Markets were mixed, really down. Dow is up 74, but don't know how as none of the 30 are up as much as 1 & only 17 are in the green. Decliners are ahead of advancers 2-1, NAZ is about even & S&P 500 is under 1270, but up 5 to 1267. As expected, the ECB raised its interest rate 25 basis points sending the dollar a little higher. The Labor Dept reported employers laid off 62K, 6th straight month of losses, in line with expectations. The real number is 30K higher if gov hiring is excluded. In addition, the number of new applications for unemployment claims rose 16K to 404K (above 400K is considered bad). Oil is over 146 on some news about something (these days, who cares?). Remember the call about oil reaching 150 by July 4? We're essentially there on July 3.
Banks are getting punished again. Bank of America (BAC), in the Dow, at only 22 & yielding almost 12% is down 50% from just a couple of months ago. Increased attention to the problems of auto makers & talk about bankruptcies will weigh on the markets for awhile.
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