Daily Investment Interpretations

January 5, 2010

2010-1-5: The markets more or less treaded water today. The NASDAQ Composite ended the day up 0.29 points, (0.01%) to close at 2,308.71, the Dow gave back 11.94 points (-0.11%) to close at 10,572.02, and the S&P 500 annexed 3.53 points (`0.31%) to 1,136.52. Oil climbed to $81.90 a barrel. Gold gained $0 to $1,119. The VIX fell 0.69 to 19.35.
    This week's issue of BusinessWeek has a lead article entitled, "In Wall Street's Pocket", that details the way Wall Street firms have dodged any meaningful reforms, and have set the stage for the next credit implosion. 
    Here are several articles which may warrant attention: Irwin Kellner: Time the demise of ultralow rates, Mark Hulbert on Inflation versus deflation, Todd Harrison on Ten themes for 2010, Foreign stocks for 2010?, and Senators debate bank reform in private.