This table shows the best CD rates for the five largest banks operating in the United States. These banks are Bank of America (BAC), JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Citibank (C), Wells Fargo Bank (WFC), and HSBC Bank North America (HBC).

CD rates (APY) at the largest US banks (Current Data) for a $10,000 deposit.

This article was originally posted at Kirk's Market Thoughts as DOW Gold Ratio at 9.66.

Originally posted at Kirk's Market Thoughts as Avago's Successful IPO is Second Largest of 2009 on Thursday, August 06, 2009

Avago Technologies (AVGO) Limited had a very successful IPO Thursday. KKR & Co. LP and Silver Lake Partners took Avago private as a spin-off from Agilent (A) (Agilent Charts) that was spun-off from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) (Hewlett Packard Charts). KKR and Silver Lake Partners had the IPO Thursday to use the recent strength in the stock markets to raise cash to return to investors and to reduce debt.

On Friday, Reuters reported short interest on the Nasdaq rose 4.1% in mid-July, reflecting an increase in bearish sentiment in the stock market.

Below are data and charts for the five Nasdaq stocks that experienced the largest increases and decreases in their short positions in the first half of July. Also included are data and a chart for the five largest NASDAQ short positions as of July 15, 2009.

The "S" in iPhone 3G S stands for speed. Apple promises the new phone is faster than the first two versions. The 3G S comes in two versions with a required 2-year contract with AT&T (T):

1. one with 16 gigabytes of memory for $199, and
2. one with 32 gigabytes for $299.

Apple and AT&T say user applications should open faster and internet pages should load more quickly with the increased memory and the new software.

For the graphs that go with this blog post, see: 30-Year U.S. Treasury Auction Results.

On Thursday June 11, 2009 the US Treasury department said it received bids totaling more than $29 billion for the $11 billion worth of 30-year notes sold. The bid-to-cover ratio, a gauge of demand, was 2.68, the highest since May 2008 and well above the average of 2.39 in the previous three 30-year reopening auctions according to Reuters.

The exchange traded fund for oil, "iPath S&P GSCI Crude Oil Total Return Index (OIL), " has been a huge disappointment for oil investors who wanted a fund that mirrored the price of oil without having to buy oil futures.

Since the start of 2009, the price of oil has surged 60% while the OIL ETF is essentially flat at only up about 4%!

To see the graphs, view the original article here.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, measured in how many ounces of gold it takes to buy the 30 stock DOW is up 33% from its 17-year March 6th low of 7.03. Despite that impressive gain, the DOW-Gold ratio remains 79% below its 1999 peak of 44.77

Yesterday, the US Treasury Department said it received bids totaling more than $54 billion for the $22 billion worth of 10-year notes sold. Thus the bid-to-cover ratio was 2.47, up from 2.21 in February's auction. This indicates the demand for U.S. debt remains healthy.

10-Yr U.S. Treasury auction summary:

In November 2006, Google (GOOG) bought privately held YouTube for $1.65 billion in stock. (Details at How Much Did Google Pay For YouTube Video and When?)

Word is out that Google will retire "AdSense video units" at the end of April because

How low can the stock markets go? Nouriel Roubini, called "Dr. Doom" by many who didn't like his message last year before the markets crashed over 50%, says they can go much lower.

In the best case, Roubini sees the S&P500 (closed yesterday at 676.53 - Charts) at 720, a gain of 6.4%. In the worst case, Roubini thinks there could be another 20% left in the decline with the S&P500 falling as low as 500 to 600 with the DOW down to 5,000 or 6,000.

Click chart courtesy of stockcharts.com for full size image

• Back in 1999, it took 45 ounces of gold to buy the DJIA.
• Yesterday it only took 7.58 ounces of gold to buy the DOW!

In the prepared remarks of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's "Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress" given before the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. and broadcast mostly live on CNBC today, he said the recession should end this year. Bernanke said this will require restoring financial stability.

The central tendency of their most recent projections for real GDP implies a decline of 1/2 percent to 1-1/4 percent over the four quarters of 2009. These projections reflect an expected significant contraction in the first half of this year combined with an anticipated gradual resumption of growth in the second half.

Until the dashed green support line is broken, this is the trading channel for the SOX, also known as the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

click to enlarge images

When measured in ounces of Gold, the DOW has been in a secular bear market since peaking in late 1999.

Click chart courtesy of stockcharts.com for full size image

A chart of the DOW Jones Industrial Average (DJIA Charts) priced in gold shows the markets are not as healthy as one might think due to the decline of the US dollar.

The Economic Cycle Research Institute, a New York-based independent forecasting group known as ECRI, said inflation pressure is at a 47-year low. (More about ECRI here.)

ECRI's US Future Inflation Gauge (US-FIG), an index designed to anticipate cyclical turning points in inflation, plunged to a 47-year low.

Friday the Economic Cycle Research Institute, or ECRI an independent forecasting group based in New York, said its Weekly Leading Index (WLI) fell to its lowest level in its six decade history. The WLI and its growth rate are designed to predict future turning points in the business cycle (recessions and recoveries).

• More about ECRI

Friday ECRI said its WLI fell to 112.9 for the period ending October 24, 2008. Last week WLI was 114.0.