Stocks drift down on earnings reports

Markets may be quieting down. The effects of central banks throwing money at commercial banks is providing some degree of calm for banks & investors. One sign of relief is this morning the yield on the 90 day T-bill was above 1% (annualized). That means a Treasury bill which pays $100 in 3 months, can be bought for about a 30¢ discount (better than just a couple days ago when the interest was just a few pennies).

Dow, after dropping 100 out of the gate, recovered to break even but is back down 67, decliners over advancers 2-1 & NAZ is down 23. The other popular indices I follow are all pretty much unchanged. Oil traded higher on expectation of a production cut but has settled back to down a few dollars:

CLX08.NYM

Crude Oil Nov 08

...71.79

... 2.46 ... (3.3%)

• Oil above US$74 as OPEC eyes production cut- AP

The idea of a stimulus bill is getting a lot of attention, but in a political year it's hard to imagine it would go thru quickly. Everybody is proposing different versions, any bill may have to wait until next year with a new president & congress.

Earnings are getting more attention, as they should. Caterpillar (CAT) & DuPont (DD), 2 Dow stocks, reported lower earnings & dreary outlooks going forward. US Bancorp (USB), still an S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrat, also reported lower earnings. On the bright side they earned money & haven't gotten slammed as hard as most of the bigger banks. Eli Lilly (LLY), another S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrat, reported it will have to take a $1B+ charge relating to settlements on its main drug, Zyprexa. DD lost a dollar while the others had only modestly losses.


Caterpillar Net Falls 6.4% on Higher Material Costs (Update2)

• US Bancorp 3Q profit falls 47 percent- AP
• DuPont 3Q profit falls on charges, cuts 2008 view- AP

•Lilly Will Take $1.42 Billion Charge Related to U.S. Probe of Zyprexa Drug


Baltic Dry Index (BDI) Rates are discussed a lot on CNBC-Asia. DryShips Inc. is a global shipping transportation company specializing in the transportation of drybulk cargoes, which publishes daily shipping figures. Business is down on the order of 90% from last year because of reduced international trade, their website gives the daily index readings for those interested. While not well followed widely in the US, this indicator may be helpful in keeping up with ebbs & flows of international trade.

http://www.dryships.com/index.cfm?get=report