Daily Investment Interpretations

December 4, 2009

2009-12-4: After reaching new intra-day highs the indices plunged, then worked their ways up to modest advances. The NASDAQ Composite gained`21.21 points, (0.98%) to end at 2,194.35, the Dow dropped 11.75 points (0.22%) to close at 10,388.90, and the S&P 500 added6.06 points (0.55%) to 1,105.98. Oil closed at $75.47 a barrel, while gold dove $49 to close at $1,169. The VIX dropped 1.21 to 21.25.  
    Todays' good news that raised the markets higher was, first, that the unemployment rate fell from 10.2% to 10.0%, with nonfarm payrolls falling by only 11,000... the best since December, 2007... and second, that U.S. Oct. factory orders up 0.6% vs flat expected. These unexpectedly good economic reports led to a strong rise in the dollar, with a corresponding drop in commodity prices: Gold plunges, dollar leaps, Gold tumbles 4% as dollar surges on jobs data. This good news also led to Expectations of 2010 Fed rate hike on rise. 
    Mark Hulbert writes: Stock funds suffer more withdrawals. Also, Manager buys gold, uranium stocks.
    Monday will mark the end of the first week of December. Recently, the markets have been tracing out an unusually long, flat plateau: Investors grow more cautious as year-end approaches. This excellent article observes that investors are still waiting for a pickup in corporate revenue growth. Earnings growth so far has been driven by cost cutting.