Markets pause

The Dow started out plunging 160, but recovered in short order narrowing the loss to 77, advancers slightly ahead of decliners but NAZ is up 19. Stocks clearly have following winds behind them based on a lot of hope while ignoring dreary news.

S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX is up pennies, hanging on to recent gains. The Alerian MLP Index is up 5 to 180, maybe headed back to 200. The Dow Jones REIT Index pulled back 1 and Lehman High Yield Bond ETF is down 33¢ (1+%). Meanwhile the VIX, is down a couple into the 56s, an encouraging sign for bulls.

After a 2 week almost straight up run (aside from a week ago Mon when stocks hit a major bump) worth 1K on the Dow, stocks are taking a breather. Some call that profit taking. The partial bailout package for the autos is coming together in DC plus enormous future gov spending has the bulls charging forward.

Sony (SNE), up 61¢, is cutting its worldwide workforce in response to a gloomy outlook. They are getting hurt by the rising Japanese ¥ which has risen to 93 to the dollar from 110 a few months ago. US job losses, along with job cuts announced by other companies this month, signal the unemployment rate will increase again in Dec, possibly reaching 7%.

•Sony Will Eliminate 16,000 Jobs, Curb Investment, Drop Unprofitable Units

Texas Instruments (TXN), considered a bell-weather for the economy, issued very gloomy guidance. Forecasts are for a marginally profitable year in 2009 but the stock is up over 1.

Texas Instruments lowers outlook


If you missed Bloomberg TV last night, Ace Greenberg, former CEO of Bear Stearns, has sobering thoughts about what he calls "the end of Wall Street."

•Ace Greenberg Says Death of Bear, Lehman Means Wall Street Model Is Broken

The bulls are clearly in charge of the markets. We'll see how long they remain confident as more reality stories keep coming.