Stocks are mixed, there's not a lot of conviction one way or the other. New 52 week lows at NYSE were 351 including Countrywide (CFC) under 8. Some beaten down stocks from last week found a few buyers, but buying appears only technical. MLP index is down 1, however the few I watch are up.
On Sun, US forces almost fired on an Iranian boat. While nothing happened, it raises concerns about oil supplies from the region. Oil pulled back to 95, due to a possible US slowdown & warmer weather.
The administration is working to combat the severe housing crisis with no simple solution, Treasury Secretary Paulson said in speech "the country was facing an unprecedented wave of 1.8 million subprime mortgages which are scheduled to reset to sharply higher rates over the next two years." This raised the possibility of a market failure & was the reason the administration brokered a deal to freeze certain subprime mortgage rates for five years allowing time for the housing market to recover. Paulson said there is no single or simple solution to undo excesses of the last few years.
Meanwhile Citigroup (C) said it's restructuring plan appears to be taking longer than expected due to the extent of the problems. It expects to cut it's workforce by 5-10%. Citigroup is one of the biggest victims of the credit crunch caused by the subprime-mortgage crisis.
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