How to Trade's  Instablog

Most of the major indices ended the day positive. This was mostly due to solid Italian & Spanish bond auctions in Europe and falling oil prices. Oil prices fell below $100 a barrel. The top industries of the day were industrials and materials. In addition the European Central Bank announced that it will not change the benchmark interest rate. Some commodity prices were very volatile today after the USDA reported a larger than expected supply of grains. This hurt corn and wheat prices. 

In other economic news, weekly initial jobless claims grew to 399K and retail sales climbed just 0.1% last month. In better news, 30 Year fixed rate mortgages fell to a record low of 3.89 percent. This was a result of the 10 year Treasury note falling below 2%. In addition, consumer confidence reached its highest level since summer. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index reported a figure of minus 44.7.

In corporate news, Chevron Corp repotted that its fourth quarter profit would be much lower than the previous quarter. Chevron ended the day down 2.6%. Wynn Resorts Ltd dropped 1.9% after its Vice Chairman sued the company. Multi-Fineline Electronix Inc, a creator of circuit boards reported better than expected preliminary quarterly sales. The stock finished the day up 18%.