Monday, March 3, 2008

Stocks slip slightly

Stocks pulled back but only slightly. They did not continue major declines overseas. But markets still face ugly news. Oil reached a new record at 103.95 propelled with possible military action by Ecuador, Bolivia & Venezuela. Confusing situations can be expected to push oil prices up. US manufacturing declined in Feb to the weakest level in 5 years. The Commerce Dept reported construction spendin in Jan fell to the lowest level in 14 years. And gold pushes to record prices around 980, thousand dollar gold is no longer only a wishful dream.

A lessor followed story is Thornburg Mortgage (TMA), one of the biggest mortgage companies, down over 50% today to 3.96. It's hardly necessary to state the obvious. they're facing margin calls on their mortgages which could sink them. Such a failure would adversely affect many major financials, they are weak today. This PM we'll see if all the negative news brings out more bears.

No comments: