S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX
| Value | 193.79 | |
| Change | 2.14 (1.1%) |
This was a good day for high yielders. The Alerian MLP Index advanced 2¼ to the 304s & the REIT index rose 2½ to the 196s. Junk bond funds were higher. But the VIX, volatility index, also gained a fraction to 30.40. More worrisome is the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond fell 4 basis points to under 3.09% (not good for stocks) as it is heading for new 1+ year lows.
Alerian MLP Index --- 2 weeks
Dow Jones REIT Index --- 2 weeks
VIX --- 2 weeks
10-Year Treasury Yld Index --- 2 weeks
Oil gained but the big news was that gold is at record levels and is looking to head higher.
| CLQ10.NYM | ...Crude Oil Aug 10 | ...77.23 | ... 0.72 .......(0.9%) |
| GCM10.CMX | ...Gold Jun 10 | ...1,255.20 | ... 9.70 .......(0.8%) |
Consumer sentiment rose in Jun to its highest since Jan 2008 while reports of job losses were down sharply from a year ago. The final Jun reading showed the index on consumer sentiment rose to 76 from 73.6 in May, above the median forecast of 75.5. Reports of job losses fell by half since last Jun, from 65% of respondents to 29%. The barometer of current economic conditions was 85.6 (again the highest since Jan 2008) & also above the 82.9 reading in early Jun. This compared with 81.0 in May. However, the index of consumer expectations rose more modestly to 69.8 from 68.8 in May.
Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index Rose to 76
Consumer confidence - 1 year
Economic conditions - 1 year
Consumer expectations -1 year
Lawmakers shook hands on the compromise legislation early this morning after administration officials helped broker a deal that cracked the last impediment to the financial regulation bill, a proposal to force banks to spin off their lucrative derivatives trading business. The legislation touches on an exhaustive range of financial transactions, from a debit card swipe at a supermarket to the most complex securities deals cut in downtown Manhattan. The president hopes the House & Senate will approve the compromise legislation by Jul 4. The bill would set up a warning system for financial risks, created a powerful consumer financial protection bureau to police lending, force large failing firms to liquidate & set new rules for financial instruments that have been largely unregulated. The bill may have little impact on banks but could hit consumers with more fees
This weekend there is another G-20 meeting, this time in Toronto. They have a lot to discuss. Chinese currency is a back-burner item now that China agreed to "flexibility" for its currency. The main disagreement is between Europe & the US. Europe, led by Germany & the UK, is pushing for austerity to strengthen then currency (the € is just above $1.23). But the US continues with its stimulus policies. It will be difficult to find agreement on this big difference which has major negative implications for the stock markets. 10 year ago S&P 500 was 1441, today it's only 1073! This has been one tough decade.
Dow Jones Industrials --- 2 weeks
S&P 500 --- 1 decade
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