Markets mostly muddled

Markets are mostly muddled. Dow is down 30, decliners over advancers 3-2 and NAZ down 6. On the economy, housing, inflation, unemployment fronts, etc., things look bleak. Yesterday's 2 big sells in the Dow, GM & Citi, are selling at multi year lows (11 & 17 respectively). CNBC reports that GM's market value of $7B is about equal to that of Mattel (MAT) & ½ that of Avon (AVP). Oil is trading at a new record, 142. There are calls for the price to go to 150, 170, 200, whatever. Consumer confidence fell to a 28 year low of 56.4 for the usual reasons. Merrill Lynch (MER) and American International Group (AIG), a Dow stock, are getting ready to report more ugly write-offs. KB Homes (KBH) posts a larger loss, but nobody seems to care these days. The Alerian MLP index is also down over 2 to 278, looks like it's headed for a test at 262.

Markets are greatly oversold, i.e. the sellers will just give up & shorts will start buying back. A relief rally is to be expected (probably this PM), but the outlook remains dreary. S&P 500 is the most closely watched index and the 1270 line is considered very important. Next week, it could be tested.