USRant: d²X/dt² Didn’t Cut it…

A dead-cat bounce in some regions within the Case Shiller Home Prices Index (which dipped again, but not by much) failed to lift equity markets despite the incessant babble on the CNBC-Bloomberg Axis of Propaganda. Consumer confidence was weaker than expected, chain store sales were soft, and journalists had to invoke second-derivative (‘slowing rate of decline’) arguments for the Chicago PMI.

Journalists are – always and everywhere – appallingly bad at understanding anything that includes pesky numbers; like Stephen Colbert, they are only interested in receiving an explanation that has that ineffable element of ‘truthiness’… and preferably some form of memory aid (‘green shoots’, ‘WMD’, ‘liberating’, ‘axis of evil’… and so on).  And of course if anything goes wrong in the political sphere, you sicky-tape ‘-gate’ on the end of it, and you’re gold. 

And now a quick word on Michael Jackson. At the risk of being too glib, I would point out that Fox News usually has ‘missing white girl feared dead’ as it’s go-to schtick whenever they are running an attempt to divert the viewers’ goldsifh-length attention spans… so the tragic end of Jackson is like a wet dream for them, because they don’t have to mock-concern over affiliate feed about some missing girl from Buttfuck, Arkansas.

I have doubts as to whether some of these stories are not just plucked out of the ether: if there’s not a missing white girl somewhere, Photoshop one the way they Photoshop images of Iranian ladies giving Ahmedinijad the finger.

I stopped being very interested in Jackson’s music after he started trying to remodel himself into a white anorexic trans-sexual. I liked the gentle young black guy who sang ‘She’s Out of My Life’ and ‘Rock With You’ much better.

But two things come out of all this, writ large.

First, the poor guy had no childhood. He was a professional performer at a very young age. That’s bound to screw a person up big-time. Take a look at the awful lives of young folks who grow up in,e.g., circus troupes: they are also much more likely to have dysfunctional adulthoods.

Second – and more important: how does a guy who sold more albums than the Beatles (per capita), who owned his own catalog (and who actually owned part of the Beatles’ catalog), wind up on the bones of his arse?

Well, not literally the bones of his arse – but from all reports, he died with debts in the hundreds ofmilions of dollars. How is that?

It says something about ‘book cooking’ in the entertainment industry – whether it’s album sales, box-office takings, or the supposedly astronomical salaries of sports and movie stars, the number should always be read as if it has an asterisk next to it.

Movie ‘box office’ numbers, for instance: reportage of box office takings implicitly assumes that if a movie cost $100m to make, breaks even if it takes $100m in cinema ticket sales… which is true so long as nobody in the cinemaindusrty gets paid andall cinema and distribution infrastructure is free.

That’s ‘journalist maths’.

More on this later.   

Headline Indices

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 82.38 points (0.97%) to 8447.00 points. The index high for the day was 8560.44, while the low was 8393.95. The Dow spent yjr vast majority of the session about 100 points underwater, and a weak rally in the last two hours saved it from closing -100.

Total volume traded in the 30 components of the index was 1.38bn shares. Decliners outpaced gainers by 4.8 to one, with 24 decliners to 5 advancers. Declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 983.04m to 397.88m shares. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -

• Caterpillar (CAT) -1.7 (4.9%) to $33.04 on volume of 16.76m shares;
• American Express (AXP) -0.58 (2.4%) to $23.24 on volume of 19.64m shares;
• Procter & Gamble (PG) -1.13 (2.2%) to $51.1 on volume of 13.73m shares;
• Verizon (VZ) -0.63 (2%) to $30.73 on volume of 16.33m shares; and
• Pfizer (PFE) -0.26 (1.7%) to $15 on volume of 50.6m units

The S&P500 Index slid 7.91 points (0.85%) to 919.32 points..

Total volume traded in the 500 components of the index was 4.13bn shares. Decliners outpaced gainers by 3.2 to one, with 359 decliners to 111 advancers. Declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 2.9bn to 1.15bn shares. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -

• CIT Group (CIT) -0.15 (6.5%) to $2.15 on volume of 11.67m shares;
• Zions Bancorp (ZION) -0.68 (5.6%) to $11.56 on volume of 6.3m shares;
• Deere & Co. (DE) -2.2 (5.2%) to $39.95 on volume of 7.6m shares; and
• Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) -0.75 (5.1%) to $13.89 on volume of 21m shares.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 9.02 points (0.49%) to 1835.04 points. while the Nasdaq100 slid 6.58 points (0.44%) to 1477.25 points..

Total volume traded in the 100 components of the index was 772.86m shares. Decliners outpaced gainers by 2 to one, with 64 decliners to 32 advancers. Declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 495.29m to 271.9m shares. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -

• UAL (UAUA) -0.28 (8.1%) to $3.19 on volume of 8.71m shares;
• Starbucks (SBUX) -0.75 (5.1%) to $13.89 on volume of 21m shares;
• Expedia (EXPE) -0.81 (5.1%) to $15.11 on volume of 6.77m shares;
• Biogen Idec Inc (BIIB) -2.17 (4.6%) to $45.15 on volume of 8.44m shares; and
• Wynn Resorts (WYNN) -1.63 (4.4%) to $35.3 on volume of 2.59m shares.

Volatility

The CBOE Volatility Index advanced +1.00 points (3.94%) to 26.35 points. and the CBOE Nasdaq100 Volatility Index gained +0.22 points (0.83%) to 26.69 points..

Breadth and Internals

A total of 3788 issues traded today on the NYSE; today’s total volume was 5.91bn shares. A total of 1516 stocks posted gains for the day, and volume in advancing issues totalled 1.86bn shares. Exerting downwards pressure on the index were 2131 losers, which accounted for a total declining volume of 3.89bn shares. 28 stocks made new 1-year highs on the NYSE, while 50 shares plumbed new 52-week depths.

On the Nasdaq 2846 tickers traded today; total Nasdaq volume was 2.01bn shares. A total of 1188 stocks posted gains for the day, with aggregate volume of 0.76bn shares changing hands in the day’s winners. The red zone of the Nasdaq exchange comprised 1533 losers, and total declining volume was 1.22bn shares. 31 Nasdaq-listed stocks hit new 52-week highs, while 14 shares dipped to new 1-year lows.

Dow Darlings

• Intel (INTC) +0.17 (1%) to $16.55 on volume of 61.5m units
• McDonalds (MCD) +0.26 (0.5%) to $57.49 on volume of 7.2m units
• Merck (MRK) +0.11 (0.4%) to $27.96 on volume of 21.3m units
• 3M Co (MMM) +0.14 (0.2%) to $60.1 on volume of 6.5m units
• Bank Of America (BAC) +0.01 (0.1%) to $13.2 on volume of 301.6m units

Dow Duds:

• Caterpillar (CAT) -1.7 (4.9%) to $33.04 on volume of 16.8m units
• American Express (AXP) -0.58 (2.4%) to $23.24 on volume of 19.6m units
• Procter & Gamble (PG) -1.13 (2.2%) to $51.1 on volume of 13.7m units
• Verizon (VZ) -0.63 (2%) to $30.73 on volume of 16.3m units
• Pfizer (PFE) -0.26 (1.7%) to $15 on volume of 50.6m units

Most Traded Dow stocks:

• Bank Of America (BAC) +0.01 (0.1%) to $13.2 on volume of 301.6m units
• General Electric (GE)-0.04 (0.3%) to $11.72 on volume of 86.8m units
• Microsoft (MSFT)-0.09 (0.4%) to $23.77 on volume of 61.8m units
• Intel (INTC) +0.17 (1%) to $16.55 on volume of 61.5m units
• Pfizer (PFE)-0.26 (1.7%) to $15 on volume of 50.6m units

Precious Metals

Precious metals futures performed as follows -

The Gold Bugs index (XAU) dropped 4.62 points (3.22%) to 139.02 points. Total volume traded in the 16 components of the index was 71.61m shares. None of the 16 index components rose today: 16 stocks within the index fell, with downside volume of 71.61m shares. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -

• Coeur d’Alene (CDE) -0.53 (4.1%) to $12.3 on volume of 2.13m shares;
• Harmony Gold (HMY) -0.43 (4%) to $10.32 on volume of 1.83m shares;
• GoldCorp (GG) -1.42 (3.9%) to $34.75 on volume of 6.11m shares;
• Yamana Gold (AUY) -0.36 (3.9%) to $8.84 on volume of 11.49m shares; and
• Barrick Gold (ABX) -1.32 (3.8%) to $33.55 on volume of 7.47m shares.

Energy Complex

Energy futures performed as follows -

The Oil Services index (OSX) dipped 2.39 points (1.47%) to 159.66 points. Total volume traded in the 15 components of the index was 91.97m shares. Decliners outpaced gainers by 6.5 to one, with 13 decliners to 2 advancers. Declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 80.99m to 10.98m shares. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -

• Noble Corp (NE) -0.99 (3.2%) to $30.25 on volume of 6.09m shares;
• Weatherford International (WFT) -0.47 (2.3%) to $19.56 on volume of 11.25m shares;
• Transocean Inc (RIG) -1.43 (1.9%) to $74.29 on volume of 5.02m shares;
• National Oilwell Varco (NOV) -0.62 (19%) to $32.66 on volume of 6.55m shares; and
• Oceaneering International (OII) -0.79 (1.7%) to $45.2 on volume of 0.59m shares.

Currency Futures

Currency futures performed as follows -

Bellwethers

The nine-stock group that makes up the Rant bellwethers declined on average by 0.4%. The fallout occurred as follows:

• General Electric (GE) -0.04 (0.34%) to $11.72 on volume of 86.83m units.
• Citigroup (C) -0.05 (1.66%) to $2.97 on volume of 108.02m units.
• Wal-Mart (WMT) -0.32 (0.66%) to $48.44 on volume of 16.29m units.
• IBM (IBM) -1.41 (1.33%) to $104.42 on volume of 7.01m units.
• Intel (INTC) +0.17 (1.04%) to $16.55 on volume of 61.5m units.
• Cisco Systems (CSCO) -0.34 (1.79%) to $18.65 on volume of 49.71m units.
• Google (GOOG) -2.55 (0.6%) to $421.59 on volume of 2.5m units.
• Fannie Mae (FNM) -0 (0%) to $0.58 on volume of 11.25m units.
• Freddie Mac (FRE) +0.01 (1.64%) to $0.62 on volume of 6.57m units.

Other Indices of Interest…

The Banks index (BKX) lost 0.54 points (1.46%) to 36.45 points. Total volume traded in the 24 components of the index was 701.13m shares. Decliners outpaced gainers by 6 to one, with 18 decliners to 3 advancers. Declining volume was greater than advancing volume by 366.78m to 334.35m shares. The main decliners (in percentage terms) were -

• Zions Bancorp (ZION) -0.68 (5.6%) to $11.56 on volume of 6.3m shares;
• Huntington Bancshares (HBAN) -0.15 (3.5%) to $4.18 on volume of 25.03m shares;
• New M&I Corporation (MI) -0.17 (3.4%) to $4.8 on volume of 11.08m shares;
• State Street (STT) -1.3 (2.7%) to $47.2 on volume of 6.59m shares; and
• BB&T Corp (BBT) -0.51 (2.3%) to $21.98 on volume of 6.58m shares.