Dow needed a rest

A weak Dow (& S&P 500) never made it into the black. Dow lost 41, decliners ahead of advancers 2-1 & NAZ rose 5 helped by Dell's (DELL) acquisition announced this AM. S&P 500, like the Dow, had a small decline. Banks remained lower throughout the day.

S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX

Value 202.08

Change -1.86

% Change -0.9%

Despite lower energy prices, The Alerian MLP index inched up fractionally (now at 250). The Dow Jones REIT fell 3+ in the weak market. Junk bond funds were mixed (at their yearly high levels) & the 30-year Treasury bond yield rose 1 basis points to 3.49%.

Alerian MLP Index --- YTD




Dow Jones REIT Index --- YTD




Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) announced it will sell over 8M (with over-allotments) units. The price will probably be under 28.66, today's close. There is still plenty of money available to invest in more units of MLPs.

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EPD
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. Announces Public Offering of Units



Oil fell 2+, taking it under 70 ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting (the cheap dollar is very bullish for oil). In addition Chinese demand (the last good customer for oil) fell 5.4% in Aug compared with Jul. Gold was off 6 to 1004.

• Energy prices drop sharply ahead of Fed meeting- AP

AIG (AIG) jumped 8.49 to 48.40 on news that congress will examine a proposal for another loan revision, this one from former AIG CEO Hank Greenberg. It would cut the gov stake in AIG from 80%, trim interest rates on their gov loan & extend the term of the loan, giving the company more time to repay (& avoid having to sell assets at fire-sale prices), which could improve the gov's overall return on its investment of $180B. AIG has tried to sell assets to repay taxpayer loans of more than $80B, but so far it has only raised $4B. Stock buyers are betting they'll see $65 shortly, sellers are glad to bail out at a higher price.

Towns May Seek to Ease AIG’s Government Bailout Terms

AIG --- 1 year





Dow had a stellar Q2, ending at 8447. In Q3 it's looking at similar result, up another 16% to 9779 (so far). The other averages have similar gains.

Dow Jones Industrials --- YTD



S&P 500 --- YTD



Nasdaq --- YTD