S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX
| Value | 218.83 | |
| Change | 1.10 (0.5%) |
The MLP index reached another record, up 2+ to almost 369. Cold weather in the north could be bringing out more buyers. The REIT index fell a fraction to 222+, near where it has been for weeks. Junk bond funds inched higher. But Treasuries slipped, the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond rose 4 basis points to 3.34%
Treausry yields:
| U.S. 3-month | 0.15% | |
| U.S. 2-year | 0.58% | |
| U.S. 10-year | 3.34% |
Alerian MLP Index --- 2 months
Dow Jones REIT Index --- 2 months
10-Year Treasury Yield Index --- 2 months
Oil rose to the highest level in a week after a presidential panel investigating the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico called for “urgent reform” (i.e. reduce more exploration, this limiting supply) & the Alaska Pipeline closure threatened refiners’ supplies. Gold rose for the 2nd straight day on speculation that Europe’s debt crisis is spreading, boosting demand for the precious metals as a store of value.
| CLG11.NYM | ...Crude Oil Feb 11 | ...91.19 | .... 1.86 | (2.1%) |
| GCF11.CMX | ...Gold Jan 11 | .......1,382.80 | ... 8.70 (0.6%) |
*** Gold Super Cycle ***
Photo: Bloomberg
US job openings fell in Nov from the highest level in 2 years, signaling a sustained labor market recovery will take time to develop.The number of positions waiting to be filled decreased 80K to 3.25M according to the Labor Dept as the number of people hired dropped from the prior month & separations climbed. Last week it was reported that employers added a fewer-than-forecast 103K jobs in Dec for a total of 1.1M in all of 2010. Job openings decreased 2.4% in Nov from a revised 3.33M in the prior month, the most since Oct 2008. All indications are that dreary unemployment numbers will remain thru year end (at least). It is widely predicted that the unemployment rate will "fall" to 9% (from the mid 9s recently).
Job Openings in U.S. Decrease for Third Time in Four Months
Verizon (VZ), a Dow stock & the top US wireless operator, will begin selling a version of the iPhone from Apple (AAPL) in Feb at the same prices as AT&T (T), another Dow stock. However, VZ did not say what it would charge for its iPhone data & service plans. There were expectations that it would trump ATT by offering the device with unlimited data service plans. The phone will not work all around the world because it runs on the CDMA network, which is not supported in many big markets such as the UK & France. In addition, the first iPhone customers may buy a phone that is outdated only months later if Apple upgrades the iPhone on its typical early summer launch schedule. Some analysts, pointing to years of pent-up demand among Verizon Wireless customers, expect it to sell 9-13M iPhones this year. Verizon, a joint venture of Verizon Communications & Vodafone Group, said the phone would be available at 2,000 of its stores. Prices with a 2-year agreement for $199.99 for the 16-gigabyte model or $299.99 for the 32-gigabyte model (comparable to what ATT charges). T & VZ were each off about 2%, while AAPL slipped only 0.3% ($1) on this well advertised event.
Verizon Wireless to Start IPhone Sales Next Month, Ending AT&T Exclusivity
Verizon --- 1 year
AT&T --- 1 year
Apple --- 1 year
Japan & China will buy more European debt. This is sort of a limited kind of bailout program but was encouraging to investors in Europe as marginal countries are selling debt this week. Dow remains slightly lower in the early days of this year (after ignoring the initial surge in the opening minutes of trading). While still too early to make long term calls, this shouldn't happen considering all the enthusiasm out there for stocks extending their winning streak into 2011. Earnings reports in the next few days will direct markets in the coming weeks.
Dow Jones Industrials --- 2 months
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