Wednesday Closing Update

4:17 PM, Jun 10, 2009 --

• NYSE down 3.53 (0.06%) to 6,098.04.
• DJIA down 24.04 (0.3%) to 8,739.
• S&P 500 down 3.27 (0.4%) to 939.15.
• Nasdaq down 7.05 (0.4%) to 1,853.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

• Hang Seng up 4.03%
• Nikkei up 2.09%
• FTSE up 0.73%

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) MRNA raises $10.5 mln in offering.

(-) SAP gets analyst downgrade.

(-) YHOO despite analyst upgrade.

(-) EBAY gets favorable mention on Jim Cramer show.

(-) MGM gives up early gain; Financial Times report that Genting, a Malaysian gaming firm, paid about $100 million for a 3.2% stake in MGM.

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) HD reduces loss expectation.

(+) RIMM gets price target hike.

(+) JAZZ to present phase 3 data for Fibromyalgia treatment.

(+) AMRN says exploratory phase 2a study in Myasthenia Gravis shows statiscally significant results.

(+) C sets share launch, finalizes pact with U.S. government.

(+) RFMD achieves non-GAAP profit in first two months of Q1.

MARKET DIRECTION

Stocks closed lower though improved thanks to a late rally. Rising energy prices were no longer cheered as a sign of improved demand but are seen as a potential liability for the recovery. Stocks had built an early upside after Home Depot (HD) guided higher and strong markets overseas buoyed investors.

Company news was overshadowed by oil's continued rise. Crude futures closed above $71 a barrel Wednesday for the first time in more than seven months after government data showed a surprising decline in last week's inventories. July crude rose $1.32, or 1.9%, to end at $71.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, closing at the highest level for a front-month contract since Oct. 20. Crude slipped slightly in after-hours electronic trading, near $71.26 a barrel.

The major averages remained near the day's lows following the mid-afternoon release of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book report on anecdotal economic evidence.

In the report, five of the Fed's 12 district banks reported signs of moderation in the economy's decline. Yet no one region expected a "substantial" increase in activity this year.

Markets shrugged off a rise in the U.S. trade deficit, which rose for a second straight month in April, climbing 2.2% to $29.2 billion. That was slightly higher than economists' expectations but remains well below last year's imbalance.

Comments

[discov:]

Energy prices rise at the same that UUP rises. Smells of bad GDP for the USA

Jun 10 05:30 PM

[Tomcat101:]

I thought the treasury auction's poor results today would have caused more excitement than it did. SP went down a whopping 1% or so and then gained most of it back by the end of the day. No big deal. What's it gonna take to scare these people? I'm starting to think that Russia could invade Alaska, oil go to $600 a barrel, Obama drop dead of a heart attack, and an asteroid hits Washington D.C. and this market would continue to rally.

I think that this joy and euphoria will quickly dissipate in the near future when we see the toll that high gas and high mortgage rates are taking on the fragile consumer. It's just a matter of how long it takes to start showing in some key reports. Then this massive game of musical chairs comes to a screeching halt. Don't get caught chairless.

Jun 10 06:30 PM

[jratl:]

Investment managers can't be seen sitting in cash and missing the this quarter's run up. They have to follow the heard into the leading sectors if only until their quarterly reports are published. I don't expect a pullback or rational reactions to news or economic reports before July.

Jun 10 06:56 PM

[marketman54:]

Very low volume today. My guess is that there were a lot of people shorting for the day and the market came back late in the day again when the shorts sell off before the closing.

Things are not good and ultimately everyone will be selling off their positions when they realize that the banks are still in big trouble, the housing market and mortgage defaults are in bigger trouble, 15 million unemployed people don't buy anything and our consumer society is not consuming and our government will do more damage than letting the to big to fail - FAIL.

Oh, the only thing worse is that whatever money we have left, the government will take it from us because they can. Just look at GM, AIG, FNM, FRE, Chrysler, all the banks...........

Jun 10 10:12 PM

[rick12345:]

As others have pointed out volume is declining, indicating only a few hopefuls are still in the game. Most big investors are holding off until their's more substantive news. For the record, this is the 7th straight day that the dow has rallied less than 1% ; not good for overly enthusiastic investors, although a good indication that the market will go one way or the other, rapidly.


On Jun 10 06:30 PM Tomcat101 wrote:

> I thought the treasury auction's poor results today would have caused
> more excitement than it did. SP went down a whopping 1% or so and
> then gained most of it back by the end of the day. No big deal. What's
> it gonna take to scare these people? I'm starting to think that Russia
> could invade Alaska, oil go to $600 a barrel, Obama drop dead of
> a heart attack, and an asteroid hits Washington D.C. and this market
> would continue to rally.
>
> I think that this joy and euphoria will quickly dissipate in the
> near future when we see the toll that high gas and high mortgage
> rates are taking on the fragile consumer. It's just a matter of how
> long it takes to start showing in some key reports. Then this massive
> game of musical chairs comes to a screeching halt. Don't get caught
> chairless.

Jun 11 06:56 AM