Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Mixed markets

Markets were mixed or just mixed up. Dow & S&P 500 were little changed, however advancers led decliners almost 2-1. NAZ had a decent day, up 14, as money is flowing back into techs. The downgrade on Bank of America (BAC), down 1.48, hurt the Dow. A downgrade for Merrill Lynch (MER) sent its stock down 53¢ mostly due to late day selling. The Conference Board reported that consumer confidence plunged in March to 64.5, far below expectations. Monsanto (MON) benefited from an up day for commodities & it also raised profit forecasts sending the stock up 10.28.

Today was mostly a mixed up day. Junk bonds were up slightly. This morning, an analyst on Bloomberg TV was saying their selling may be overdone after starting the year with their worst year ever. REITs pulled back after their run-up in recent days. MLPs were up a little, rebounding from a major leg down which sent the index to 265. Today it was up 1.45 at 272. The report from the Conference Board was most troubling to me, confirming the recession scenario everybody is worried about.

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