Thursday, November 15, 2007

Market Summary 11-15-07

Index Last Chg % Chg
DJ Industrials 13110.05 -120.96 -0.91%
Nasdaq Comp 2618.51 -25.81 -0.98%
S&P 500 1451.15 -19.43 -1.32%
DJ Wilshire 5K 14663.91 -187.38 -1.26%
Russell 2000 771.6 -10.87 -1.39%
Nasdaq 100 2024.03 -14.02 -0.69%

Issues NYSE Nasdaq Amex
Advancing 717 820 348
Declining 2,554 2,114 958
Unchanged 73 131 70
Total 3,344 3,065 1,376
New 52 Wk Hi 20 29 20
New 52 Wk Lo 299 205 98
Total Vol 1,470,673,580 2,334,376,489 56,684,868
Advancing Vol 279,186,830 595,439,207 9,864,200
Declining Vol 1,172,630,050 1,716,086,781 36,631,268
Unchanged Vol 18,856,700 22,850,501 10,189,400

Futures Last Chg
Crude Oil 93.47 -0.62
Natural Gas, Jan 8.055 -0.175
Gold, Dec. 788.7 -26

From Briefing.com:

Moving the Market Sector Watch
October core CPI up 0.2%, in-line with estimates: No sign of significant inflationary pressure here

Initial jobless claims rose to 339K (325K consensus), but still below recession levels

Crude has an unexpected build of 2.8 million barrels for week ended Nov. 9

Barclays announces $2.67 billion in write-downs

Credit worries cause late-day sell-off led by financial sector
Strong: education services; home entertainment software; biotech; office services & supplies

Weak: thrifts & mortgages; gold; diversified metals & mining; diversified banks; other diversified financial services; coal & consumable fuels; regional banks; oil & gas refineries; steel; construction & engineering



Similar to Wednesday, a late-day sell-off pushed the indices lower on Thursday. The decline was led by the financial sector as negative news regarding the credit market eventually overshadowed mostly in-line economic data.

There were further financial company write-downs making headlines this morning. London based Barclays(43.00, -0.88) announced a $2.7 billion write-off. In addition, The Wall Street Journal reported that UBS may need to take a $7 billion write-off. The paper also reported that GMAC's mortgage unit ResCap may need an equity injection.

Comments that compared the current housing situation to the great depression by the CEO of Wells Fargo (WFC 31.97, -1.28) at the Merrill conference put additional pressure on financials. Specifically, Reuters reported that he said "We have not seen a nationwide decline in housing like this since the Great Depression." He added, "I don't think we're in the ninth inning of unwinding this," indicating that the market has not reached a bottom.

The financial sector (-3.1%) plummeted late in the session as it eventually succumbed to fears of additional write-downs and worries that the credit crisis is not behind the market. It finished the day as the main laggard.

Defensive sectors were in favor on Thursday as uncertain investors looked for safety. The utilities (+0.2%), telecom (-0.5%), consumer staples (-0.2%) and healthcare (-0.3%) sectors outperformed on a relative basis. In addition, as equities sold off, the bond market rallied.

On the economic front, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data showed no sign of significant inflationary pressure and no uptrend. The October core CPI rose by 0.2% for the fifth straight month, which was in-line with economists' expectations. This leaves the year-over-year increase at a low 2.2%. Total CPI increased at 0.3%, which was also spot-on with expectations.

The weekly initial jobless claims increased to 339,000 from 319,000 the week before (325,000 consensus). Despite claims rising, they are still low at a historical standpoint, and certainly do not reflect the jobless claims typically associated with recessions.

The Empire State Index and the Philadelphia Fed, which are regional manufacturing surveys, both topped economists' expectations.

The Energy Information Administration reported that for the week ended Nov. 9 crude oil had a build of just over 2.8 million barrels. Analysts expected a draw of 750,000. The report caused oil prices to plummet 2%, but they eventually recovered to finish down only 0.7% to $93.47.

Commodities as whole declined today, as indicated by the 1.4% drop in the CRB Index. Specifically, precious metals had a 3.6% drop.

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