - down about 42 per cent from its last sale at $450,000 in 2003 in a further sign of the depressed state of the Sydney property market.

Only one person bid on the house in the city's west. The mortgagee sale was forced after the owners could not meet the interest payments on the $405,000 they borrowed to buy the house at the peak of the market.

Auction clearance rates are hovering around 48 per cent since the recent interest rate rise, but plummeting property prices have meant many vendors are confronting negative equity, where they owe more on the property than it is worth.

The Herald checked 16 properties in south-western and western suburbs listed at the weekend and found 60 per cent had prices or had attracted offers at a discount to their last sale price.

more...

[54anickel]

41. Loan Credit-Default Swaps Surge as Hedge Funds Hunger for Yield

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a4fg_8Gw37Fw&refer=us

Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Hedge funds with an insatiable demand for high-yield debt are spawning a new market for loan derivatives in a record year for lending to companies with junk ratings.

Credit-default swaps based on loans, which barely existed at the start of this year, have grown to $7 billion, according to data compiled by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. BlueMountain Capital, Cairn Capital Ltd. and CQS Management Ltd. are leading hedge funds using the contracts to speculate on the ability of companies to pay their bank debt. The market may quadruple in 12 months, Lehman estimates show.

Rising interest rates are making investors so hungry for loans that JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp., the three biggest U.S. banks, can't keep up. U.S. company loans with ratings below Baa3 at Moody's Investors Service and BBB- by Standard & Poor's returned 3 percent in the last six months, beating the 2.5 percent for junk bonds, Lehman said.

``We've started using them when we haven't been able to get our allocation of loans,'' said Mark Conway, a money manager at CQS, a hedge fund in London's Belgravia district that oversees about $5 billion, including derivatives. Derivatives are financial instruments derived from stocks, bonds, loans, currencies and commodities, or linked to specific events like changes in the weather or interest rates.

more...

[54anickel]

45. China to Spend US$125 Billion to Improve Water Facilities, Combat Pollutio

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060822/apfn_china_water.html?.v=1

BEIJING (AP) -- China will spend 1 trillion yuan ($125 billion) to improve water treatment and recycling facilities over the next five years as part of efforts to fight the mounting threat of urban water pollution, officials said Tuesday.

The government hopes to lure more foreign technology and investments to such projects, which are crucial because some 278 cities have no sewage treatment plants, said deputy construction minister Qiu Baoxing.

"In some areas, the worsening water sources, pollution and the frequent water pollution accidents have seriously threatened the water quality," Qiu said at a news conference. "It is imperative for the water suppliers to strengthen relevant measures in response to the situation."

Beijing regards ensuring safe, reliable water supplies as the most urgent environmental issue facing a country where a population of 1.3 billion people compete for supplies with booming industries.

Attention to the problem has been heightened by a string of industrial accidents that poisoned major rivers, forcing several cities to shut down their water systems.

more...

[54anickel]

46. 3:00 heading into the final hour - all mexed messages

Dow 11,335.04 -10.01 (-0.09%)
Nasdaq 2,149.88 +2.13 (+0.10%)
S&P 500 1,298.50 +0.98 (+0.08%)
10-yr Bond 4.815 -0.004 (-0.08%)
30-yr Bond 4.954 -0.01 (-0.20%)
NYSE Volume 1,479,015,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,215,830,000

3:00 pm : Major averages continue to vacillate in a relatively narrow range but are still trading below the flat line. The market's holding pattern has been further evidenced in the A/D line, as advancers on the NYSE hold a slim 16-to-15 advantage over decliners while both advancing and declining issues on the Nasdaq remain evenly matched. The ratio of up to down volumes also paints a similarly neutral picture at the Big Board and the Composite. DJ30 -22.90 NASDAQ -0.91 SP500 -0.62 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1463/1452/1.20 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1546/1680/900 mln

2:30 pm : Indices continue to languish in the red as the bulk of sector leadership is now negative. Technology's reversal has been the most pronounced, swinging more than 1.0% as the best performing sector this morning to becoming this afternoon's biggest laggard. The AMEX Securities Broker/Dealer Index completely breaking down as well, relinquishing as much as a 1.0% intraday gain, is preventing the influential Financials sector from also providing any leadership.DJ30 -24.82 NASDAQ -3.90 SP500 -1.25 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1487/1411/1.12 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1586/1608/834 mln

2:00 pm : Market bounces off session lows but still trade in negative territory as today's Fed speak continues to set the tone for trading. Most recently, Guynn saying in Q&A that he sees an upward creep in inflation initially exacerbated afternoon selling pressure and pushed stocks to their worst levels. However, Treasuries paring their losses and now relatively unchanged, along with fed funds futures only pricing in about a 15% chance of a rate hike at the September 20 meeting, up from roughly 10% likelihood yesterday, offer little convincing evidence that the Fed may resume its tightening efforts after finally pausing earlier this month for the first time in more than two years. DJ30 -18.89 NASDAQ -2.35 SP500 -0.23 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1421/1452/1.03 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1489/1698/762 mln

[54anickel]

47. The IMF's Asian Challenge

http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=082206A

What a difference ten years make to the global economic landscape. Almost a decade ago, Asia was engulfed in a major economic and financial crisis that forced many Asian countries to go as supplicants to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Today, as the IMF prepares for its Annual Meeting next month in Singapore, the tables are completely turned. It is the IMF that is now desperately seeking to restore its legitimacy with a radically recharged Asia. And it is the IMF that now has to persuade Asia on the merits of cooperating to address today's large global payment imbalances.


The IMF's present lack of legitimacy in Asia is to a large degree the fall out of the high-handed way in which the IMF treated many Asian countries during the 1997 financial crisis. Still etched in Asian memories is the photograph of a self-satisfied and standing Michel Camdessus, the IMF Managing Director at the time, watching with folded arms as a seated and dejected President Suharto of Indonesia was forced to sign the humiliating terms of an IMF stand-by arrangement.


At a more substantive level, the IMF's lack of legitimacy in Asia mirrors Asia's chronic under-representation at that institution. As recently noted by the Brussels Brueghel Institute, whereas the United States, the European Union, Japan, and China each account for around 20 percent of world GDP at purchasing power parity, their respective representation at the IMF could not be more unequal.


Indeed, the 25 countries of the European Union occupy no fewer than 7 of the 24 seats on the IMF's Executive Board, exercise more than 30 percent of the IMF's votes, and effectively select the IMF's Managing Director. By contrast, despite having a GDP roughly twice as large as that in Europe, China and Japan, together, exercise only 9 percent of the IMF votes, have but two seats on the IMF's Executive Board, and have virtually no say in the appointment of the IMF's Managing Director.


more...

[54anickel]

48. Anti-terror drill set along China's border

http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/node20676/userobject1ai2268410.html

China and Kazakhstan - both members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization - will hold an anti-terrorism exercise along their borders from Thursday through Saturday, China's Ministry of Public Security said yesterday.

The drill will be conducted by law enforcement agencies and special services of the two countries, the ministry said.

It will be held in Almaty in Kazakhstan's east and in Yining, a western Chinese city in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The ministry refused to disclose the number of people participating or the specific operations involved.

The drill will be the first joint anti-terrorism exercise between the two countries within the SCO framework.

The ministry said the exercise was aimed at implementing a decision to enhance security cooperation reached by SCO member states at their June summit and to improve coordination between law enforcement departments and special services.

SCO members issued a communique in June at the Shanghai summit, saying that the fight against the "three evil forces" remains the organization's top priority.

more...

[54anickel]

49. Pak-Russia relations growing, says Pakistani envoy

http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.shtml?152322

MOSCOW: Expressing stratification over the existing relationship, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Moscow Abdul Mateen Khan has said that bilateral trade and economic ties are likely to be strengthened between Pakistan and Russia.

In an interview with Radio Moscow, Abdul Mateen Khan said that both President Gen Pervez Musharraf and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held talks on the sidelines of the fifth meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in July this year. The two leaders said that there was possibility of further strengthening ties between the two countries, he added.

Answer to a query, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Moscow said there have been many bilateral meetings during current year and many issues including international, regional bilateral, political, trade, economic as well as measures how to deal with terrorism measures bilaterally and at the United National Level were discussed in detail at Foreign Office level talks between the two countries.

He said 50 percent increase in trade between the two countries were witnessed during the last two years while a draft trade agreement is under consideration to give trade concession to each other.

Pakistan is in favour of reducing trade tariff on Russian goods and Russian membership to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Abdul Mateen Khan added.

more...

[54anickel]

51. YouTube Enters Pay-For-Placement

http://www.forbes.com/markets/commodities/2006/08/22/youtube-ads-0822markets10.html

Millions of would-be starlets attempt to grab fans and fame each day on free video sharing site YouTube. But on Tuesday, the site began accepting payment for sky-rocketing videos to a prime spot on its home page.

One so-called “participatory video ad” will be featured each day on the site, and can be rated like all other YouTube videos. The first such ad was paid for by Warner Music Group to promote a new album by Paris Hilton. News Corp. advertised a television show in a banner ad atop the Warner video ad.

From its launch in December 2005 until now, YouTube’s advertising included only banners, text ads, and sponsorships—including a promotions of NBC television shows. As of Tuesday, advertisers can also create special profile pages, called channels, that link to more videos.

YouTube chief executive Chad Hurley saidd uring a conference on July 26 that his company wasn’t profitable. The new video ads could help the company begin turning a profit, though so far it has resisted a popular form of online video advertising: embedded ads in the beginning, middle, or end of videos.

more...

[54anickel]

52. 3:35 and clawing back into the black....will the DOW make it?

Dow 11,341.45 -3.60 (-0.03%)
Nasdaq 2,149.73 +1.98 (+0.09%)
S&P 500 1,298.81 +1.29 (+0.10%)
10-yr Bond 4.811 -0.008 (-0.17%)
30-yr Bond 4.95 -0.014 (-0.28%)
NYSE Volume 1,660,364,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,370,296,000

3:30 pm : With only 30 minutes left in the trading day, stocks finally regain enough momentum to reclaim their positive footing. Helping the modest recovery efforts has been the ability by the Dow and S&P 500 to finally find support above key technical levels of 11,320 and 1295, respectively, as well as a notable turnaround in Health Care (+0.4%). The influential sector has gotten its biggest boost from Wyeth (WYE 47.43 +0.96), which is now up more than 2.0% after the FDA canceled an advisory committee meeting to review its new antidepressant. Be that as it may, the lack of participation, as the NYSE finally surpasses 1.0 bln shares, is again lending little confidence behind the sustainability of the market's recent improvement.DJ30 +2.02 NASDAQ +2.83 SP500 +1.83 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1336/1618/1.35 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1450/1803/1.00 bln

[MikeyJones]

53. I read the other week that the NASDAQ is losing scores of "smaller"......

companies to the Euro stock exchanges -- mainly the London stock exchange because of less tight regulations on the size of companies. I don't agree with letting Enrons or Worldcoms getting away with their bullshit but our market is seriously hurting because of what is now seen as draconian regulation. We need to streamline it or we'll continue losing American companies and also foreign companies to foreign stock exchanges -- and with that all that revenue.

[54anickel]

55. TMK float entrenches London's lead

Seems to be a "global" attraction. I'm sure Sarbanes-Oxley is part of the story, but I have my doubts that it is the only driver.

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article1220705.ece

London is set to consolidate its position as the destination of choice for foreign companies looking to raise money, with a string of Russian groups teeing up stock market flotations here.

TMK, the Russian oil services and pipeline giant, mandated the investment banks Credit Suisse, Dresdner Kleinwort and RenCap last week to lead a London listing planned for the end of the year.

snip>

Earlier this month, the London Stock Exchange revealed that 2006 had already become a record year for fundraising by flotations, surpassing in just seven months the total raised throughout the whole of 2005. International listings had played a "significant role" in this success, the LSE said. In July alone, the LSE attracted 25 flotations, raising a total of £7.4bn. Of the eight companies to list shares on the main market, three were international, raising between them the most in a month since the heady days of the dot.com boom of 2000. The 17 IPOs on the Alternative Investment Market, four of which were foreign companies, raised £563m in total.

London is outpacing New York as a destination for flotations as companies that may have in the past looked to Wall Street when raising funds continue to eschew tough, post-Enron corporate rules over there. The Sarbanes-Oxley legislation - rushed through in 2002 in the wake of a wave of US corporate scandals - stipulates onerous accounting standards aimed at ensuring that public companies more fully disclose their financial positions.

London attracted 50 international companies from 15 countries to the main market and AIM over the first six months of this year. Between them, they raised £4.5bn. In contrast, during the first five months of the year only 15 foreign companies listed on the NYSE and Nasdaq combined.

[MikeyJones]

58. Again, I don't like the corruption at all.....

but thanks to globalism and free trade and NAFTA and all the shit that the Clinton administration for some god-awful reason teamed up with the Repukeican congress to pass through into law we're seeing it's harder to keep internationals under our wings. They want to make money -- they don't want to answer questions to American congressmen and officials. Free trade may truly be the straw that breaks this camel's back but I hope to God not.

[54anickel]

56. Closing time

Dow 11,339.84 -5.21 (-0.05%)
Nasdaq 2,150.02 +2.27 (+0.11%)
S&P 500 1,298.81 +1.29 (+0.10%)
10-yr Bond 4.811 -0.008 (-0.17%)
30-yr Bond 4.95 -0.014 (-0.28%)
NYSE Volume 1,908,271,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,555,948,000

4:20 pm : Stocks closed Tuesday in much the same way they opened -- in lackluster fashion and relatively flat.

With the market's early focus returning to the Middle East, Iran unexpectedly saying it was prepared to enter "serious negotiations" about its nuclear program initially helped calm investors' nerves and give stocks a modest boost.

That is until Chicago Fed President Michael Moskow said in a prepared speech at 1:00 ET that policy makers may need to raise interest rates further to fight inflation -- a concern he deemed greater than the risk of economic growth being too low. With tame reads on core inflation last week easing the worst of inflation fears and diminishing the likelihood of another rate hike this year, Moskow's hawkish commentary merely reminded investors that inflation is not under control to the point to where the Fed can simply call it a day with its tightening campaign.

The absence of market-moving catalysts on either the earnings or economic front to set a more definitive tone to trading also prevented the bulls from returning with any conviction to get last week's broad-based buying efforts back on track. To wit, market breadth was basically neutral while limited participation, as reflected in the NYSE not surpassing 1.0 bln shares until there were only 30 minutes left to go in the trading day, further underscored the epitome of summer doldrums that are expected to leave volumes lighter than usual all week. BTK +0.2% DJ30 -5.21 DJTA +0.1% DJUA +0.7% DOT +0.2% NASDAQ +2.27 NQ100 +0.2% R2K +0.3% SOX -0.2% SP400 +0.1% SP500 +1.30 XOI +0.4% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1344/1620/1.58 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1391/1865/1.21 bln