Friday, May 16, 2008

Higher oil sinks stocks

Higher oil prices sink stocks as oil exceeds 127 for the first time. Dow was down 82, decliners ahead of advancers 3-2 & NAZ was down 27. But there was good news from the housing sector. The Commerce Dept reported housing construction was up last month due to increased starts for apartments. Single family housing continues weak. Oil hit 127.82, another record, while AAA reported gas at the pump was $3.78 yesterday. Other commodities which had been weak in recent days were strong today. Meanwhile, consumer sentiment reached a low not seen since 1982, falling 3 points to 59.5.

The Yahoo (YHOO) drama keeps playing out, but the stock is little changed today. Master limited partnerships keep hanging in there. Their index bottomed at 262 at the end of Mar, since then it's rebounded nicely to 296 where it has been for 2 weeks. Last year at this time it was far above 300 but this year it is struggling to break the 300 ceiling:

Chart for  (^AMZ)

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