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    Dow commenced trading in the red, down 20 points; Nasdaq down 6 points. 

 

 

Its about time the Dow pulled back anyway. 

 

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks ended lower Friday, but higher on the week, after a weaker-than-expected economic growth report caused investors to break from a recent rally, with the technology sector hard hit by a Goldman Sachs note saying demand for mother boards "is falling off a cliff."

"We are seeing some skepticism here after the GDP number, with people wondering whether the rally can continue or if we are beginning to see the beginning of a correction that seems to be a long time coming," said Robert Pavlik, chief investment officer of Oaktree Asset Management.

But the prospect that continued weak economic data will prompt the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates kept losses in check.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 78 points at 12,084.

The S&P 500 dropped 12 points to 1,377 and the Nasdaq Composite gave up 27 points to 2,351.

For the week, the Dow rose 0.8%, the S&P 500 gained 0.7% and the Nasdaq ran up 0.4%.

Shares were pressured by news that gross domestic product grew at a 1.6% seasonally adjusted annual rate in the third quarter, down from 2.6% growth in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said.

Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had been expecting growth of 2%, on average.

"GDP was below expectations, but it may not have that much impact because the general expectation is for a small rebound in the fourth quarter," said Michael Metz, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer & Co.

"To me it just looks like a little profit-taking," Metz said, referring to the stock-price losses. On Thursday, the Dow closed at a record high, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended at their best levels in nearly six years.

There were losses among many technology stocks after Goldman Sachs analysts said it expects downside surprises for many companies in this sector after the strong earnings seen in the third quarter. "Mother board demand is falling of a cliff," Goldman said.

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Stocks fell Friday after the Commerce Department reported that the economy grew at the slowest pace in more than three years.
While investors expected the reading on gross domestic product would show growth to be slowing, the report stirred concern that a cooling in the housing market would spill over into other parts of the economy.



The GDP, the broadest measure of the economy, showed growth slowed to 1.6% in the third quarter; economists had been expecting a 2.1% expansion. The report identified the slowing housing market as a significant drag on growth, as money pumped into homebuilding fell by the largest amount since 1991.



Providing some optimism, the University of Michigan reported that its consumer sentiment index rose to 93.6 for October from a reading of 85.4 last month.

 

Another record for Dow last nite .... WoW!

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks closed with gains Thursday, after a fresh batch of earnings reports from household names Exxon Mobil Corp., Dow Chemical, Comcast Corp and others carried the S&P 500 Index to its highest close in about six years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average struck yet another record high close, for the fourth time this week.

Dow closed up 28.98 points at 12,163.66, erasing earlier losses of as much as 39 points. The average struck a fresh intraday record high of 12,167.02.

The Nasdaq Composite Index closed up 22.51 points at 2,379.10, its best close since February, 2001, while the S&P 500 Index rose 6.86 points to end at 1,389.08, its highest level in approximately six years.

Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, said Thursday's gains were "more of the same. We are in a market where all news is good news. If oil falls, the market goes up. If oil rises, the market also goes up."

"The economy is clearly slowing, but that doesn't matter now," Boockvar said. "We are just seeing continued momentum and continued earnings excitement."

"The market has gone up very far, very quickly. From a technical point of view, the S&P for example, is overbought in the near term so you're definitely going to see some investors take some profits at these levels," said Michael Malone, trading analyst at Cowen & Co.

"But with that said, one thing that we've seen recently is investors are coming in to buy any market weakness so I wouldn't expect it will be something that will last."

On the broader market for equities, advancers had an 11-to-5 advantage over decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, and led by more than 2-to-1 on the Nasdaq.

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The median price of a new home plunged in September by the largest amount in more than 35 years, even as the pace of sales rebounded for a second month.



The Commerce Department reported that the median price for a new home sold in September was $217,100, a drop of 9.7% from September 2005. It was the lowest median price for a new home since September 2004 and the sharpest year-over-year decline since December 1970. The weakness in new home prices was even sharper than a 2.5% fall in the price of existing homes last month, which had been the biggest drop on record.



The declines in prices served to underscore the severity of the correction in the once-booming housing market, which had seen sales of both new and existing homes soar to record levels for five consecutive years, propelled by the lowest mortgage rates in more than four decades.



The Commerce Department reported that orders for durable goods rose by 7.8% last month. The increase followed two consecutive months of declines and was the biggest gain since June 2000.



In a third report, the Labor Department said the number of newly laid off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits rose by 8,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 308,000. That increase was in line with expectations.

 

Another record close for Dow! A rate PAUSE last nite as expected .... Shiok for another STI record today!

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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks closed higher Wednesday, finding relief in the Federal Reserve's decision to leave interest rates unchanged and its assessment that the economy continues to expand at a moderate pace.

Investor optimism over the quarterly reports from Altria and Amazon offset disappointment with numbers from Boeing and General Motors, and helped send the Dow Jones Industrials Average to yet another all-time high.

The Dow industrials seesawed around the flatline after the Fed's decision, but settled on positive territory. The Dow closed up 6.80 points at 12,134, with 22 of 30 components contributing to gains, and tapped a record high of 12,148 in intraday trading.

Just before the Fed statement was released, the Dow stood at 12,101.

"It's just a restatement of previous policy but obviously it's encouraging to investors in that the decent pace of economic growth can continue with inflationary pressure contained," said Ken Tower, chief market strategist at CyberTrader.

The Nasdaq Composite Index finished up 11 points at 2,356 while the S&P 500 Index was 4 points better at 1,382.

Just prior to the Fed, the Nasdaq stood at 2,347 and the S&P 500 was at 1,378.

The Fed's policy-setting committee kept its target on overnight interest rates at 5.25%, and made few changes to its policy statement. See full story.

"Economic growth has slowed over the course of the year, partly reflecting a cooling of the housing market," the Fed's statement said. "Going forward, the economy seems likely to expand at a moderate pace."

"Nonetheless, the committee judges that some inflation risks remain," the statement said. Further rate hikes, if any, would depend on "the evolution of the outlook for both inflation and economic growth." See full text of Fed statement.

Tony Crescenzi, chief bond market strategist at Miller Tabak & Co., said one can infer from the Fed's statement that interest rates will remain on hold for the foreseeable future, as the Fed removed any reference to commodity prices as a source of inflation pressure.

"The removal suggests that the Fed had become more comfortable that its expectation for a moderation in inflation pressures will be realized," Crescenzi said.

On the broader market for equities, advancers outpaced decliners by 22 to 11 on the New York Stock Exchange, and by 16 to 13 on the Nasdaq.

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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Sales of U.S. existing homes fell for the sixth month in a row in September while median sales prices fell for the second straight month, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.

Inventories of unsold homes fell for the second straight month, a sign that the market is correcting, said Laurence Yun, a senior economist for the realtors group.

Sales fell 1.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.18 million in September, the lowest since January 2005. The decrease was slightly larger than the consensus expectation of a drop to 6.23 million, according to a survey conducted by MarketWatch.

"This is likely the trough in sales," said David Lereah, chief economist for the realtors group.

Sales are down 14.2% in the past year.

The median sales price fell 2.2% year-on-year to $220,000. Median prices have been down on a year-over-year basis for two months in a row for the first time in 16 years.

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very interesting, rare superally. that means must buy call warrant. but this momentum, isit real? or isit possible for rally one day, and suddenely 180 degress reversal the next? Divergence in dunno wat bokerage .... blah blah, seems to indicate late buying.....

 

quite hard to say.. either today or next week correction else it will be the rare super rally to 13050.

 

looks like fatigue for the bull. Oil prices set to increases. Fed will be "hawkish", Economy slowing. How can the bull rally still continue? Put warrants everybody! lol

 

what a fight by the bull to close at 12127! the bull seem unwavering to charge higher.

tomolo is fed report thus STI should not rallied wildly.

Good lucks guys on sti tomolo!

 

Dow form a double top at 2133. Sign of correction?

 

nevertheless, DOW will let us know the direction within this week but i believed DOW may have showed the signal for correction tonite. three time it hit the peak and trend downwards. Dun think DOW will close abv 12110 tonite.

tomolo STI rally do participate with caution. DOW look very heavy now ripe for a correction. if it dun correct soon, it may do a super rally till 13050 region.

 

i have exited most of my stocks on monday on fear of a correction on dow. however yesterday rally delayed that correction to a later date. thus i have a funny feeling, half wants dow to correct, another half dun. what i feel now is kinda strange. lolz

 

Dow fell slightly on open... now down by 6 points. Hopefully, it won't be that bad tonight.

 

U.S. stock futures edged lower on Tuesday as investors grew cautious as a Federal Reserve interest-rate decision neared and after a disappointing outlook from one of the world's larger microchip makers, Texas Instruments.

 

Blue chips resumed a three-month rally Monday after stalling Friday; the Dow had already risen 233 points in October before Monday's trading. The average also reached a new trading high Monday of 12,125.16.