http://finance.yahoo.com/intlindices

http://money.cnn.com/markets/morning_call/










http://www.kitco.com

Energy futures

Currencies/Au/Ag

Interesting action in the US which has translated into a reasonable fall here. All Ords -1.2% with no sector unscathed. IT is down the most, -1.9% followed by Materials, -1.7%. Property Trusts is down the least, -0.9%.

In the major miners, BHP -1.7% and RIO -1.9%. The golds are faring better, Newcrest -0.5% and Newmont +0.8%.

Oils down: Woodside -1% and Santos -1.5%.

Japan's Trade Surplus Surges 53% on Export Demand

July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's trade surplus surged in June as exports rose at the fastest pace in five months, easing concern that waning U.S. demand will hamper growth in the world's second-largest economy.

The surplus expanded 53.4 percent to 1.23 trillion yen ($10.2 billion) from a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said in Tokyo. Exports climbed 16.2 percent, more than the 14 percent median estimate of 17 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Australia's Consumer Prices Increase More-Than-Expected 1.2%

July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Australia's consumer prices increased more than expected in the second quarter, as fuel, housing and food costs surged.

The consumer price index climbed 1.2 percent from the first quarter, when it rose 0.1 percent, the Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 26 economists was for a 1 percent gain. Prices advanced 2.1 percent from a year earlier.

European July Manufacturing, Services Growth Slows

July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Growth in Europe's manufacturing and service industries, which account for two thirds of the economy, slowed more than economists forecast in July as the euro rose to a record and oil prices increased.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc said its combined index, spanning industries from autos to banking and airlines in the 13- nation euro region, fell to 57.3 from 57.8 in June.

Chuckie Schumer, one of the Senate's biggest liberals, is planning to torpedo a plan to raise taxes on hedge fund managers. Similar to Ted Kennedy's vote against legalizing imports of pharmaceuticals from Canada because it hurt his state's biotech interests.

Democrats: Always for the little guy.
______________________

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...pVIo&refer=home

Schumer Fights Buyout-Firm Tax Rise With Vow to Spread the Pain

By Ryan J. Donmoyer and Kristin Jensen
Charles Schumer, Senator from New York

July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York is fighting a plan to raise taxes on hedge funds and buyout firms with his own legislative poison pill: a demand that other powerful interests share any pain.

Schumer is expressing concern about plans by lawmakers including Republican Senator Charles Grassley that would more than double taxes on private-equity and hedge-fund firms or their managers. He told the Senate Finance Committee this month that he would agree to the proposals only if taxes were also raised on oil-and-gas, venture-capital and real-estate partnerships.

Schumer may be trying to shield both his Wall Street constituents and his party's electoral war chest, Grassley said. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which Schumer heads, received $779,100 from employees of private-equity firms and hedge funds in June, six times their combined total in June 2005, federal filings show. That far exceeds the industry's contributions of about $60,000 to the Republican Senate committee.

We went down and stayed there. Today's action looking like consolidation at the lows but on the other hand the index is sitting on support. All Ords closed -1.2% and most sectors closed down 1% or more. IT was down the most, -2.4% followed by Materials, -2.1%. Property Trusts had the least loss, -0.4%.

In the miners, BHP finished -1.9% and RIO slid quite a bit more, -2.3%. Goldwise, Newcrest dragged itself into the green, +0.1% and Newmont closed +0.8%.

The major oils remained down: Woodside -0.6% and Santos -1.8%.

Asia mixed: China +2.7%, India -1.2% and Nikkers -0.8%.

Over to UK/Europe:







http://finance.yahoo.com/intlindices?e=europe

Joke could drop another 700-1000 points and still be in up trend

Over 200 points on joke and Mystic East is doing something else

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OK. There's a poster whose habit of deconstructing, analyzing, and criticizing other people's posts is really beginning to irritate many other posters. Those folks are beginning to snipe at the first guy. He, in turn is sniping back at those who criticize him.

I don't like what's going on, and I am requesting that you turn it down. We can make our points simply and succinctly without analyzing other posters' thoughts point by point by point. Really, really irritating.

I sincerely appreciate everyone's contributions here, both from those who subscribe to the WSE Pro, and those who choose not to. But it's important that we not antagonize each other. I don't like to delete or edit posts but I will if, in my judgment, the post is not constructive toward another member. While I hold the initial instigator of these exchanges responsible for starting the downhill spiral, and I fully can sympathize with those who hit back, in general, the sniping at one another is not helpful. It needs to stop.

Some of us, myself included, are guilty of pontificating and condescending. It's really unbecoming, and we should try to refrain from communicating with each other like that.

I appreciate everyone's support in maintaining a high level of comity, community, camaraderie, and comedy.

Did I say that already?

RIGHT.

Now,

let's all sing along,

One more time,

In a honky-tonk way...

AMZN over 86!!!

Amazon is making money? When did that start happening? I guess I should pay attention to this stuff. All I remember was that for years during their ascent they had never made a dime. I can only guess the insiders made a buck or two.

oy oy oy oy oy

If anyone really is committed to putting money on the short side this is an idea for you.

why did i buy this a couple months ago ?? Why am I still holding this.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=grzzx

i better make sure that AMZN was not one of their short positions.

I just wanna put some money on the right side...

Massive divergence between Summation Index and SPX. That's much longer than the buildup into the May 2006 correction.

Divergence also showing up now in the Bullish percent chart for the SPX

A mutual fund can only be traded once a day. The QID can be traded any time without restriction. Plus, there are no big management fees skimming off the top.

Biting the bullet...

KKR to Accept Higher Loan Costs on Alliance Boots, People Say

By Cecile Gutscher and Kabir Chibber

July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., bowing to investor pressure, will increase the interest on loans to finance the 11.1 billion-pound ($22.8 billion) purchase of Alliance Boots Plc, Europe's biggest leveraged buyout, two people with direct knowledge of the deal said.

KKR may today increase junior loans from the 1 billion pounds it originally offered, and scale back 5 billion pounds of senior loans, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. The junior loans may cost the New York-based leveraged buyout firm 1.25 percentage points to 3 percentage points more in interest than the safer debt, based on a July 2 statement by KKR's underwriters.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=206...DeHE&refer=home

One more for the road...


NYSE Cumulative A/D also has failed to confirm the recent index high, just like in April/May 2006

For some strange reason, the Democrats are not for the little guy when it comes to:

A) Hollywood
Banks

But then again, the Republicans generally do whatever the bankers want too. There are
exceptons like Ron Paul and Barney Frank. But the bankers have this politics thing honed
to a fine art. And yes, Schumer is so predictable. I think that Spitzer had to be careful
as to who he went after as he needed Schumer's help to get elected.

In general, when you mention Schumer and banking, I don't even have to look at the bill.

I wasn't aware of the Kennedy thing. It's a bit surprising but those folks in Kendall Square
carry a lot of clout now. His brother Joe, runs Citizens Energy which imports cheap heating
oil from Chavez which sounds similar to the drug importation plan. There aren't a lot of
oil wells running in MA though.

The Hollywood thing is in reference to being in the pocket of the RIAA which is trying to add
a bunch of burdens onto college administrators related to file sharing. The college my son will
be attending has a novel solution to the problem: a bulk arrangements for students to download
music legally. Sure, it's rolled into tuition but it's a good way to keep everyone out of trouble.

It took forever, but the dollar got a bounce.

In other words, lets all play nice in the sandbox.

This morning, the gangs on Crapvision said.."i have never seen a bear market with Boeing at New 52 week highs."

If you look back in 200-2001, BOEING did make 52 week high while the market melted.

Thank you I needed that this morning

If the housing meltdown wasn't bad enough to deal with in California, now this:

Voracious jumbo squid invade California

MONTEREY, Calif. - Jumbo squid that can grow up to 7 feet long and weigh more than 110 pounds are invading central California waters and preying on local anchovy, hake and other commercial fish populations, according to a study published Tuesday.

A/P

Mmmm.... fried calamari....

DJ Fed Accepts $6.75 Bln In Overnight RPs

Type of transaction: Overnight RPs
Total accepted: $6.75 Bln
Total submitted: $57.2 Bln

Agency Collateral Operation
Total accepted: $3.243 Bln
Total submitted: $22.85 Bln
Stop-Out Rate: 5.24%
Weighted Average: 5.24%
High-rate submitted: 5.24%
Low-rate submitted: 5.13%

Treasury Collateral Operation
Total accepted: $2.047 Bln
Total submitted: $19.25 Bln
Stop-Out Rate: 5.14%
Weighted Average: 5.15%
High-rate submitted: 5.16%
Low-rate submitted: 5%

Mortgage-Backed Collateral Operations
Total accepted: $1.46 Bln
Total submitted: $15.1 Bln
Stop-Out Rate: 5.25%
Weighted Average: 5.25%
High-rate submitted: 5.25%
Low-rate submitted: 5.23%

(Data was provided by the New York Federal Reserve Bank).

We just get red tide.

The most important question isn't answered in the article



Is it edible?

Bankers off to the races: money centers, regionals, subprime. underpar, etc. LOA if this trend continues.

[attachmentid=86302]

Oops. I think you meant to say nephew.

Action in the bonks is certainly interesting. The finaglers were once again the hardest-hit sector yesterday, although every sector was red. But the banks have been falling for 2 months, while much of the rest of the market (techs, industrials, consumer discret, energy, materials, submerging, non-U.S.) is close to ATHs.

It's a weird dichotomy when the banks are pinned to the lows while the rest of the market is pinned to the highs.

As for the banksters, the XLF is down 10% since late May. But it hasn't violated the March07 low and basically has been trading in a range b/w $34-$38 all year. So it has been treading water while most of the rest of the market scampers higher.

Jason Goepfert of sentimentrader.com notes that only 2% of XLF components are trading above their 10dayMA and fewer than 10% are trading above their 50dayMA. He says this is one of the most Dover Sole readings in the past 10 years.

As well, 24% of the XLF components hit their 52-wk lows yesterday, the most since the Oct 2002 bottom. In the past 10 years, he can only find four similar occurrences:

8/31/98, 1/4/00, 2/18/00, 10/7/02. And now yesterday as well.

What's interesting to note is that these dates include very different sorts of market environments.

On 8/31/98, the market was in a panic. The banks had been in freefall for six weeks along with the rest of the market. By 8/31, the BKX was off -35% and the SPX -22%. The market recovered for three weeks, then went on to make a lower low in early Oct. A boner rally followed thereafter.

On 10/7/02, the market had been falling off and on for over two years. The banks weren't leading the decline, just tagging along for the ride.

But in early 2000, the banks had already been falling for over eight months while the techs and hotsy-totsys ramped the SPX/INDU/NARD ever higher and higher. The banks finally bottomed on March 13 2000 and began to fly higher. This moved the SPX up strongly, only to top two weeks later at 1553 and begin a 2.5-year selloff.

So in 2000, a bank "bottom" and subsequent rally was an indication that a broad market top was right around the corner.

So does 2007=2000? Or 1998? Or 2002? Or none of the above? Who knows.

It sure doesn't look like a 2002 setup since we are still basically pinned at ATHs, except for the bonks.

It could be a 1998-style scenario, though a 4% selloff is not exactly the -22% Armageddon we saw in 1998. And even if it is 1998, lower lows should be forthcoming.

The closest corollary, really, is early 2000, particularly when you consider that the banks detached from the broader market rally many months ago, just like they did in 1999-2000.

But only time will tell whether any of these corollaries fits.

ewwwwww

gah...rohce

I guess nobody told the goldies about the rally.

Here comes the gap fill.

Yesterday's stick-save of Nardsaq 2632ish pretty much told you that the crooks weren't gonna take the markit further downtown at this juncture.

So the techsteriffics are still "bullish" as long as that level holds. But the SPX is back in the "entertainment zone" between the Jun low on the downside and 1532ish on the upside. This is the sort of environment where the Pigmen™ do their best work.

Still watching these levels like a hawk.

One point in the goldies favor is the fact that the XAU never technically "broke out." It just ran up to 20-year resistance, sat there for a few days, and is now coming back in.

So we didn't get the dreaded "fakeout breakout."

That may still come later. Or not. Who knows.

The question now is: are the goldies (XAU) consolidating right below 20-year resistance or was the 157+ level the actual target for the move off the Jun lows? Only your friendly neighborhood Pigman™ knows for sure.

The SPX did much the same thing. It finally ramped right up to 7-year resistance (1553), sat there for a few days, and is now coming back in. You could characterize it as a "tactical" sell. We didn't get a "fakeout breakout" on the SPX either, just a move to resistance and a subsequent selloff.

You'd think that, if the crooks are hoping to wrongfoot folks, they'd jam the Spooz (and the XAU for that matter) past key resistance in a bonerific fashion. Then waterfall it back down thru. Haven't seen anything like that yet.

And don't forget SDS, the double reverse spoozer.

I didn't realize CNBS was noted for their accuracy.

Stupid question time!

I know there are MF's that play the short side, but is there an ETF that tracks the downside?

No lookee so goodee...

[attachmentid=86303]

A/D for NYSE and Nasdaq just went negative

After boiling and dressing it should look something like this:

Despite all the excitement over AMZN, the BPCOMPQ (Nard bullish percent index) is now below where it was at the Mar07 lows even though the Nard itself is 300 pts higher.

Looks like a lot of the Nardsaq stocks are getting the heave-ho while the price of the Nard moves up.

Ms. Russell doesn't look like she has a firm grip on the bar of soap....

GDX (goldschtunk etf) getting smoked like a ham today. If it gets much below 40.70, could see a real waterfall lower. It's at 41.16 right now.

negativer