U.S. Markets - Wednesday 28 July, 2010 AMC

Originally Posted Yesterday

A slight correction or consolidation on Tuesday would be exactly what the Doctor ordered. But knowing America, we're likely to overcook the damn thing again. Watch out for support levels instead of highs - I suspect the slew of data today ahead of tomorrow's ADP employment numbers may see the market pricing-in some moves in anticipation of Friday's Non-Farm Payrolls. And keep an eye out for the 10am gyrations from Factory Orders and Pending Home Sales as well as the mid-day reactions as the car-makers release their sales numbers. If they are anything like last month, this could be a catalyst for another overcooked rally.

Direction for Tuesday 03 August, 2010; ∆ Up

That overcooked rally never came as the Japanese car-makers came in under expectations. Nevertheless a rather accurate call for the day in spite of getting the close wrong.

BRIEFING.COM - Tuesday 03 August, 2010 @ 16:50 ET AMC
Daily Sector Wrap: Muddled Trade Leads to Modest Loss

Tuesday's trade ended with modest losses for stocks. The slide came amid a small, but rather underwhelming dose of data.

Traders were largely inclined to take profits after stocks hit their best levels in more than one month during the prior session. In fact, a pronounced spell of selling dropped stocks for a loss of almost 1% in the first hour of trade as participants reacted to news that pending home sales for June fell 2.6% month-over-month. Though that was less severe than the 5.0% decrease that had been expected, on average, by a sample of economists polled by Briefing.com, many on Wall Street had anticipated an increase.

As for other data, factory orders for June fell a worse-than-expected 1.2%, while orders for May were revised lower to reflect a 1.8% decline.

Personal income, spending, and core personal consumption were flat in June. While income was not expected to change, a slight increase in spending had been anticipated.

Technical support near the 1117 line helped the S&P 500 rebound from its morning slide, but resistance at the neutral line kept it from turning positive. Once stocks were backed down again, they spent the rest of the session chopping along in muddled trade.

Materials stocks were in the worst shape this session. The sector shed 1.7% after Dow Chemical (DOW 25.50, -2.83) fell short of the consensus earnings estimate.

Financials fell 1.1%. The sector was dragged down by life and health insurers (-2.6%) after Principal Financial (PFG 24.80, -1.28) missed what Wall Street had projected for earnings. MasterCard (MA 200.91, -1.61) also slipped, even though it reported an upside earnings surprise. Mash & McLennan (MMC 23.93, +0.05) also posted a better-than-expected bottom line, but it managed to muster a slight gain.

Procter & Gamble (PG 59.94, -2.12) was the worst performer in the Dow this session. The consumer staples giant disappointed with an earnings miss.

In contrast, fellow Dow component Pfizer (PFE 16.25, +0.77) was a top performing blue chip after it exceeded earnings expectations for the latest quarter. Among blue chips, its shares were also the most actively traded by volume this session.

Biotech play and takeover target Genzyme (GENZ 70.20, -0.16) slipped in the face of reports that Sanofi-Aventis (SNY 30.17, +0.34) believes the company will not accept a buyout offer of less than $80 per share.

Collective strength among health care stocks helped the sector climb 0.8%.

Baker Hughes (BHI 43.66, -6.57) got a beat down after it reported earnings that were short of expectations. Still, the overall energy sector advanced 0.2%, thanks to oil's climb. Oil prices closed pit trade at $82.55 per barrel with a 1.5% gain after they set a new three-month high of $82.64 per barrel.

Automakers were out with their latest monthly sales figures. Ford Motor (F 12.91, -0.25) announced that sales for July increased 5% year-over-year. Honda Motor (HMC 32.73, -0.20) had a near 6% year-over-year decline in American sales, while Toyota Motor (TM 72.77, +0.73) reported a near 7% year-over-year decline in July sales.

In currency trade, the dollar dropped another 0.4% to breach its 200-day moving average and set a new three-month low. Most of its weakness was owed to the euro's 0.4% advance to its own three-month high.

Sector Leaders/Laggards for Tuesday 03 August, 2010 - 17:13 ET AMCLeading Sectors: Health Care (+0.8%), Energy (+0.2%).Leading Industries/ETFs : gold miners/junior gold miners- GDXJ +2.8%, GDX +0.6%, heating oil- UHN +1.4%, bonds & fixed income- BWX +1.7%, TLH +0.5%, TIP +0.50%, crude/WTI oil- USO +1.2%, OIL +1.3%, pharma HLDRS- PPH +1.15%, VIX vol index- VXX +1.4%, VXZ +0.75%, healthcare- IYH +1.0%, IHF +1.0%, XLV +0.75%, commods. index- GSG +0.8%, Yen currency shares- FXY +0.8%.
Lagging Sectors: Telecom (-0.1%), Utilities (-0.3%), Tech (-0.4%), Industrials (-0.5%), Consumer Staples (-0.7%), Financials (-1.1%), Consumer Discretionary (-1.3%), Materials (-1.7%)Lagging Industries/ETFs : US retailers- XRT -3.0%, RTH -1.3%, homebuilders/home construction- XHB -2.6%, ITB -2.2%, insurers- KIE -2.2%, basic materials- XLB -1.8%, IYM -1.5%, base metals- DBB -1.7%, global shippers- SEA -1.7%, SPDRS cons. discretionary- XLY -1.5%, oil HLDRS- OIH -1.6%, airlines- FAA -1.7%, semis- SMH -1.4%, XSD -1.1%, ag/chem complex- MOO -1.4%, iShares transportation- IYT -1.4%.
Other Market Moving Factors: 
• Dollar continues to weaken
• Personal income and spending numbers come in flat -- close to what had been expected
• Monthly factory orders figures and pending home sales numbers disappoint
• Overall earnings results remain solid, but a few widely-held names come in mixed

BRIEFING.COM - Tuesday 03 August, 2010 @ 18:29 ET AMC
After-Hours Report: PCLN +15.8%, STEC +4.7%, ARNA +4.0% Following Earnings

After the close, APC, CBS, CHK, ERTS, HTZ, OPEN, PCLN, SAM, WFMI are the only notable names that reported after the close.

Futures are higher after hours with S&P 500 futures 1.01 points above fair value of 1117.29 and Nasdaq 100 futures 3.6 points above fair value of 1890.65.

Eight out of the ten sectors were in negative territory, led by materials (-1.7%), Consumer Discretionary (-1.3%) and financials (-1.1%), while health care (+0.8%) and energy (+0.2%) were in positive territory.

Tomorrow morning, one economic report is scheduled to be released before the open including: ADP Employment Change (Consensus 25K).

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings: BKS +25.7%, PCLN +15.8%, ERTS +4.9%, STEC +4.2%, ARNA +4.0%, DNDN +3.5%, BEXP +3.5%, CBS +3.3%, APC +1.6%.
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings: LEAP -4.8%, TIE -4.1%, HTZ -2.3%.
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news:
• MOT +2.4% (Motorola, VZ teaming up for 'TV Tablet' -- CNBC)
• MDCO +1.2% (The Medicines Co confirms favorable decision in PTO suit).

BRIEFING.COM - Tuesday 03 August, 2010
June Pending Home Sales M/M -2.6% vs -5.0%
No Commentary

June Factory Orders -1.2% vs -0.5% : Factory Orders Fall for Second Consecutive Month
Total factory orders fell 1.2% in June after declining 1.8% in May. The Briefing.com consensus called for orders to decline 0.5%. The negative reading should not have been a complete surprise. The ISM numbers have been showing a gradual weakening in orders for the past few months. Further, the advance durable goods report revealed a 1.0% decline in durable orders in June. In order for the consensus estimate to be accurate, nondurable goods orders would have had to increase by 0.1%. That was a realistic estimate if orders had bounced after the sudden 2.7% decline in May. Unfortunately, the demand details suggested a further contraction and nondurables fell 1.3% in June. Business investment remained positive, but it was revised down from the advance release. Orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft were revised down from 0.6% to 0.2%. We expect the pace of growth to hold at a low level for the next couple of months as the recovery slows.

Here are the results of Auto Sales for July:

Ford Motor announced July sales up 5% YoY
Chrysler Group reported U.S. July sales increased 5% to 93,313 units
Honda reports July sales of 112,437 down 5.6% YoY
BMW Group U.S. reports July 2010 sales of 23,390 vehicles up 10.1% YoY
Toyota Motor reports July sales of 169,224 units down 6.8% YoY
Nissan Motor North America sales increase 14.6% in July
Volkswagen AG announced July sales increased 16% YoY

And for those interested in real estates, here's the run down of the top yielding countries in the world;

1. China +68.0% (Annual change)
2. Hong Kong +30.6%
3. Singapore +24.3%
4. Australia +20.0%
5. Israel +15.9%
6. South Africa +11.8%
7. Canada +11.6%
8. Finland +11.3%
9. Norway +10.8%
10. Sweden +10.7%
11. United Kingdom 8.8%
.
13. India +8.4%
.
15. New Zealand +6.8%
.
20. Malaysia +3.3%

What do u see and smell :) ?

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TECHNICAL UPDATE - TUESDAY 03 AUGUST, 2010 - AMC

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ($INDU: CBOT)
10,636.380 -38.00 (-0.36%) 
Volume: 164,882,422 from 167,642,201 the previous day (∇ -1.64%)
Range: 10,600.96 – 10,676.95 (75.99 points)

Looks like that 10,600 is going to be a good support for now. A follow through today to confirm the strength above 10,600 will be a victory for the bulls and will make any downside very difficult thereafter.
NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX ($COMPQ.IDX: NASDAQ)
2,283.52 -11.84 (-0.52%)
Volume: 517,073,327 from 526,005,540 (∇ -1.70%)
Range: 2,272.33 – 2,295.03

S&P 500 INDEX (SPX: CBOE)
1,120.46 -5.40 (-0.48%) 
Volume: 3,312,419,200 from 3,492,172,000 (∇ -5.15%)
Range: 1,116.76 – 1,125.44

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Market Internals for Tuesday 03 August, 2010 - 18:20 ET AMC

NYSE : 
Lower than avg volume @ 1000 vs closing avg of 1401
Decliners outpacing Advancers (adv/dec): 1178/1826
New highs outpacing new lows (hi/lo): 242/8

NASDAQ : 
Lower than avg volume @ 1994 vs 2222
Decliners outpacing Advancers (adv/dec): 933/1694
New highs outpacing new lows (hi/lo): 62/39

Posted Yesterday 

Advancers outpaced Decliners by an average 3.68 to 1 on lower average volumes (-17.49%) on Monday (avg +1.997%).

Quite an impressive up-day but as mentioned previously, let's not read too deeply into this as volumes were considerably lower especially being a Monday. Meanwhile, the VIX dropped to its lowest close (22.01) in exactly 3 months.

Quite an impressive up-day but as mentioned previously, let's not read too deeply into this as volumes were considerably lower especially being a Monday. Meanwhile, the VIX dropped to its lowest close (22.01) in exactly 3 months.

Decliners outpaced Advancers by an average 1.67 to 1 on lower average volumes (-17.36%) on Tuesday (avg -0.45%).

A rather clear cut down day with limited profit taking and not a lot of bearish commitment to deem it a sell-off. Volumes were weak considering all this talk about the market's weakness and threats about a capitulation - the market had ample opportunity to come down today but the bears just don't want to commit anything. It was clearly a profit-taking session and respite from the bull charge.

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BONDS, COMMODITIES & CURRENCIES from Briefing.com
Oil Sets Fresh Multimonth High 

The commodities pits saw mixed action this session. That left the CRB Commodity Index to lose less than 0.1% of its value.

Oil traded with strength for the entire session. The commodity climbed to a new three-month high of $82.64 per barrel before it settled at $82.55 per barrel with a 1.5% gain. Natural gas initially attempted to rebound from its 4% loss in the prior session, but it inevitably succumbed to further selling to finish with a 1.0% loss at $4.65 per MMBtu. RBOB gasoline gained 2.54 cents to close at $2.1939 and heating oil ended higher by 4.52 centrs to $2.199

Gold prices garnered modest support, such that the yellow metal closed with a tepid 0.2% gain at $1187.50 per ounce. Meanwhile, silver settled flat at $18.42 per ounce. Sept copper shed 3.1 cents to end at $3.3585.

December corn closed 1.5 cents lower at $4.03 per bushel, November soybeans closed higher by 6.25 cents at $10.1625 per bushel, Sept wheatclosed 11.25 cents lower at $6.82 per bushel, Aug ethanol closed $0.018 higher at $1.738, October world sugar futures closed 0.81 cents higher to 18.59 cents.

Treasuries were able to snap back some today as trade shook off yesterday's sale with falling stocks and data ultimately helping things along but looming jobs and supply helped keep the session tame. The curve was run flatter for the majority of the day with the mid-curve leading the charge higher and the wings dragging. The market will be hard pressed to get much more on the upside with things being hemmed in with data and the latest announcement from Treasury on 3-10-and-30-yrs to go off next week due. There will be ongoing co-dependency with machinations in stocks, but that relationship has cooled some and bonds will be more data/payrolls focused. While officials have laid the groundwork for the market to anticipate lagging job growth, but they have also put it out there that they are have tools and aren't afraid to use them if things go off the rails further.

The curve was flattened from near 241 to head out at 237 on the 2-10-yr yield spread while the 10-30-yr long end continued to tag new steeps. Currency trade died out early too with the dollar was stalled out near 80.60 on the index while the euro hugged 1.3230 and the yen 85.80 with 84.80 beckoning.

The day ahead has the ADP payrolls guess (8:15) and ISM (10) while the amounts of next week's auctions will be announced (11) and $25 bln 8-wk cash management bills offered.

Treasury Yields AMC on 03 August:
• 2 Year Note 0.53% -0.03 
• 5 Year Note 1.55% -0.09 
• 10 Year Note 2.94% -0.05 
• 30 Year Bond 4.04% -0.02 
2/30 Spread : 351bps (+1) ... 2/10 Spread : 241bps (-2)

Commodities AMC on 03 August:
Light Crude (NYM) September 10 ($US per bbl.) : 82.55 +1.21 (1.49%) 
Gold (CMX ) August 10 ($US per Troy oz.) : 1,185.20 +1.80 (+0.15%) 

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Earnings Highlights for Wednesday 04 August, 2010
BMO: ABMD, AGU, AYE, ANR, ASCA, AOL, ARIA, CAM, CTL, DVN, EP, EPC, FTR, GRMN, HI, ICE, RL, PHM, PWR, Q, RVSN, RRD, SIRI, SKYW, SE, TWX, and TRW.
AMC: LL, PCG, UMC, ALL, CELL, CECO, CLWR, CNW, DIVX, GDP, SOLR, HNSN, IPI, MELI, MUR, PRU, PFE, SINA, RIG, and WCAA.

Events for Wednesday 04 August, 2010
08:15 am ADP Employment Change
10:00 am ISM Services
10:30 am Crude Inventories

Conferences and Shareholder/Analyst Meetings of Interest
for Wednesday 04 August, 2010
- AXP Semi-Annual Financial Community Meeting

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SUMMARY
The ADP report BMO should be the catalyst for the day seeing that there are no major names on earnings call before the open. If anything, I am expecting modest gains on a day which I suspect will be flat and rangy.

Direction for Wednesday 04 August, 2010; ∆ Up 

U.S. Markets - Monday 02 August, 2010 AMC

Posted Yesterday:



I am going to break tradition today seeing that there is no data due before the open and based on Asia's strength in early trading today. Also on the continuing saga of great earnings and that the bears failed to take the market down successfully last month, there is little to suggest that America is going down this week, let alone today. We shall see but a rally week ahead is suspected

Direction for Monday 02 August, 2010; ∆ Up

The bulls continue to overpower the bears. Boiling or overcooked ? Can’t the traders keep things under controls! Do we always have to overdo?




BRIEFING.COM - Monday 02 August, 2010 @ 18:04 ET AMC


Daily Sector Wrap: Dow Sees Best Close Since May

Positive data and bank earnings out of Europe set the tone for a strong buying effort, sending the major U.S. indices to gains between 1.8% and 2.2%.

Confidence in Europe's economy and financial system was bolstered by solid PMI readings throughout the continent and strong income growth by BNP Paribas and HSBC (HBC 53.76, +2.68). The continent's major bourses climbed between 2% and 3% in response.

In other overseas action, China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng each rallied more than 1% overnight. In contrast to Europe's bourses, their gains came amid a weaker-than-expected PMI reading. The difference in response was largely because it is widely accepted that China's economy remains robust and will help lead a global recovery, but there are concerns that such growth could lead to a tighter policy intended to curb inflation risk.

The positive tone among global traders helped domestic averages gap up at the open. Early action was both strong and broad.

The mood improved further still after the ISM Manufacturing Index for July came in at 55.5. That may have marked a pullback from the 56.2 of June, but it exceeded the 54.2 that had been widely expected.

Additionally, construction spending for June increased a surprise 0.1% after a 1.0% decline in the prior month. A 0.8% decline had been widely expected for June.

Energy stocks made out with the best gains. The sector spiked 3.6% in its best single-session percentage advance in almost two months (compare with a 3.2% gain on 7/7). Even embattled energy giant BP (BP 39.49, +1.02) fought its way back toward two-month highs after it announced that it will make efforts this week to permanently cap its leaking oil well in the Gulf.

Not only did the energy sector benefit from broader market support, but a 3.0% spike in oil prices to a six-month closing high of $81.34 per barrel also fueled the space. In contrast, natural gas gave up 4.1% to close pit trade at $4.72 per MMBtu after it outperformed late last week.

The dollar dropped 0.8% to a new three-month low, but it didn't quite crack its 200-day moving average. Most of the slide was owed to a 0.9% rise in the euro to a near three-month high. A 1.3% spike by the British pound to a near six-month high also detracted from the buck.

There was a slowdown in earnings announcements this morning, but things pick back up this evening. Loews Corp (L 37.58, +0.43) and Humana (HUM 48.67, +1.65) were the more notable names in the handful of reports that were made this morning. Both beat expectations.

In non-earnings related news, AT&T (T 26.59, +0.65) and Verizon (VZ 29.55, +0.50) are planning a phone payment system. That put pressure on payment processors Visa (V 72.22, -1.13) and MasterCard (MA 202.25, -7.79), which had the ignominious distinction of being among the few plays that failed to follow the broader market to a heady gain.

Sector Leaders/Laggards for Monday 02 August, 2010 - 18:19 ET AMC


Leading Sectors: Financials (+2.57%), Tech (+2.04%), Health Care (+1.95%), Consumer Staples (+1.17%), Consumer Discretionary (+2.10%), Industrials (+1.98%), Energy (+3.56%), Telecom (+2.01%), Materials (+2.65%), Utilities (+1.99%).

Leading Industries/ETFs : iShares Spain- EWP +4.7%, heating oil- UHN +4.9%, oil HLDRS & energy components- OIH +4.2%, XLE +3.5%, IEO +3.3%, iShares Sweden- EWD +4.6%, steel- SLX +4.1%, iShares Israel- EIS +4.6%, coal- KOL +4.4%, Russia- RSX +4.2%, iShares France- EWQ +4.1%.

Lagging Sectors: None.

Lagging Industries/ETFs : VIX vol index- VXX -5.9%, VXZ -3.4%, natural gas- UNG -4.0%, US bonds & fixed income- TLT -1.7%, TLH -1.0%, IEF -0.6%.

Other Market Moving Factors:

• Dollar drops as euro climbs

• ISM Index for July exceeds expectations

• Construction spending for June shows surprise increase

• Trading volume remains light

BRIEFING.COM - Monday 02 August, 2010 @ 18:33 ET AMC

After-Hours Report: PFG -4.1% Following Earnings Results

Positive data and bank earnings out of Europe set the tone for a strong buying effort, sending the major U.S. indices to gains between 1.8% and 2.2%. After the close, PFG and SUMR are the only notable names that reported after the close.

Futures are lower after hours with S&P 500 futures 1.41 points below fair value of 1122.71 and Nasdaq 100 futures 3.88 points below fair value of 1897.88.

Sectors in positive territory include Financials (+2.57%), Tech (+2.04%), Health Care (+1.95%), Consumer Staples (+1.17%), Consumer Discretionary (+2.10%), Industrials (+1.98%), Energy (+3.56%), Telecom (+2.01%), Materials (+2.65%), Utilities (+1.99%).

Tomorrow morning, three economic reports are scheduled to be released before the open including: Personal Income (Consensus +0.1%), 2) Personal Spending (Consensus 0.0%) and 3) PCE Prices - Core (Consensus 0.1%).

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings: SNTS +12.0%, ESLR +7.5%, HOLX +5.6%, SVR +3.3%.


Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings: SYKE -30.8%, PWAV -7.6%, BGC -4.7%, PFG -4.0%, SBAC -2.6%.

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news:

• GENZ +1.9% (Genzyme not likely to accept a deal under $80/share); SNY -2.3%.



BRIEFING.COM - Monday 02 August, 2010 @ 10:15 ET


ISM Reports Slower Manufacturing Activities

As expected, manufacturing activities slowed in July as the ISM index declined from 56.2 to 55.5. However, the industry performed better than anticipated as the Briefing.com consensus expected the index to decline to 54.2. While many of the components of the ISM decelerated during the month, there was nothing in the data that would suggest a change in our view on the sector. Manufacturing output will continue to expand for at least another couple of quarters regardless of changes in demand expectations. The new orders and backlog indexes both slipped, but at 53.5 and 54.5, respectively, both indexes remain firmly entrenched in an expansion phase. The production index dipped below 60 for the first time since February, but at 57.0 it is on par with typical expansionary growth following a recession. The only real disappointing data point was a slight increase in the prices paid index from 57.0 to 57.5. Normally, this would signal a reduction in potential profits but the move was fairly benign and the index remains over 10 points below the six-month average.

BRIEFING.COM - Monday 02 August, 2010 @ 10:28 ET


Construction Reverses Trend and Posts Gains in June

Total construction spending increased 0.1% in June, well above the Briefing.com consensus that called for a -0.8% decline. While the growth in the headline number may look shocking at first glance, a review of last week's second quarter GDP data suggests that construction expenditures could have potentially risen 0.8% if there were no revisions to data for April and May. Therefore, the consensus was banking on considerable downward revisions to the data in order for the expenditure numbers to meet expectations. This occurred partially as May's construction numbers were revised down from -0.2% to -1.0%, but not nearly enough to match the thought embedded in the consensus estimate. All of the data in this release has already been incorporated in the GDP numbers so there was not any new information to be gleaned from the report. Total private construction declined 0.6% as residential and nonresidential construction fell 0.8% and 0.5% respectively. Total public construction increased 1.5% due to 25.2% growth in power construction.

Ben Bernanke said on Monday 2 August that the economy is still expanding albeit at a moderate pace.The data that has been suggesting that the economy is not getting worse but at the same time, is not growing at a tremendous pace. It seems pretty obvious that the economy is at some sort of a bottom and has been since May this year ... that's according to all those lagging data we've been getting and the belated upgraded numbers after a month. As long as the economy stays at this pace or begins to improve, I am not going to be bearish for long lengths of time.

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TECHNICAL UPDATE - MONDAY 02 AUGUST, 2010 - AMC


DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ($INDU: CBOT)

10,674.38 +208.44 (+1.99%)

Volume: 167,642,201 from 208,159,136 the previous day (∇ -19.46%)

Range: 10,468.59 – 10,692.20 (223.61 points)

Posted Yesterday


That's three times in two days that the market rallied back from massive dips. Its going to be a pain in the butt to get DOW above 10,500 again but given what I've seen over the last few days, I reckon we'll pull it off again ... probably in a big way.

"Probably in a big way ..." how prophetic. Not only did DOW break above that 10,500, it sliced its way through 10,600 at 10pm like a hot knife through butter. But let's not get ahead of ourselves yet. Monday’s typically low volumes probably contributed to the ease of which the benchmarks made new highs on Monday. The next level of interest on the DOW will be the 11 year old median of 10,750 and above that, the March and May Resistance at 10,900 and the April 2010 high of 11,200.


NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX ($COMPQ.IDX: NASDAQ)


2,295.36 +40.66 (+1.80%)

Volume: 526,005,540 from 625,089,228 (∇ -15.85%)

Range: 2,274.27 – 2,299.24

S&P 500 INDEX (SPX: CBOE)

1,125.86 +24.26 (+2.20%)

Volume: 3,492,172,000 from 3,564,997,600 (∇ -2.04%)

Range: 1,107.53 – 1,127.30
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Market Internals for Monday 02 August, 2010 - 18:19 ET AMC

NYSE :

Lower than avg volume @ 1036 vs closing avg of 1408

Advancers outpacing Decliners (adv/dec): 2610/462 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 2610/462 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

New highs outpacing new lows (hi/lo): 337/7

NASDAQ :

Lower than avg volume @ 1969 vs 2234

Advancers outpacing Decliners (adv/dec): 1903/764

New highs outpacing new lows (hi/lo): 98/33

Advancers outpaced Decliners by an average 3.68 to 1 on lower average volumes (-17.49%) on Monday (avg +1.997%).

Quite an impressive up-day but as mentioned previously, let's not read too deeply into this as volumes were considerably lower especially being a Monday. Meanwhile, the VIX dropped to its lowest close (22.01) in exactly 3 months.

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BONDS, COMMODITIES & CURRENCIES from Briefing.com

Crude surges; silver trades to 1 month high

The CRB Commodity Index finished well higher today, lead by a 2.3% gain in the industrials. Aluminum futures gain 4% on the day to close at $2163.25 per ton.

The rally in global equity indices helped Sept crude oil close higher by 3.1% to $81.34 per barrel. Crude oil traded to its best levels since May 5 and finished just shy of those highs. Sept natural gas did not partake in today's rally as it shed 4.1% to close at $4.721 per MMBtu. It finished near its session lows at $4.681. RBOB gasoline rallied for 4.91 cents to close at $2.1715 and heaing oil gained 6.88 cents to finish at $2.1569.

Dec gold finished higher by 0.1% to $1185.40 per ounce. Sept silver rallied for % to finish at $18.419. It traded to its best levels in over a month and traded through the top of its recent. Sept copper rallied for 7.8 cents to end at $3.3895.

December corn closed 2.25 cents lower at $4.045 per bushel, November soybeans closed higher by 5 cents at $10.10 per bushel, Sept wheat closed 31.75 cents higher at $6.9325 per bushel, Aug ethanol closed $0.015 higher at $1.681, October world sugar futures closed 0.17 cents higher to 19.40 cents.

The bond market was under the gun all session with the long end leading lower while the shorter end stayed hemmed in, leaving the curve steeper. Trade was working on garbage size most of the day and there was very little going on beyond the data. Bernanke and Geithner were both pretty much as expected, dull, a nonevent ahead of the Aug 10 FOMC and Fri's payrolls data. The 10-yr was able to put on the brakes just through 2.96%, but if stocks keep this up they may have a go at the 2.98% point, as the long end gave back good chunk of Fri's gains.

The curve was swung steeper after spending much of the afternoon ranging with the 2-10-yr yield spread 239.9, back to Fri levels after trading to 235.5. The dollar was crushed as the euro went chasing for 1.32, unable to take it out and leaving trade stranded with the index at the worst since Apr ticking around 80.80. The yen was stuck near 86.50 per buck and 114 per euro in what was also a very slow afternoon.

The day ahead has the PCE, personal income and spending (8:30), pending home sales and factory orders (10) with vehicle sales through the day.

Treasury Yields AMC on 02 August:

• 2 Year Note 0.56% +0.01

• 5 Year Note 1.64% +0.04

• 10 Year Note 2.99% +0.05

• 30 Year Bond 4.06% +0.08

2/30 Spread : 350bps (+7) ... 2/10 Spread : 243bps (+4)

Commodities AMC on 02 August:

Light Crude (NYM) September 10 ($US per bbl.) : 81.34 +2.39 (3.03%)

Gold (CMX ) August 10 ($US per Troy oz.) : 1,183.40 +1.70 (+0.14%)

___________________________________________

Earnings Highlights for Tuesday 03 August, 2010

BMO: ACOR, ALY, ADM, ARM, AAWW, BBG, BYD, CVLT, DF, DTF, DOW, DHI, EMR, ETR, EVR, FE, FDP, GET, GWR, HW, HERO, LEA, MMP, MRO, MMC, MA, MGM, TAP, NICE, NYX, OMX, PH, HK, PDE.

AMC: BPI, CTSH, PG, SOLF, WLK, ACAS, APC, AVB, SAM, FRPT, HTZ, LEAP, PCLN, NVTL, WBMD, WFMI, and WMS.

Events for Tuesday 03 August, 2010

08:30 am Personal Income

08:30 am Personal Spending

08:30 am PCE Prices - Core

10:00 am Factory Orders

10:00 am Pending Home Sales

14:00 pm Auto Sales

14:00 pm Truck Sales

Conferences and Shareholder/Analyst Meetings of Interest

for Tuesday 03 August, 2010

- NATI Investor Conference

- TSPT, CELG, ABT, HUM at Wedbush Morgan Securities Life Sciences Best Ideas MAC: Management Access Conference

__________________________________________

SUMMARY

A slight correction or consolidation on Tuesday would be exactly what the Doctor ordered. But knowing America, we're likely to overcook the damn thing again.

Watch out for support levels instead of highs - I suspect the slew of data today ahead of tomorrow's ADP employment numbers may see the market pricing-in some moves in anticipation of Friday's Non-Farm Payrolls. And keep an eye out for the 10am gyrations from Factory Orders and Pending Home Sales as well as the mid-day reactions as the car-makers release their sales numbers. If they are anything like last month, this could be a catalyst for another overcooked rally.

Direction for Tuesday 03 August, 2010; ∆ Up

U.S. Markets Recollection - Monday 26 July to Friday 30 July, 2010 AMC

It was a touch and go affair for most of the week , finishing barely up. A major victory for the bulls in a week that the bears had abundance of opportunity to overpower the bulls but the bulls just resist it.

Take a good look at the internals and the entire report and it is obvious that Friday was an up day more than a down day with more sectors and industries posting gains, advances beating declines. The indices may not reflect it but the broader market surely did.

BRIEFING.COM - Friday 30 July, @ 16:50 ET AMC
Daily Sector Wrap: Session Settles Flat, but Month Sees Strong Gain 

Disappointing GDP data had stocks down more than 1% in the early going, but for the second straight session they fought their way higher only to struggle near the neutral line. Despite such resistance, the stock market booked its best monthly performance in one year. 

The U.S. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 2.4% in the second quarter, but that was a bit below the 2.5% that had been widely expected and down from the first quarter's upwardly revised 3.7% growth rate. Additionally, personal consumption for the second quarter increased 1.6% after a 1.9% increase in the first quarter. 

The data provided fodder for doubts about the pace of the economic recovery, so stocks responded by retreating to a loss of more than 1% shortly after the open. Some reassurance was provided by a better-than-expected Chicago PMI figure, which came in at 62.3, and the final July Consumer Sentiment Survey, which was stronger-than-expected at 67.8. 

Stocks gradually erased their losses, but resistance kept a cap on the move and restricted the stock market to a flat finish. Despite the anticlimactic close, the S&P 500 concluded July with a 6.9% gain,its best monthly performance since a 7.3% gain in July 2009. 

Earnings were relegated to secondary status once again. Not even reports from Dow components Chevron (CVX 76.21, +0.19) and Merck (MRK 34.46, -0.60) made any real ripple in the broader market ,both posted upside earnings surprises for the latest quarter. 

In currency trade, the euro pulled back from the two-month high that it set in the prior session. It finished the session 0.3% lower, but still booked a 6.5% gain for July. Not only was that the currency's first monthly advance in eight months, but it was the best monthly performance since May 2009. The euro is still down 9.0% year-to-date, though. 

Meanwhile, the Japanese yen climbed 0.4% to hit a fresh eight-month high. The yen is up 7.6% for the year. 

Treasuries had a strong session. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Note moved back to 2.90% in response. 

Commodities put in another strong session. In turn, the CRB Commodity Index advanced 1.5% for the second straight session. More impressive, though, is that the CRB advanced 6.1% in July. That made for its best monthly performance since May 2009.

Sector Leaders/Laggards for Friday 30 July, 2010 - 16:54 ET AMC
Leading Sectors: Consumer Discretionary (+0.7%), Materials (+0.5%), Health Care (+0.3%), Industrials (+0.2%), Consumer Staples (+0.2%)
Leading Industries/ETFs : grain complex- JJG +3.5%, DBA +1.8%, silver- SLV +2.00%, biotechnology- IBB +1.7%, XBI +1.3%, BBH +0.7%, gold miners & junior gold miners- GDX +1.1%, GDXJ +%, commods. index- DJP +1.7%, DBA +1.8%, GSG +1.1%, natural gas- UNG +1.9%, iShares Malaysia- EWM +1.3%, ag/chem complex- MOO +1.6%, US bonds & fixed income- TLT +1.6%.

Unchanged Sectors: Financials (unch.)

Lagging Sectors: Telecom (-0.1%), Energy (-0.3%), Tech (-0.5%), Utilities (-0.6%)
Lagging Industries/ETFs : solar power- TAN -3.3%, wind energy- FAN -1.5%, iShares Spain- EWP -1.5%, VIX vol index- VXX -1.1%

Other Market Moving Factors: 
• Second Quarter U.S. GDP increases less than expected after sharp upward revision to first quarter figure 
• Overseas markets slide 
• Euro slips, but yen rises to new multi-month high 
• Earnings reports remain upbeat, but have little influence over trade

BRIEFING.COM - Friday 30 July, 2010 @ 18:24 ET AMC
After-Hours Report: Weekly Wrap 

What a difference a month makes -- or does it? The stock market took a bullish path through July, which seemed unlikely when June was coming to an end. Specifically, the S&P 500 increased 6.9%.

The great equalizer was a batch of stronger-than-expected earnings reports and generally reassuring guidance from U.S. companies. Still, in the week just concluded, it was evident that market participants are still not convinced that earnings growth rates in coming quarters are going to be met, which is no different from what was feared in June.

The clearest evidence of that concern could be found in the Treasury market, which had little problem digesting another $100 bln in new issuance across 2-year, 5-year, and 7-year maturities. Yields for each maturity ended the week lower than where they began; in fact, the 2-year note slipped to a record-low 0.546% on Friday. Separately, the yield on the 10-year note was slashed 9 basis points to 2.90%.

The bulk of the move in the 10-year came on Friday following the advance Q2 GDP report, which showed an annualized growth rate of 2.4% that was close to expectations and down from an upwardly revised 3.7% growth rate (from 2.7%) in the first quarter.

The change in private inventories contributed 1.05 percentage points to Q2 GDP while government spending contributed 0.88 percentage points. These contributions diminished the quality of Q2 GDP growth, especially the government contribution which substantiated the concerns that the economic recovery effort is not as self-sustaining as one would like to see at this juncture. 

Annual benchmark revisions dating back to the first quarter 2007 accompanied the Q2 GDP report. The gist of the revisions is that personal spending has not been as strong as thought; that spending on equipment and software has been stronger than thought; and that the contraction from Q4 2007 to Q2 2009 was deeper than previously believed.

Another catalyst for the Treasury market this week was St. Louis Fed President Bullard who published a paper on Thursday that called attention to the risk of the U.S. facing a Japan-style type of deflation. To be clear, Mr. Bullard confirmed in a Friday interview on CNBC that higher inflation is still the greater threat, yet the attention he drew to the topic of deflation and the connection to Japan were enough to keep a bid in the Treasury market as stocks attempted to climb a wall of worry on relatively good earnings news.

Roughly two-thirds of the S&P 500 has reported results for the June quarter. By all accounts, the earnings growth for the second quarter has been quite strong. Thomson Reuters informs us that S&P 500 operating earnings are on track to increase 36% while revenues are on pace to increase 9% versus the year-ago period.

At the end of the week, the S&P 500 was little changed from where it began the week. That is not all that bad given the 3.6% gain in the prior week, but it did not go unnoticed that the S&P 500 was unable to hold a posture above its 200-day simple moving average, which it pierced on Monday. From its closing level on Monday to its closing level on Friday, the S&P 500 declined 1.2%.

Technical analysts are prone to call this week's action a consolidation phase after a strong run. That would seem to suggest that an upside resolution is still expected; however, a continued inability to clear resistance at the 200-day simple moving average (now 1114.39) will eventually be held out as a worrisome signal.

Earnings news and economic data will continue to move the market in the week ahead. Three Dow components -- Procter & Gamble (PG), Pfizer (PFE) and Kraft (KFT) -- are on the reporting docket. The biggest report of the week, though, will be deferred until Friday, which is when the July employment report will be released.

With a lot of expectations riding on the employment data, it would not be a surprise to see the market trade in a choppy manner leading up to its release.

Originally Posted by BRIEFING.COM - Friday 30 July, 2010 @ 15:41 ET

Looking back at a strong July 

As we close out July, the first month of the third quarter, we wanted to take a look back at the performance of major averages after what has been a strong rebound month. The S&P 500 set 2010 lows on July 1, after losing -11.8% during Q2, representing the worst quarterly performance since 4Q08. However, attractive valuations, combined with an overly bearish sentiment set the stage for a rebound early in the month, with short covering adding fuel to the momentum. Since then, the major averages have made further progress, as earnings season played out better-than-expected. In addition to earnings, a mid-month SEC settlement between GS and the SEC, BP's progress on the containment of the oil spill, and generally positive results of the EU bank stress tests have also improved the general mood. Generally speaking, there was continual dip buying throughout the month, with periods of weakness being short and shallow. The momentum waned a bit in the past few days, with the S&P giving back ~2%. As we finish up earnings season over the next week, the focus will shift back to economic data, as investors try to gauge the pace and sustainability of the broader recovery. Additionally, without the earnings catalysts, volume will likely be more characteristic of summer trading (i.e. light), and trading could be a bit choppier. 

Looking at the performance in stocks, the major U.S. indices are on track to post gains between 6.9% and 7.0% with only Britain's FTSE (+6.9%) and the Shanghai Composite (+7.4%) performing equally or better. Japan's Nikkei has lagged the other major markets because the ongoing strengthening of the yen has put pressure on Japan's exporters. Year-to-date, the U.S. markets have seen minimal losses whereas the Shanghai Composite (-21.4%) is the only major market to post a double-digit decline, with the Nikkei (-9.6%) also showing notable weakness. Germany's DAX (+3.2%) and India's Sensex (+3.5%) are the only major indices to close the month with positive gains for the year. Finally, volatility fell 29.4% as stocks soared off of their 7/1 lows. 

Looking at the currency markets, the dollar index fell by 5.4%, with strengthening in all of the other major currencies. The best performing currency was the euro (+6.6%), followed by the pound (+5.1 and the yen (+2.2%). Even the yuan strengthened against the dollar, adding 0.1%. 

As the dollar weakened, the commodities were mixed. Energy was stronger with natural gas +6.5% and crude oil adding 4.3%, but the safe-haven that is gold was among the biggest decliners for the month, falling 4.8%.

___________________________________________

TECHNICAL UPDATE - FRIDAY 30 JULY, 2010 - AMC

DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE ($INDU: CBOT) 
10,465.94 -1.22 (-0.01%) 
Volume: 208,159,136 from 202,113,198 the previous day (∆ +2.99%) 
Range: 10,347.50 – 10,507.19 (159.69 points)

The truth is that the market did rally more than tank. That's three times in two days that the market rallied back from massive dips. It’s going to be a pain in the butt to get DOW above 10,500 again but given what was seen over the last few days, I reckon we'll pull it off again, in a big way. S&P500 has been more resilient by being able to close above its critical 1,100.

Two consecutive sessions saw the DOW avoid closing below the 200DSMA. 

NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX ($COMPQ.IDX: NASDAQ) 
2,254.70 +3.01 (+0.13%) 
Volume: 625,089,228 from 670,511,147 (∇ -6.77%)
Range: 2,218.61 – 2,264.81 

S&P 500 INDEX (SPX: CBOE) 
1,101.60 +0.07 (+0.01%) 
Volume: 3,564,997,600 from 4,064,782,800 (∇ -12.29%)
Range: 1,088.01 – 1,106.44 

___________________________________________

Market Internals for Friday 30 July, 2010 - 16:54 ET AMC

NYSE : 
Lower than avg volume @ 1176 vs closing avg of 1414
Advancers outpacing Decliners (adv/dec): 1759/1243 
New highs outpacing new lows (hi/lo): 163/19

NASDAQ : 
Lower than avg volume @ 2167 vs 2243
Advancers outpacing Decliners (adv/dec): 1444/1176
New highs outpacing new lows (hi/lo): 43/31

Advancers outpaced Decliners by an average 1.32 to 1 on lower volumes (-8.59%) on Friday (avg +0.04%). 

The bears don't have what it takes and this time, the bulls responded with more conviction. When the bears don’t take the initiative and the bulls don’t seize the opportunity

___________________________________________

COMMODITIES & BONDS - Summary for Friday 30 July, 2010 - from Briefing.com
CRB Posts Impressive Monthly Performance 

Commodities put in another strong session. In turn, the CRB Commodity Index advanced 1.5% for the second straight session. More impressive, though, is that the CRB advanced 6.1% in July. That made for its best monthly performance since May 2009.

Natural gas prices continued their recent tear. As such, the commodity climbed 2.0% to settle pit trade at $4.29 per MMBtu, up 7.4% for the week. Oil prices managed to climb back above $79 per barrel as crude contracts closed pit trade with a .9% gain at $79.05 per barrel. Aug RBOB gasoline closed up 2.14 cents to $2.1224 and Aug heating oil gained 1.85 cents to end at $2.0881.

Precious metals posted strong gains as well. Specifically, gold prices climbed 1.2% to finish the week at $118.20 per ounce and silver settled a sharp 2.8% higher at $18.11 per ounce. Sept copper gained 2.15 cents to close at $3.3115.

December corn closed 12.25 cents higher at $4.06 per bushel, November soybeans closed higher by 19 cents at $10.07 per bushel, Sept wheat closed 30.5 cents higher at $6.58 per bushel, Aug ethanol closed $0.039 higher at $1.705, October world sugar futures closed 0.07cents higher to 19.57 cents.
The bond market was able to recover to the best levels on the week on the long bond, best since Thurs on the 10s, Mar 2009 on the 5s while knocking around record levels on the 2s. The long end was the power forward here, getting added pump as spreaders unwound from the recent large swing buying the mid-curve against the 30s. The poor to eh data, the week-and-month end activity and sliding stocks all aided the bid while players are so bored and/or lonely they have already begun talking up the jobs report next week on Lollapalooza Fri. They need to be reminded there are a few potential tape-bombs earlier in the week (income and spending, ISMs). The auctions, good, fair and ugly, were out of the way, even though corporate and global issuance is still crowding out the calendar, mostly mid-curve, as they look to get in at the extreme low rates. The rebound in stocks will likely have little spillover unless they can give the run some follow-through next week. 

The curve was swung back to a flatter stance with the 2-10-yr, with 234.5 area on the 2-10-yr yield spread proving a little sticky, now 235.7. The dollar was under pressure all session with the index backed off to the lowest since late Apr, but getting stalled near the nice, round 81.50 point. The euro has been also spent the latter part of the day stalled near a half point, 1.3050, unable to get much back up after the push to 1.31. The yen'spush better also lost some spunk as it flirted with Nov levels with players sniffing for potential intervention. 

The week ahead has construction spending and ISM (10), while Fed chief Bernanke will speak at a conference (10), and Timmy Geithner will speak on financial regulation late (16).

Treasury Yields AMC on Friday 30 July: 
• 2 Year Note 0.55% -0.04 
• 5 Year Note 1.60% -0.10 
• 10 Year Note 2.94% -0.09 
• 30 Year Bond 3.98% -0.10 
2/30 Spread : 343bps (-6) ... 2/10 Spread : 239bps (-5)

Commodities AMC on Friday 30 July: 
Light Crude (NYM) September 10 ($US per bbl.) : 78.95 ( +0.59 ) 
Natural Gas (NYM) September 10 ($US per mmbtu.) : 4.92 ( +0.096 ) 
Unleaded Gas (NYM) August 10 ($US per gal.) : 2.11 ( +0.0092 ) 

Gold (CMX ) August 10 ($US per Troy oz.) : 1,171.40 ( -3.46)
Silver (CMX) August 10 ($US per Troy oz.) : 17.69 ( -0.110 ) 
Copper (CMX) August 10 ($US per lb.) : 3.29 ( +0.0470 ) 

Corn (CBT) September 10 (cents per bu.) : 392.75 ( +13.50 ) 
Soyabeans (CBT) August 10 (cents per bu.) : 1,052.50 ( +25.75 ) 
Sugar #11 (CBT) October 10 (cents per pound) : 19.57 ( +0.07 ) 

COMMODITIES & BONDS - Weekly Summary for Monday 26 July to Friday 30 July, 2010 

Crude Ends Just Above $79, Wheat is Best Performing Commodity, Gold fell Modestly 

Commodities gained 2.9% collectively for the week, well above the 0.1% gain in the S&P 500. 

Looking more closely at energy, July crude oil futures, which rose 0.1% to close at $79.05 for the week, fell sharply on Tuesday, falling into the red and giving up around $2.50 per barrel. The move coincided with a sharp move higher in the dollar index. Crude traded in the red for the rest of the week, before moving back into positive territory on Friday. Inventory data on Wednesday showed a build of 7,308K versus the consensus, which called for a draw of 1,725K).

July natural gas trended steadily higher for the majority of the week. Around the open of pit trading on Wednesday, natural gas put its biggest move in, rallying approx. $0.18 to around $4.86. The energy component gave back those gains, but continued to trend higher on the week putting it highs for the week of $4.937 on Friday trade. Natural gas data on Thursday showed a build of 51 bcf, versus analyst expectations of a build of 50 bcf. 

In Precious metals, August gold fell 0.6% to close at $1182.20 per ounce and September silver was flat at $18.11 per ounce. 

In the ag complex, Wheat futures were the best performing commodity on the week as the September contract rose 10.9% to $6.62/bushel, largely due to a drought in Russia's wheat crop. (See Commodities Quarterly Report below)

In the dry bulk shipping sector, the Baltic Dry Index (the cost of renting ships) gained 7.7% to 1967, as indicated by the benchmark Baltic Dry Index (BDI).

COMMODITIES QUARTERLY REPORT
Corn, wheat and soybeans continue sharp rally: 
Wheat futures up ~47.6%, corn up ~19.5% and soybeans up ~10.2% since USDA’s June 30 planting/quarterly stocks report

Today, continuous corn futures contracts +3.2% at $3.92/bushel, wheat +4.8% at $6.60/bushel and soybeans +2.1% at $10.48/bushel are trading higher on recent bullish catalysts (i.e. notable export sales, unfavorable/favorable weather in key markets -Russia, China and U.S.- and grain inventory reduction) largely in the wheat and corn markets. The US Dollar Index is in negative territory now, but ag futures were still trading higher this morning despite strength in the index. (Commodies typically trade inversely to the US Dollar Index).

Overall, the recent strength in the ag futures has provided price support in many agriculture stocks, including: farm equipment companies (Deere (DE +3.2%), Agco (AGCO +1.6%) and CNH Global (CNH +0.7%)), fertilizer companies (Intrepid Potash (IPI +1.9%), Potash (POT+1.7%), Agrium (AGU +1.3%), CF Industries (CF +0.6%), Mosaic (MOS +0.3%), seed companies (Monsanto (MON -0.2%) and Syngenta (SYT -1.0%)), Irrigation (Lindsay (LNN +0.3%))... Other ag names such as Archer Daniels Midland (ADM +0.6%), Andersons (ANDE -0.2%), DuPont (+0.1%). Ag ETF's are trading higher as well, including JJG +2.4%, DBA +1.4%. 

The grains (e.g. corn, wheat) and oilseeds (soybeans) have continued to climb higher since the USDA released its June 30 planting report and quarterly grains stocks report. However, although the key grains stocks report showed corn inventories grew 1% YoY to 4.31 billion bushels, this was 300 million bushels below expectations, which is what really provided price strength in corn futures. Reductions in corn inventory estimates from the USDA, as measured by the USDA's World Ag Supply and Demand report, has also provided price support to corn. Since the USDA released its May supply/demand report on May 11, corn ending inventory expectations have declined 22.3% to the current 1.412 billion bushels estimates.

But wheat prices have climbed significantly on other recent catalysts such as lower wheat production in Russia due to drought. Russia has an impact on the wheat markets since it's the fifth largest producer in the world, producing ~8.4% of the world's wheat. 

Also, yesterday's USDA export sales report showed that the U.S. reported net sales of 919,000 tons of wheat. The increases were primarily for Japan, Nigeria, the Philippines and Egypt. There doesn't appear to be any fundamental catalyst for the notable advance in soybeans, price strength appears to be carryover momentum from the rally in wheat and corn futures.

___________________________________________

Earnings Highlights for week Monday 02 August to Friday 06 August, 2010 
Monday: AB, HUM, L, MNTA, OSK, DVA, ESLR, HLF, INSP, VITA, ROG, TXRH, VRSN and VMC. 
Tuesday: ACOR, ADM, BHI, BYD, BPI, CTSH, DF, DOW, FDP, HW, MRO, MA, TAP, MGM, OMX, PG, SOLF, WLK, ACAS, APC, AVB, SAM, FRPT, HTZ, LEAP, PCLN, NVTL, WBMD, WFMI, and WMS. 
Wednesday: AGU, ANR, ASCA, AOL, GRMN, ICE, LL, PCG, PHM, Q, TWX, UMC, ALL, CELL, CECO, CLWR, CNW, DIVX, GDP, SOLR, HNSN, IPI, MELI, MUR, PRU, PFE, SINA, RIG, and WCAA. 
Thursday: ACM, BECN, CVC, CBOE, CTB, DSX, DTV, FWLT, FTO, GNA, HOC, LAMR, LZ, PCS, PKD, PLA, PXP, TWC, USM, VIA.B, WWE, ATVI, NILE, CLMS, COGO, DEPO, BAGL, HANS, KFT, LYV, MFLX, RMD, RST, SGMS, SQNM, YSI, and WTW. 
Friday: BRNC, CSUN, JRCC, LMIA, POM, and WCRX.

Economic Events for week Monday 02 August to Friday 06 August, 2010
Monday:
10:00 am Construction Spending
10:00 am ISM Index
Tuesday:
08:30 am Personal Income
08:30 am Personal Spending
08:30 am PCE Prices - Core
10:00 am Factory Orders
10:00 am Pending Home Sales
14:00 pm Auto Sales
14:00 pm Truck Sales
Wednesday:
08:15 am ADP Employment Change
10:00 am ISM Services
10:30 am Crude Inventories 
Thursday:
08:30 am Continuing Claims
08:30 am Initial Claims
10:30 am Natural Gas Inventories
Friday:
08:30 am Nonfarm Payrolls
08:30 am Nonfarm Payrolls - Private
08:30 am Unemployment Rate
08:30 am Hourly Earnings
08:30 am Average Workweek
15:00 pm Consumer Credit

Conferences and Shareholder/Analyst Meetings of Interest 
for week Monday 02 August to Friday 06 August, 2010
Monday: 
- $30 bln 3 and 6-month Treasury Bills Auctions 
Tuesday: 
- NATI Investor Conference 
- TSPT, CELG, ABT, HUM at Wedbush Morgan Securities Life Sciences Best Ideas MAC: Management Access Conference
Wednesday: 
- AXP Semi-Annual Financial Community Meeting 
Thursday: 
- RF Analyst Meeting CELG, ZMH, MRK, WLP at BMO Capital Markets Focus on Healthcare Conference 
Friday: 
- None

___________________________________________

SUMMARY
August Preview:

It is traditionally the second worse month of the trading year after September. August is one of those rare months that opens poorly and closes poorly - 9 of the last 12 years were down at the open. The first nine days of August have also been reliably weak. The Monday before August Expiration Friday has seen 11 of the last 14 go up. August Expiration itself has been bullish in recent years with the DOW recording 6 out of 6 in a row. 

Singaporeans should take note of Friday 7 August as it is the eve of a Three Day Weekend ahead of the Nation's 45th National Day celebrations on Monday 9 August. You know what usually happens on that day.  

I am going to break tradition today seeing that there is no data due before the open and based on Asia's strength in early trading today. Also on the continuing saga of great earnings and that the bears failed to take the market down successfully last month, there is little to suggest that America is going down this week, let alone today. We shall see but a rally week ahead is suspected.

Have a great trading week !

Direction for Monday 02 August, 2010; ∆ Up 

Direction for the week Monday 02 August to Friday 06 August, 2010; ∆ Up