Markets drift lower as Dell disappoints

Dow was lower & continues to slide. Dow dropped 57, decliners over advancers 2-1 & NAZ fell 10 (hurt by a weak earnings report from Dell last night). Banks are off again. The Financial Index returned to where it was in mid Sep, not encouraging for the bullish argument.

S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX

Value 195.72

Change -1.61

% Change -0.8%

The Alerian MLP Index was off 1 to the 261s, still near the 265 yearly high. The Dow Jones REIT Index was off fractionally after a big loss yesterday. Junk bond funds were mixed to lower. The chart below shows Barclays Capital High Yield Bond has been drifting in the last 2 weeks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond was up ½ basis point to 3.36%. Not much happening here.

Alerian MLP Index --- 2 weeks




Dow Jones REIT Index --- 2 weeks




Barclays Cap Hi Yld Bond - 2 weeks





Oil had been stuck in a sideways trading range of 65-75 for much of 2009. In the last month that range has been upped to 75-80, it may want to test the lower end. Gold owners are still happy near its record prices.

CLZ09.NYM

...Crude Oil Dec 09

...76.40

... 1.06 .......(1.4%)

GCX09.CMX

..Gold Nov 09

...1,139.60

... 1.80 .......(0.2%)

After the close last night, Dell (DELL) reported Q3 results & they weren't pretty. Earnings dropped 54% on lower than expected sales. Q3 was the last qtr selling computers with Vista, the Windows 7 launch in Q4 should help their business. Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft (MSFT), last night said Win 7 sales were "fantastic" in its first month. Dell dropped 1.50 (almost 10%) & MSFT was off 25¢. Their 2 year charts shows they've had relatively mild declines followed by more modest recoveries, to be expected for companies in a mature business.

• Dell bets on corporate spending for recovery- Reuters

•[$$] Ballmer Touts Windows 7 Sales
at The Wall Street Journal Online

Dell --- 2 years




Microsoft --- 2 years





After one big up day (Mon) & a big down day (yesterday), Dow is flattish on the week. Options expire today, making any call extra difficult. As of this writing, it's touch & go whether this week will be in the black or red.

Dow Jones Industrials --- 2 weeks