Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Nervousness sinks stocks

Dow retreated 137, closing at the lows & taking it under 8K, decliners over advancers 2-1, & NAZ fell 27. Financials led the markets & they were weak all day, again closing near the lows.

S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX

Value
138.65
Change
-11.53
% Change
-7.7%

Banks came close to doubling from the lows set last month, but the index lost ground today (shown above). Below are 5 leading banks


.............close____change___%_change______volume
BAC
10.12Down 0.90Down 8.17%648,859,692
C
4.09Up 0.29Up 7.63%1,196,364,487
JPM
30.79Down 2.91Down 8.64%102,775,909
WFC
18.22Down 1.45Down 7.37%146,239,281
GS
115.92Down 14.23Down 10.93%73,619,636


The Goldman Sachs (GS) report weighed heavily on financials. Gut reactions on GS last night took the stock down 2+ in after hours trading. Selling $5B in stock to the public will hurt any stock price, but they still had a very bad day. I've posted an article from a blogger at SeekingAlpha (I also write for them) who focused on the "lost" Dec which was not pretty. Including results from Dec would have made for a bland earnings report. SeekingAlpha points out he is short GS, you can choose whether he has a vested interest.

The Alerian MLP Index gave up 1 point from its high today, settling for a .78 gain taking it to 201 (shown in the Yahoo badge in my right sidebar). That 200 resistance ceiling has increasing importance for the index, just like earlier this year. The Dow Jones REIT Index dropped a very big 10½ to 112½ on increasing recession worries. Junk bonds were mixed but they've been attracting bargain hunters in the last 2 weeks as shown by a popular index:


Barclays Cap Hi Yld Bond ETF: 2 weeks




Markets had a bad day, not a good sign. Disappointing retail sales would be difficult for any market to absorb but the GS earnings (as shown in their sell-off) brought back sellers. For 10 days, Dow has been struggling to break thru the 8K ceiling but so far has only managed to dent it. The Dow & markets seem very, very tired after the dramatic recent rise.

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