On Break

11/16/2008

BMB On Break

It’s time again for a little BMB R&R, especially with the market behaving as bizarrely as it’s been. Maybe if we stop watching it start to behave a little better…

Posting will be very light and variable over the course of this week, but we’ll put up an open thread each market day for our readers to comment on the day’s market activity or to post any interesting links they might run across.

Check the space below for whatever the latest might be during this ‘off’ time, and please visit the various sites in the ‘Links’ and ‘Regular Stops’ for up-to-date market news and analysis.

BMB will be back in full swing by next weekend.

Posted: 1:00 pm

6/14/2005

Tech Check

QQQQ chart There seems to be an awful lot of talk about a coming tech rally - as if we didn’t already have one in the month of May. Well, it looks to me like things had better shape up or tech stocks might just be headed the other direction. The QQQQ ETF representing the Nasdaq 100 is starting to look pretty shaky at this juncture, having broken back down through both its 10 and 20 day moving averages, and the 10-day is U-turning south. Some of the semiconductor names are on thin ice as well - take a look at ALTR, MXIM and XLNX. They need some help.
Posted: 5:11 pm

Clean Energy Update

PBW chart BMB mentioned the PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy Portfolio back when it was first offered. PBW is an ETF that, according to the PowerShares web site, “seeks to replicate the WilderHill Clean Energy Index, which seeks to deliver capital appreciation through companies that focus on greener and generally renewable sources of energy and technologies facilitating cleaner energy.”

PBW had some tough sledding through the spring, but now looks like it’s starting to turn the corner, at least in the near term. You would think that if oil prices continue to move higher over the coming years, some of the companies involved in providing other sources of energy may do rather well. Time will tell. From my standpoint, nothing is a long-term holding unless it behaves itself! (Disclosure: BMB has recently purchased PBW shares.)
Posted: 3:29 pm

Bond Break

TNX chart Back on June 3, the bond market spiked higher on the May jobs report, sending yields to multi-month lows. As the day wore on, bonds reversed heavilty, sending prices down and yields higher. In the market wrap that day, BMB speculated: “I wonder if today’s huge reversal will set the stage for higher yields over the next few weeks.”

So far, that speculation has proven to be correct. The yield on the 1o-year note didn’t stay below the 4% mark for long, and has moved swiftly back above 4.10%. The stock market is not a big fan of higher interest rates.
Posted: 3:29 pm

Market Wrap

The major indices couldn’t make much progress in either direction today, on another day of light trading. The Dow Industrials finished higher by 25 points (+0.2%) at 10548 (helped by at 4% gain in GM and a 3% move in WMT), the S&P 500 added 3 points (+0.3%) to 1204 and the Nasdaq was unchanged at 2069. The Russell 2000 made a little better progress, gaining 5 points (+0.9%) to 634. The Dow Transports fell another 0.4% (down 5 days out of the last 6), the Dow Utilities gained 0.3% and the bond market was relatively quiet, with the 10-year note finishing with a yield of 4.11%.

Internals were mostly positive: advances/declines were 5/3 on the NYSE and 17/13 on the Nasdaq. Up/down volume was nearly 2/1 on the NYSE, but 8/11 on the Nasdaq. New highs/lows came in at 200/29 on the NYSE and 109/29 on the Nasdaq.

Winners on the day included paper stocks (+1.8%), retailers (+1.8%, helped by the BBY earnings report - BBY stock was up more than 14.5%), housing stocks (+1.4%), HMOs (+1.3%), and oil stocks (+1.0%). Losers were gold & silver stocks (-1.5%) and semiconductors (-1.1%).

Crude oil prices fell a little over a half-dollar to $55/barrel. The dollar continues to move higher, with the dollar index up another 0.4% to 89.27. The renewed dollar strength has pushed the index up to levels not seen since September of ‘04. The price of gold slipped to $426.50/ounce.

Posted: 3:14 pm

D’ya Think?

The headline says “Jackson Won’t Share Bed With Kids Again”.

Well. Duhhh. What in the world was he thinkin’ the first time(s)??

Next time I commit a crime, I’m going to make sure I’m a celebrity in California. That will certainly give me the best odds of getting away with it.

Posted: 10:12 am

Morning News

The market hasn’t really responded much either way to any of the news, with the indices all hanging around unchanged territory so far.

Posted: 10:03 am