Dubai woes ease

Dow fell 154, decliners over advancers 5-1 & NAZ was off 37. The popular averages remain within striking distance of their 2009 highs set in the last week (or so). Banks however are not so fortunate. The Financial Index is waffling around the low end of its 190-210 range (shown in the chart below), a disturbing indicator for market bulls.


S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX

Value 191.76

Change -5.41

% Change -2.7%

The Alerian MLP Index held up well, down only fractionally. The Dow Jones REIT fell a very big 5 taking it 10% below its high reached 2 months ago. Junk bond funds recovered ending with minor losses.Treasuries, amongst all the uncertainty, were very strong. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond dropped 6 basis points to 3.21%. There is a feeling that more money may be going into Treasuries which has the potential to put a crimp in the stock market's rally.

Alerian MLP Index --- YTD




Dow Jones REIT Index --- YTD





Oil recovered a little of its earlier loss, the same with gold. The 75 floor held for oil, a good technical indicator for its bulls.

CLF10.NYM

..Crude Oil Jan 10

..76.05

.. 1.91 ......(2.4%)

GCZ09.CMX

..Gold Dec 09

..1,177.80

.. 9.20 ......(0.8%)

For this week, Dow was only down 10. One headline at Yahoo shows "shoppers packed stores as holiday season revs up." I helped by going to Staples. Over the weekend they may sort out more about Dubai & who holds what debt.

Dow Jones REIT Index --- YTD