Reply #15: 3:30 numbers and blather [View All]

[54anickel]

Dow 10,666.03 -39.61 (-0.37%)
Nasdaq 2,141.26 -4.89 (-0.23%)
S&P 500 1,196.40 -6.81 (-0.57%)
10-yr Bond 4.209% +0.025
30-yr Bond 4.838% +0.014
NYSE Volume 1,822,635,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,850,871,000

3:30PM : Equities remain on the defensive heading into the last half hour of trading as market breadth remains bearish... The bulk of notable earnings next week will come out of the technology and financial groups, sectors than comprise more than one third of the S&P 500's total market cap... The only S&P constituent reporting quarterly results on Monday though will be Jabil Circuit (JBL 25.55 -0.59), as the majority of earnings reports will be out on Tuesday and Wednesday... The only economic data out Monday will be the Leading Indicators report for November (consensus +0.2%)...NYSE Adv/Dec 1558/1746, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1355/1741
3:00PM : Market rebounds some but not nearly enough to make a significant change in the standings, as the bulk of sector leadership remains negative... On the Dow, PFE (25.67 -3.31) and MRK (31.67 -0.12), which combine for more than 4% of the index's weighting, have been just two of the 23 components trading lower... Blue chips offsetting some of the weakness have been Boeing (BA 53.25 +1.17), which closed a $1.0 bln deal with Etihad Airways for five Boeing 777-300ER airplanes, while United Technologies (UTX 104.11 +2.11) and Verizon Communications (VZ 41.06 +0.66) have also held onto gains...NYSE Adv/Dec 1383/1908, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1296/1796

2:30PM : Major indices continue to trade sideways at lower levels showing little direction in afternoon trading... Meanwhile, Warren Resources (WRES 9.02 +1.52) has held onto gains in excess of 20% on its first day of trading... The debut of the onshore oil and gas exploration company has concluded the busiest week for IPOs in more than four years, as more than 20 deals went public... To date, more than $45 bln has been raised from 252 new offerings in 2004, surpassing approximately $14 bln raised last year from 80 new deals...NYSE Adv/Dec 1295/1969, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1217/1855

2:00PM : Not much conviction late in the day as the market averages cling to losses... The Pharmaceutical sector (-4.8%) remains underwater, with PFE (-13.6%) and LLY (-3.4%) leading the list of laggards, while Homebuilding (-2.2%), Casino/Gaming (-2.5%) and Electronic Manufacturing Services (-2.1%) hold steady at lower levels... Showing signs of strength have been Footwear +6.0%, on the heels of NKE's (+6.5%) strong quarter, Hotels +1.0%, Aerospace/Defense (+0.7%) and Oil/Gas Drilling Services (+0.7%)...NYSE Adv/Dec 1275/1948, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1208/1836

1:30PM : Stocks continue to run in place in negative territory as buyers remain a reluctant bunch... Fueling some of the broad-based selling pressure has been a more than 3% rise in crude oil futures ($45.68/bbl +$1.50)... The February crude contract, which had surpassed $46/bbl midday, has been on the rise all morning as below normal temperatures throughout the US, particularly in the Northeast, has increased demand...

Concerns about Russian oil production, following reports that Russia will auction off oil company Yukos' main production unit over the weekend, despite a US block order, has also helped push the commodity higher... NYSE Adv/Dec 1195/2013, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1176/1858

1:00PM : Little change in the past half hour, as the major indices continue to chalk up losses... Also under pressure have been treasuries... Despite opening higher, bonds showed some modest selling pressure after November CPI data, which matched economicsts' expectations, suggested inflation was under control... Much of the recent selling, however, has been related to a shadow effect from weakness in international government bonds...

The combination of yesterday's unwinding-inspired sell off, this morning's CPI figures, international pressure on treasury prices and a $6.37 bln fall-off in implied foreign central bank investments has resulted in a general bearish sentiment for bonds throughout the day... The 10-year note currently yields 4.21%, off 8 ticks...NYSE Adv/Dec 1242/1935, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1225/1780

Advances & Declines
NYSE Nasdaq
Advances 1558 (45%) 1359 (41%)
Declines 1754 (50%) 1742 (53%)
Unchanged 139 (4%) 148 (4%)

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Up Vol* 608 (35%) 747 (41%)
Down Vol* 1105 (63%) 1020 (56%)
Unch. Vol* 22 (1%) 30 (1%)

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New Hi's 166 106
New Lo's 23 9