The theme over the past 24 hours has been one of a remarkable harmonious dove commentary from the world’s Central Banks, rallying front ends and thus providing a degree of support to equity markets. European bourses closed with solid gains, while the S&P500 also closed higher, albeit well off the highs for the session. Gold is now worth its weight in gold.

Starting in the US, Dallas Fed President Fisher opined that we could see a pause in the US recovery (or at least several quarters of weak growth) while Richmond Fed President Lacker told his audience that it was too soon to say when the Fed would lift rates (he said it could be 2010, but it could take longer). In Europe the ECB’s Wellink said that the world economy was still fragile, a comment that was seconded by ECB colleague Weber. Weber also said that it was presently too early to reverse the Bank’s expansionary measures although he also warned that the right time for exit must not be missed.

Yesterday saw a trifecta of better than expected earnings, encouraging weekly jobless and continuing claims numbers and news that chain store sales (yes, you guesses it) beat expectations. This all helped US equity indices to a 0.6%-0.7% gain. Homebuilders rallied as Congress mulls a possible extension of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer’s tax credit, which is set to expire on Nov. 30.

Of the results to have trickled out so far (31 of the S&P 500 companies) 74% have beaten “consensus” (fire the analysts, I say). Early days perhaps, but nonetheless consistent, with the bulls forecast for another positive earnings season that supports risk and chips away at the dollar. All is not plain sailing of course, and Japanese machinery orders data overnight provided another reminder that global manufacturing data is losing momentum (+0.5% actual vs. +2.1% consensus). Risk markets are thus caught between two countervailing forces at present – “earnings” vs. mixed and patchy economic data. Concern that economic growth is relapsing will moderate the extent of the risk rally. As for today, early indications are that players are looking to book a little profit and take some money off the table. With the Columbus Day weekend coming up in the US expect volumes to drop off a cliff come mid-afternoon.

(The purpose of this report is not to provide specific recommendations, but instead serve as a time-saving reference tool and starting point for investment ideas as the upcoming trading week unfolds. Of course, the results generated are not always perfect and users are strongly encouraged to perform their own due diligence on these names. Note that overbought and oversold conditions are based upon proprietary algorithms and quantitative models instead of conventional technical analysis indicators. As a supplement to this report, please refer to our ETF Trends Report to determine if market direction trends support a bullish or bearish investment bias over short-term, intermediate, and long-term timeframes.)

The S&P futures market is currently trading near to the high of the year, testing the 980.00 area. Futures trade gained approximately 4.50 points through the overnight session, as a number of important companies reported better than expected results. The first company in, was Honda, which helped the Japanese Nikkei stay above the break-even line. During the European session, BT Group (BT) and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) reported better than expected earnings, which provided a strong boost to the German Dax and the U.K. FTSE.

Here's an updated list of CDNs in the market, broken down between pure-play CDNs versus non pure-play vendors like carriers and telcos. (To make the list easier to find on my blog, all you have to do is go to www.cdnlist.com for the latest update)

Yesterday was strange with bad news coming thick and fast, but yet again stocks proved remarkably resilient, closing with only a mild red hue. Crude oil dropped below $64 a barrel (after a jump in inventories) which should have pressured producers more. Investors frowned upon the terms Yahoo (YHOO) finally managed to extract from Microsoft (MSFT). The auction of the 5 year U.S. government Treasury bonds was sloppy and poorly received (with a big tail). Durable goods orders disappointed with a big miss. And then there was the news from China regarding banks pulling away from new lending. After all this, the Dow finished down a mere 26 points. So what caused this gravity defying performance? The Fed’s Beige book made for happier reading with most of the 12 regional Fed member districts detecting a slower pace of decline in the last two months. Maybe it was Prof Moriarty again in the form of some Goldman (GS) programme buying if you believe the conspiracy theorists.

Today’s Market Moving Stories

BT Group Plc (BT) announced that it will transfer its consumer and small business broadband and voice customers to Vodafone Group Plc (VOD) and will also provide wholesale network services to Vodafone over a seven-year period.

BT Group’s aim is to become the leading provider of networked IT services to mid and large-sized businesses and the public sector in general in Ireland. Vodafone will become the number-two player in the fixed broadband market and enjoy a 15% market share of the fixed broadband market. The value of the gross assets that are the subject of this transaction was 4.8 million euros at the end of March 2009.

• NYSE down 5.2 (0.09%) to 5,770.
• DJIA up 44.1 (0.5%) to 8,325.
• S&P 500 up 2.3 (0.3%) to 898.71.
• Nasdaq down 9.2 (0.5%) to 1,787.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

Using this weekly sector report on a regular basis allows Hillbent.com’s readers to efficiently monitor sector rotations and investor sentiment biases.

In their biggest fall since April 20th, equity markets retreated yesterday. Investors feared that the state-sponsored green shoots would shrivel, faced with the implicit threat from the G8 that central banks and governments were thinking of taking away the punch bowl of ZIRP and massive fiscal stimuli hammering the reflation trade. Policy makers now look set to repeat the errors of the late 1930’s. The Greenback also went on the rampage on the back of soothing comments from Russia taking the shine of the commodities / metals / oil trade while VIX popped up 10% on the day.

Today’s Market Moving Stories

(The purpose of this report is not to provide specific recommendations, but instead serve as a time-saving reference tool and starting point for investment ideas as the upcoming trading week unfolds. Of course, the results generated are not always perfect and users are strongly encouraged to perform their own due diligence on these names. Note that overbought and oversold conditions are based upon proprietary algorithms and quantitative models instead of conventional technical analysis indicators. As a supplement to this report, please refer to our Market Condition Summary to determine if market direction trends support a bullish or bearish investment bias over short-term, intermediate, and long-term timeframes.)

Companies leading the “smart appliance” growth sector include Bosch Home Appliances, LG Electronics (LGERF.PK), Miele, General Electric (GE), Haier Electronics Group (HRELF.PK), Whirlpool - Maytag Corporation (WHR), Panasonic (PC) and Carrier - United Technologies Corporation (UTX) are among the qualified appliances offering advanced technologies that use 10–50% less energy and water, look for energy-efficient clothes washers, refrigerators, dishwashers, room air conditioners and dehumidifiers.

BT Group (BT), the Brititsh telecom giant, Thursday morning said it will cut 15,000 jobs and slash its dividend in reponse to disappointing performance by its Global Services unit. The company Thursday morning posted revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31 of 5.47 billion pounds, up 1% year over year, but suffered a loss of 977 millioun pounds, compared with a profit of 426 million a year earlier.

BT also cut its year-end dividend to 1.1 pence from 10.4 pence a year ago, bringing the full year dividend to 6.5 pence. Doing a little back-of-the-envelope math, given that each American Depositary Share represents 10 ordinary shares, that means a payout of 65 pence per ADS, which is about 98 cents, and gives the stock a yield of 7%, rather than the previous double-digit yield. The fact that the stock carried a double-digit payout was a clear signal that the Street did not consider the previous dividend rate sustainable.

(The purpose of this report is not to provide specific recommendations, but instead serve as a time-saving reference tool and starting point for investment ideas as the upcoming trading week unfolds. Of course, the results generated are not always perfect and users are strongly encouraged to perform their own due diligence on these names. Note that overbought and oversold conditions are based upon proprietary algorithms and quantitative models instead of conventional technical analysis indicators. As a supplement to this report, please refer to our Market Condition Summary to determine if market direction trends support a bullish or bearish investment bias over short-term, intermediate, and long-term timeframes.)

(The purpose of this report is not to provide specific recommendations, but instead serve as a time-saving reference tool and starting point for investment ideas as the upcoming trading week unfolds. Of course, the results generated are not always perfect and users are strongly encouraged to perform their own due diligence on these names. Note that overbought and oversold conditions are based upon proprietary algorithms and quantitative models instead of conventional technical analysis indicators. As a supplement to this report, please refer to our Market Condition Summary to determine if market direction trends support a bullish or bearish investment bias over short-term, intermediate, and long-term timeframes.)