Stocks drift lower ahead of Federal Reserve announcement

Asian markets were mixed last night following the big rally in the US. Today, stocks markets are looking for direction while traders watch AIG officials try to justify stupidity. Dow is down 106, decliners over advancers 2-1 & NAZ lost 9.

S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX is taking a slight breather after its recent run up. Citi (C), just a call, is up 26¢ to 2.76.

Value 114.10

Change -0.35

% Change -0.3%

High yield securities are slipping along with the overall market. VIX is up about 1 & oil is down almost 1 for the usual assortment of reasons about why it's declining.

The big news story, overwhelming the enormous financial problems at AIG, is how AIG can justify paying bonuses to the "smart guys" who gave us the AIG mess. While stupidity & insensitivity are key issues, the $Bs & $Bs used to clean up the mess at AIG deserves more attention.


IBM (IBM), a Dow stock, wants to buy Sun (JAVA) for double the market price. This would be IBM's biggest acquisition if it goes thru (maybe this week). Sun is up 3.30 to 8¼ on the news while IBM is down 2, not many details have been released. In prior times major acquisitions were bullish for the markets, not today.

• IBM May Finally Take Sun Out of Its Misery- The Business Insider

Investors await the Federal Reserve announcemnet this PM, hoping to hear encouraging swords about fixing a broken financial system.