Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Stocks down again

After a strong opening & rally at midday, stocks pulled back in the afternoon closing at the lows. Dow dropped 65, decliners over advancers almost 2-1 & NAZ dropped 31. Dow is back to 12.2K, down 2K (14%) from it's high just a few months ago & high volatility continues. Gloomy thoughts prevail. Macy's (M), down 1.16, is cutting 2300 jobs. Cisco (CSCO) reported after the close. Traders liked the report bidding up shares 78¢ after hours.

A common theme continues in these reports. Good news comes from overseas businesses but domestic business is weak, at best. Housing continues in the dumps. Toll Brothers (TOL) reported it's 7th consecutive quarterly decline. Their houses are high priced, this report indicates sluggishness in the economy is affecting affluent. Meanwhile, the VIX measuring volatility is back up to 29 (very high) & gold is near 900.

No comments: