Stocks do little ahead of Federal Reserve meeting

Thanks to buying in the last hour Dow managed to gain 17, stretching its winning streak to 5 days. However, the total advance was only 90! Decliners over advancers improved in the PM to 3-2 but NAZ was fell 5. Banks stocks bounced back from losses in the AM, the Financial Index was flattish after being down 2+ early in the day. The proposed bank regulation legislation was less bad than feared.

S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX

Value 208.78

Change -0.16

% Change- 0.1%

The Alerian MLP Index dropped a fraction to the 304s, PM buying limited the loss. The Dow Jones REIT Index also bounced off early day losses to end down fractionally. Junk bond funds were little changed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond fell a fraction of a basis point (call it unchanged) to 3.70%.


Alerian MLP Index --- 1 month




Dow Jones REIT Index --- 2 months





Oil continued weak on worries about China slowing its economy & reducing purchases of oil. But gold was pretty much even.

CLJ10.NYM

..Crude Oil Apr 10

..79.78

.. 1.46 ......(1.8%)

GCH10.CMX

..Gold Mar 10

..1,105.10

.. 3.60 ......(0.3%)

Gold Super Cycle!! Click Here

The Dem Senate bill would give the gov new powers to break up firms that threaten the economy & would force the industry to pay for its failures. It's interesting that this proposal (which was anticipated) did not bring selling to bank stocks, maybe because it falls shy of the ambitious restructuring envisioned by the president or contained in House legislation. But the bill would still be the biggest overhaul since the New Deal. A leaner Federal Reserve would gain new powers to regulate the size & activities of the largest financial firms. It would create a consumer protection bureau within the Federal Reserve to write regulations governing all lending transactions. The breadth of the bill would touch all corners of the financial sector.

•Dodd Bill Empowers Fed to Break Up Firms Posing Threat to Financial System



The gov, largest shareholder in Citi (C), can begin selling its shares today. Its cost price is $3.25, the gov is showing a gain but unloading such a large supply will take time & a lot of work. The gov intends to sell all shares by year-end. Talk about overhanging supply!! The stock backed off again from its high last week, down 8¢.


Citigroup --- YTD

Bloomberg news was talking about the enormous rally made by high yield (risky) bonds in the last year. The biggest gains were in the lowest rated or riskiest bonds. But enthusiasm was tepid, the commitment of the buyers was not strong. At tomorrow's meeting on interest rates by the Federal Reserve, it's all but certain that they will leave low interest rates alone. But everybody wants to hear their comments about going forward.

Dow Jones Industrials --- 2 months