Stocks up 2 days in a row

Markets hovered near break even for much of the day, but ended in the black. Dow gained 27, advancers 2-1 over decliners & NAZ rose 6. Banks recovered much of the losses from the AM, not too bad of a day for them.

S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX

Value 158.56

Change -0.56

% Change -0.3%

MLPs & REITs inched up while junk bonds slipped a little. The VIX fell 1.29 to 25.02, another 2009 low. Treasuries had a sharp sell-off, sending the yield on the 10 year Treasury bond up 10 basis points to 3.45% (up almost 20 basis points in a couple of days).

Alerian MLP index --- 1 month





Oil sold off in the PM, it wants to remain below the important 60 line.

CLQ09.NYM

..Crude Oil Aug 09

..59.44

.. 0.25 ......(0.4%)

CIT Group (CIT) is on the verge of going under which has the potential of doing significant harm to the economy & its recovery. CIT lends to many small businesses but is not exactly a bank. If they fail, many small businesses would be put at risk. The feds are trying to figure out how to help them. FDIC seems to be a logical choice for more aid, but, since they are not a bank, the gov is trying to figure out how to make it happen. The stock is a dollar stock, rallying 26¢ on those hopes. They have to receive aid, the alternative is too ugly to imagine. Their chart is just another one of those disastrous financial charts. This is one more indication of how fragile the economy & its recovery are.

•CIT shares rally as firm seeks federal aid
AP (Tue 9:38am)

CIT Group--- 2 years




Tech giant DELL (DELL), 2nd largest computer company in the world, has money problems. They are not all that serious, but Dell is looking for alternatives to finance their business. The share repurchase program has been stopped to conserve money. Even mighty Dell is feeling the effects of the global slowdown. The stock dropped 1.05 to 11.97. Their slow-down in sales will bleed thru to major suppliers such as Microsoft (MSFT), Intel (INTC) & AMD (AMD).

•Dell Is Reviewing Alternative Capital Sources for Finance Unit, CFO Says

Dell ---- 2 years




The 8K floor has held, but Dow is still at the lower end of its trading range for the last 2+ months. Bank earnings may be key to stock performance in the next 2 weeks.

Dow Jones Industrials --- 1 month