Global Market Wrap-Up

February 8, 2012

mhanna — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:45:33 +0000

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

For the third session in a row, markets started the day with losses but fought back to post small gains. In Wednesday's session, there was no substantial catalyst for the mid day recovery. The S&P 500 gained 0.2% and NASDAQ 0.4%.

Gold fell $17.10 to finish at $1,731.30 an ounce, while silver declined 49 cents to $33.704 an ounce. Oil prices rose slightly after the Energy Department said U.S. crude supplies increased less than analysts expected last week. Crude oil increased 30 cents to end at $98.71 per barrel.

February 7, 2012

mhanna — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:15:32 +0000

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

Much as they did Monday, U.S. stocks fought off early selling Monday to finish with slight gains. The S&P 500 gained 0.2% while the NASDAQ added 0.1%. Investors seem relieved that a positive jobs report Friday didn't seem much to dissuade Ben Bernanke, who was testifying for the Senate late in the morning, from hinting the Federal Reserve is open to the possibilities of additional monetary easing.

February 6, 2012

mhanna — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:12:21 +0000

Monday, February 6, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks finished flat to slightly down, after a modest drop in morning trade, in a very slow session Monday. The S&P closed down less than 0.1% while the NASDAQ gave back 0.1%. There was some drama around Greece but after two years of wrangling, the market has become largely immune to headlines from the country.

Gold fell $15.40 to finish at $1,724.90 an ounce, while silver rose 0.1 cent to $33.75 an ounce. Crude oil fell 93 cents to $96.91 per barrel.

February 3, 2012

mhanna — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:19:29 +0000

Friday, February 3, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks rallied Friday on the back of improvement in two key economic reports, the monthly employment reports and the ISM Non Manufacturing survey. The S&P 500 gained 1.5% and NASDAQ 1.6%.

Companies added 243,000 jobs in January — while official government unemployment fell to 8.3%, the lowest in three years. The 243,000 jobs added exceeded the estimate by economists of 155,000. The broader unemployment rate, which includes workers marginally attached or those who work part time but wish for full time work fell from 15.2% to 15.1%.

February 2, 2012

mhanna — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:47:07 +0000

Thursday, February 2, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks were traded slightly higher in a quiet session Thursday as investors awaited the monthly employment data to be released Friday. The S&P 500 gained 0.1% and NASDAQ 0.4%.

Weekly unemployment claims fell 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 367,000, the Labor Department said.

February 1, 2012

mhanna — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:35:57 +0000

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

Stocks rallied Wednesday as key manufacturing and purchasing data across the globe came in near or a bit above expectations. In the U.S the S&P 500 gained 0.9% while the NASDAQ added 1.1%.

The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said that its manufacturing index rose last month to 54.1 from 53.1 in December. Readings above 50 indicate expansion.

January 31, 2012

mhanna — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 23:04:21 +0000

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks finished nearly unchanged again after an early morning rally was doused by some weaker than expected economic news. The S&P 500 fell less than a point while the NASDAQ gained less than 2 points.

Consumer confidence fell to 61.1 in January, down from 64.8 in December. Economists had expected 68. The Conference Board said Americans are more worried about their incomes, gas prices and business conditions.

January 30, 2012

mhanna — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:29:54 +0000

Monday, January 30, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks closed down Monday, but off their worst levels of the session. Worries about progress in the Greek debt deal, and disappointment China did not relax reserve requirements were the largest contributors, along with the fact the market is quite overbought after a weeks long rally. The S&P 500 fell 0.3%, and NASDAQ 0.2%.

Income rose 0.5% from November to December, the Commerce Department said. It was the sharpest increase since a similar gain in March.

January 27, 2012

mhanna — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:50:03 +0000

Friday, January 27, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks finished mixed Friday as the first pass of fourth quarter GDP came in below expectation. The S&P 500 dropped 0.2% while the NASDAQ gained 0.4%.

Economic growth for October through December came in at an annual rate of 2.8%, lower than the 3% that economists were looking for.

January 26, 2012

mhanna — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:59:14 +0000

Thursday, January 26, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

An unexpected drop in December new home sales weighed on U.S. markets Thursday, with the S&P 500 down 0.6% and NASDAQ 0.4%. Other economic data was mixed:

New home sales fell 2.2% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 307,000. The pace is less than half the 700,000 that economists say must be sold in a healthy economy. About 302,000 new homes were sold last year.

January 25, 2012

mhanna — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:14:27 +0000

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks were mixed Wednesday until the Federal Reserve Open Committee announcement mid day. In this communication the Federal Reserve pushed out the date of the earliest fed funds hike from "mid 2013" to "late 2014". Of course the speculator class, drunk on easy money, celebrated and pushed markets higher. In an afternoon press conference, Ben Bernanke opened the door multiple times for additional quantitative easing which punished the dollar, helped gold, and further stoked stocks.

January 24, 2012

mhanna — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:51:26 +0000

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks rallied after a morning selloff to finish mixed; the S&P 500 fell 0.1% while the NASDAQ gained 0.1%. After the close Apple reported blockbuster numbers.

Apple said net income in the fiscal first quarter was $13.06 billion, or $13.87 per share. That was up 118% from $6 billion, or $6.43 per share, a year ago. Analysts were expecting earnings of $10.04 per share. Revenue was $46.33 billion, up 73% from a year ago. Analysts were expecting $38.9 billion.

January 23, 2012

mhanna — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:30:38 +0000

Monday, January 23, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks ended mixed Monday, in a quiet session as investors awaited key earnings and a Federal Reserve meeting later in the week. The S&P 500 gained less than a point, while the NASDAQ fell 2.5 points or 0.1%.

January 20, 2012

mhanna — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:46:03 +0000

Friday, January 20, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks finished mixed Friday with the S&P 500 up less than a point and the NASDAQ down less than two points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average stood out with a gain of 0.8% due to a heavy weighting of IBM which was a big gained post earnings, along with Microsoft. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note crossed above 2% for the first time in two weeks.

Sales of previously occupied homes rose 5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.61 million in December, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. It's the best level since January 2011.

January 19, 2012

mhanna — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:51:45 +0000

Thursday, January 19, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks rallied Thursday as a low weekly unemployed figure offset other less inspiring economic data. The S&P 500 gained 0.5% and the NASDAQ 0.7%. After the close earning reports from a number of technology bellweathers such as Google, Intel, and Microsoft painted a mixed picture.

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits plummeted last week to 352,000, the fewest since April 2008. The four-week average, which smooths out fluctuations, dropped to 379,000. That's the second-lowest such figure in more than three years.
U.S.

January 18, 2012

mhanna — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:25:55 +0000

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks rallied once more Wednesday, shaking off any and all concerns; the S&P 500 added 0.8% and the NASDAQ 1.5%.

The National Association of Home Builders index, a measure of sentiment among builders, rose to its highest level since June 2007.

January 17, 2012

mhanna — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:33:51 +0000

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

Decent economic data out of China, along with lower inflation readings in Europe helped lift U.S. markets. The latter is important for those who wish for further European Central Bank easing measures. The S&P 500 gained 0.4% while the NASDAQ added 0.6%.

Silver rose 61.3 cents to $30.135 an ounce, while gold gained $24.80 to end at $1,655.60 an ounce. Crude oil rose $2.01 to $100.71 per barrel.

January 13, 2012

mhanna — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 00:12:27 +0000

Friday, January 13, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks faltered Friday but finished off their worst levels as a double whammy of weaker than expected earnings from banking giant JPMorgan was joined by rumors of a downgrade in credit rating of multiple European countries. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ both lost 0.5%.

Before the market opened, JPMorgan said quarterly profit declined 23% from a year earlier, slightly worse than what analysts expected.

January 12, 2012

mhanna — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:44:38 +0000

Thursday, January 12, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks shrugged off some weaker employment and retail sales data, to reverse an early morning selloff and finish near highs of the days. The S&P 500 gained 0.2% and NASDAQ 0.5%.

Unemployment benefits spiked last week to the highest level in six weeks, mostly because companies let go of thousands of holiday hires, the government reported. Applications rose 24,000 to a seasonally adjusted 399,000.
Retail sales eked out a 0.1% increase in December. December's increase was the weakest in seven months.

January 11, 2012

mhanna — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:11:29 +0000

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

The S&P 500 was fractionally higher while the NASDAQ added 0.3% Wednesday as the euro continued to weaken versus the dollar, and investors continued to pile into U.S. markets as safe havens. The Treasury sold 10-year notes at the lowest rate on record, 1.90%.

The Federal Reserve said all but one of its 12 banking districts experienced some growth from late November through the end of the year. Economists noted greater confidence in the tone of the report. For example, the central bank described auto manufacturing as "vibrant" in several districts.

January 10, 2012

mhanna — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:53:57 +0000

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks rallied Tuesday although the reasons were difficult to pinpoint. Some pointed to the perverse reasoning that weaker Chinese data would lead to more easing by the country - hence a "good news is bad news" scenario. Whatever the case, the S&P 500 gained 0.9% and the NASDAQ 1.0%.

Copper prices rose 3.1%, the best performance since late November, after China reported copper imports rose to a record high last month. Crude oil rallied 0.9% to $102.24, while gold added 1.5% to $1631.50 and silver gained 3.6% to $29.82.

January 9, 2012

mhanna — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:36:29 +0000

Monday, January 9, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks drifted higher in another day of light trading. The S&P 500 gained 0.2% while the NASDAQ added 0.1%.

Consumer borrowing surged in November by $20.4 billion, the Federal Reserve said Monday. It was the third straight increase and the largest monthly gain in a decade. The category that measures credit card debt rose in November by $5.6 billion, the most since March 2008.

January 6, 2012

mhanna — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:20:11 +0000

Friday, January 6, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks returned a mixed bag Friday, following weak economic news in Europe and a better than expected U.S. employment report. The S&P 500 fell 0.3% while the NASDAQ gained 0.2%.

The unemployment rate fell last month to 8.5%, while U.S. employers added a net 200,000 jobs, the Labor Department said. However, the labor force participation rate continued to be far below what is normal at 64%. If citizens are not part of the labor force they are not considered unemployed.

January 5, 2012

mhanna — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:30:20 +0000

Thursday, January 5, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks reversed early day losses to finish mostly in the green (excluding the Dow Jones Industrial Average which was down fractionally) - the S&P 500 gained 0.3% while the NASDAQ added 0.8%.

ADP, which processes payroll data, said private employers added 325,000 jobs last month.
Weekly applications for unemployment benefits dropped to a seasonally adjusted 372,000 last week.
U.S. service firms, which employ roughly 90 percent of the work force, grew a little faster in December, according to the Institute for Supply Management.

January 3, 2012

mhanna — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:45:35 +0000

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

By:

Mark Hanna

U.S. stocks opened 2012 with substantial gains, as economic data - while modest in strength - heartened investors with very low expectations. Weakness in the U.S. dollar helped to drive commodities higher as well. The S&P 500 gained 1.6% and the NASDAQ 1.7%.

The Institute for Supply Management said its main index of activity rose to 53.9 in December from the previous month's 52.7, while the employment subindex spiked sharply to 55.1 from 51.8.