Stocks fluctuate in narrow trading range

After dropping at the start, Dow hovered near break even for the rest of the day. Dow closed up 36, advancers almost 2-1 over decliners & NAZ gained 10, taking it over 2K once again. Banks want to take out the yearly high of 193 on the Financial Index. They came close today with a strong finish. Among the gainers for banks was Bank of America (BAC), Dow stock, up 1.07 to 17, a price not seen since Dec.

S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX

Value 192.53

Change 3.70

% Change 2.0%

S5FINL:IND





MLPs, REITs & junk bond funds had small changes. The Alerian MLP Index was down a fraction but remained in the 240s. REITs are coming off an excellent time in the last month.


Alerian MLP Index --- YTD




Dow Jones REIT Index --- YTD





Oil doesn't want to give up ground, remaining near its recent high in the73s.

CLU09.NYM

..Crude Oil Sep 09

..71.04

.. 0.88 ......(1.3%)

Treasuries rose on the weak retail sales report for for Jul suggesting inflation remains restrained. $15B of 30-year bonds were auctioned off at a yield of 4.541% compared with a forecast of 4.556%. The bid to cover ratio was 2.54X, compared with an average of 2.36X at the last 10 auctions. This was viewed as good demand for long-dated Treasuries in a weak economy. Indirect bidders bought 48.1% versus 50.2%in Jul, the most since Feb 2006. The 30-year yield fell 11 basis points to 4.42% & the 10-year note yield fell 11 basis points to 3.59%.

30-Years Treasury Yld Index - YTD




Another indecisive day. Dow managed to eek out a 2009 high, 28 above the high of last week. In the last 2 days it hasn't strayed far from 9300-9350.

Dow Jones Industrials --- 1 week