http://finance.yahoo.com/intlindices

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










http://www.kitco.com

Energy futures

Currencies/Au/Ag

A slight downward move in deference to the US action. All Ords -0.5% and it's a bit hard to say which way we'll go from here. Sectors are uniformly red apart from Energy, +0.8%. Consumer Discretionary is down the most, -1% followed by Property Trusts -0.8%.

Miners are doing a pullback: BHP -1.4%, RIO -0.7% and in the golds, Newcrest -0.2%, Newmont -1.6% and Lihir -0.3%.

Oils are continuing on from yesterday: Woodside +1.4%, Santos -2.1% and Caltex +0.2%.

U.K. November Mortgage Approvals Fall 44% on Year

Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. mortgage approvals dropped 44 percent in November from a year earlier as higher borrowing costs and concern that home prices have further to fall deterred buyers, a British Bankers' Association report showed.

The report adds to evidence that a decade-long housing boom in the U.K. is grinding to halt after an increase in credit costs, sparked by the collapse the U.S. subprime mortgage market, made Britons more reluctant to buy homes. House prices fell the most in three years this month, and economists expect further declines next year as economic growth slows.

Germany to Ban Online Gambling Jan. 1 Under Accord by States

Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Online gambling will be banned in Germany as of Jan. 1 after German states ratified an accord that preserves the country's state monopoly for lotteries and most forms of betting.

All 16 state legislatures voted by mid-December to approve the new online-betting laws, which the states negotiated after the Federal Constitutional Court ruled in 2006 that the former model was unconstitutional. The new rules, which expire at the end of 2011, have drawn criticism from Internet betting companies and lottery brokers like Bwin Interactive Entertainment AG, Fluxx AG and Tipp24 AG.

The new rules ban any form of Web-based gambling or brokering of games over the Internet. The states may order Internet service providers to block Web sites of illegal betting operations and banks to stop money transfers to them. The rules' definition of illegal gaming includes placing a bet from German territory over the Web with a company based outside Germany.

Pretty much a round trip today. All Ords finished flat and a few more sectors turned green. Energy and Healthcare shared the lead, +1.2% with minor gains on the other greens. At the red end, Property Trusts continued to decline, -1.4% followed by Consumer Discretionary -1%.

The big miners remained firmly in pullback mode: BHP -1.4% and RIO -1%. Golds perked up: Newcrest +2% and Lihir +1.1%. Newmont remained down, -1.4%. Juniors didn't see too much action, mainly flat.

Oils did ok: Woodside +1%, Santos +2.9% and Caltex +0.3%.

Mostly red in Asia with only Taiwan showing +0.9% gain. Not sure what's happening with Nikkers as only half a chart showing but the text says -1.7%, Honkers -1.1% and China -0.4%.


Over to UK/Europe:








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

Japan Inflation Quickens to 0.4%, Fastest Since 1998

Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's inflation rose at the fastest pace in more than nine years in November and industrial production and household spending declined, signaling rising oil costs may derail the economy's longest postwar expansion.

Core consumer prices, which exclude fresh food, climbed 0.4 percent from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said today in Tokyo. Factory output slid 1.6 percent from a month earlier. Households cut spending 0.6 percent, the first drop since July.

Wages fell and employment prospects worsened as job seekers outnumbered vacancies for the first time in two years, the Labor Ministry said. Faster inflation isn't likely to prompt the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates after it cut its economic assessment last week for the first time in three years.

Pakistan Default Risk Rises to One-Month High on Bhutto Killing

Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The perceived risk of Pakistan defaulting on its debt rose to the highest in a month as the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto threatened efforts to restore democratic rule.

Credit-default swaps tied to Pakistan's dollar-denominated bonds rose 100 basis points from before the assassination to 530 basis points at 8:53 a.m. in Hong Kong, according to ABN Amro Holding NV prices. That means it costs $530,000 annually to protect $10 million of the nation's debt from default for five years, the highest of any government, according to credit-default swaps tracked by Bloomberg.

U.K. Nationwide House Prices Fell 0.5% in December

Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. house prices fell for a second month in December, indicating that higher credit costs are snuffing out a decade-long property market boom, Nationwide Building Society said.

Home values dropped 0.5 percent from November to 182,080 pounds ($364,000), Britain's fourth-largest mortgage lender said today. Last month's 0.8 percent drop was the biggest since June 1995. From a year ago, gains ebbed to 4.8 percent, matching the least in 20 months, from 6.9 percent in October.

Prospective homebuyers are being squeezed by a record debt load and more expensive borrowing after house prices tripled in the past 10 years. Bank of England policy makers cut their benchmark rate from a six-year high this month on concerns fallout from a U.S. housing recession posed a greater threat to the economy than inflation.

going long cfc ....

Huge rally in the T bond market. Yields down across the board.

We are installing network hard wiring here at HQ North to replace a poorly functioning wireless network. I am going to be down for a few minutes. Will rejoin you after the open.

3 and 5 day cycles are mostly on buy signals. If the pullback holds here, these cycles should be in an up phase. If they continue to bleed however, it's wait and see where the bleeding stops.

DJ Fed Accepts $5 Bln In 6-Day RPs

Type of transaction: 6-Day RPs
Total accepted: $5 Bln
Total submitted: $41.1 Bln

Agency Collateral Operation
Total accepted: None
Total submitted: $13.8 Bln
Stop-Out Rate: N/A
Weighted Average: N/A
High-rate submitted: 4.5%
Low-rate submitted: 3.9%

Treasury Collateral Operation
Total accepted: None
Total submitted: $3.15 Bln
Stop-Out Rate: N/A
Weighted Average: N/A
High-rate submitted: 3.51%
Low-rate submitted: 2.25%

Mortgage-Backed Collateral Operations
Total accepted: $5 Bln
Total submitted: $24.15 Bln
Stop-Out Rate: 4.8%
Weighted Average: 5.08%
High-rate submitted: 5.27%
Low-rate submitted: 4.3%

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

DJ Fed Accepts $2.5 Bln In 3-Day RPs

Type of transaction: 3-Day RPs
Total accepted: $2.5 Bln
Total submitted: $14.8 Bln

Agency Collateral Operation
Total accepted: $1.35 Bln
Total submitted: $10.45 Bln
Stop-Out Rate: 4.27%
Weighted Average: 4.32%
High-rate submitted: 4.35%
Low-rate submitted: 4.1%

Treasury Collateral Operation
Total accepted: $1.15 Bln
Total submitted: $3.65 Bln
Stop-Out Rate: 3.7%
Weighted Average: 3.72%
High-rate submitted: 3.85%
Low-rate submitted: 3.35%

Mortgage-Backed Collateral Operations
Total accepted: None
Total submitted: $700 Mln
Stop-Out Rate: N/A
Weighted Average: N/A
High-rate submitted: 4.3%
Low-rate submitted: 4.25%

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

i am looking for nxg to do a cde

whats up with URZ ? hmmmm

So much for Zillow. notice the estimate and that it sold for for 130k less a month ago and was bought for 449k in 04. BUY HIGH, SELL LOW


ZESTIMATE®: $484,107 What's this?
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Zestimate
A Zestimate home valuation is Zillow's estimated market value. It is not an appraisal. Use it as a starting point to determine a home's value.
Learn more

The Value Range is the high and low estimated market value for which Zillow values a home. The more information, the smaller the range, and the more accurate the Zestimate. See data coverage and accuracy table Value Range: $421,173 - $605,134
30-day change: -$30,736
Zestimate updated: 12/18/2007
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Tax Assessor's Value
Depending on the jurisdiction where you live, this value could be the tax assessed, tax appraised, or market assessed value. This value comes from the taxing authority of the city, county or state where you live; this is not Zillow's value.

Note: Tax assessor's values differ from Zillow's Zestimate, which is computed by entering numerous data points into a proprietary formula, often resulting in a more accurate value estimate.
Last sale and tax info
Sold 11/06/2007: $350,000
2007 Property Tax: $5,778
23xxx Star Ct Auburn CA
3 beds, 2.0 baths, 1,704 sq ft
Recently Sold: $350,000

Another day, another net drain by the Fed.

This is unbelievable, sports fans!

3 day cycle buy signals on qqqq have now failed miserably. 5 day never made it to the buy side, unlike on the spy and dia. dow and spx 3 and 5 day cycle indicators stayed on the sell side through the opening spike.

New home sales worse than forecast.

I should stress that this is the Commerce Department report. Generally subject to huge revisions and with a huge margin of error. But they also revised October down. In this case, I think the numbers are probably telling the right story, but we'll see when other data comes out.

New Home Sales down 9% vs -1.6% exp.

Is that a lot ?

i think the fed operates in secret .... the real system is hidden of course IMO but either way they have done a job pulling the levers and pulleys !

lets just see where the homies close!

qqqq held at support lines after hitting 5 hr cycle projection of 51.75. 3 day cycle MA 52.10 and 5 day 52.15. Need to get above those to confirm a turn up in those cycles. The double bottom around 51.75 is the key on the downside.

I think that your trust fund must support you well, because it's pretty clear that you know little about the market or the forces that drive it.

When I compare the Fed data with the market, every day for 6 years as I have done, I find no reason whatsoever to believe that the Fed conducts secret operations. The reasons for what they are doing may not be clear at the time, but they are consistent in observing their growth rate channels over very long periods of time. Furthermore, when the Fed pulls back on liquidity over time, the market has problems. The correlations may not be direct on a day to day basis, but they are very strong over the intermediate term. When they are not, it is because other influences, in particular foreign central banks and Treasury auctions are having a greater impact at that time. We can see the correlation between these influences and market behavior very clearly.

There may be mystery as to the Fed's current rationale, but there's never much mystery as to cause and effect. If you believe in secret operations, it's because you lack understanding of how things are connected in reality.

They are going to zero. The only question is when.

My indicators still showing solid buying interest...I've repurchased the QLD and RYDEX funds I'd legged out of two days earlier....long for now....

In other news, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index was up a hefty 56.6 vs 51.7 exp.

I guess they're buying stocks

MBI ABK tanking

IB down.
Fock!

Anyone else having troubles?

Buffet is going to drive them out of business with his new Muni Bond insurer. They will be unable to compete. Period. End of story. Good bye and good riddance.

i dont have a trust fund but i have not done the research you have so I can't say with any knowledge of what is true or false real or fake. obvious if there is a depression or some massive bank failure you will have been very accurate !

but DOC if I did have a trust fund i would not be trying to scrap pennies from this market. id be chillin on a mountain somewhere skiing all winter. that would be the friggen life. all im doing is tip toeing around the pigmen

Inflatulation. I see it daily.

Is IB's east coast server down, or have I alone been targeted for obfuscation?

Yea, they're down.

What does a depression or massive bank failure have to do with anything?

I'm not an economist. I have never predicted a depression, nor would I. Nor have I predicted a massive bank failure, although certainly there's a good chance that many banks will fail, as they did in the late 80s and early 90s. I am more concerned about money market funds breaking the buck. Whether any will totally collapse leaving investors with next to nothing, I don't know. But I do think that investors in some money market funds will suffer losses.

I write about the stock market in particular, and other markets in a general sense. My primary function is as a market timer, and I use liquidity analysis to enhance that.

I have made broad statements about the homebuilders beyond purely what the charts say because I have professional experience analyzing that business.

But I have never made or intimated either of the two statements by which you profess to judge whether I am proven right or not.

what is the Ted spread, thanks

Back up, as they say...

In other news, I just put in $200 of Gibson '57 Classic pickups into this $600 guitar, and I swear it now sounds better than a $3500 comparable axe.

OK, maybe this isn't the correct venue for this, but what the heck.

Good to know you're staying active.....

160 bps


Off the record highs of 217 bps, but still sending the same message.

all i was trying to say was you seem to be pretty bearish or you come off as pretty bearish. yes the charts on the homies are a train wreck. things are bad out there.

Actually, they're passive humbucking pickups, not active ones like EMG.

Yes. TWS is really limping today -- slow to execute earlier in the week as well.

Can't get any charts at all.

ZB has retraced about a third of its drop from the top. I still believe that higher highs are a distinct possibility.

Off to the beach for New Year's! Have a nice one, stoolies!

Is the market open?

NYTimes

LMAO! Another "smart money" billionaire buying the dips! Joe Lewis, no less. A latter day brown bomber taking it on the chin once again.