We'll look at that, and the market indicators " the stocks of the big Nasdaq 100 companies and the Dow Transports " which are falling, and therefore telling us something important.

Another key indicator for markets is the health of the consumer, and the pricing power of the companies that serve us, which we can assess in the trading of the major retailers, auto manufacturers and hotels, restaurants, cruiseships and casinos, where people spend the bulk of their disposable income.

Two weeks ago I remarked: "This has been a good week for the Bulls. Most are still calling this a Bull market." After this week, are you Bulls thinking of jumping off the bandwagon?

This was another one of those weeks where bullish confidence must be shaky. If you look at the three-month stock performance of America's biggest industrial and retail corporations, you have to admit that something is terribly wrong, and that maybe stagflation like the 1970s is a concern.

Consider that for the ten great American industrial corporations " General Electric, IBM, Intel, 3 M Company, Boeing, United Technologies, DuPont, Honeywell, Caterpillar and Alcoa -- with a total market cap of $839 billion, their capitalization dropped an average -13.3 pct in just the past 90 days.

And for the two big American retailers " Wal-Mart and Home Depot " with a combined market cap of $261 billion, the loss in cap was a company average -11.9 pct over the past 90 days.

Is this just now sneaking up on you? Have you not been watching the Dow Transports, the Nasdaq 100, or the Russell 2000 Small Caps either?

There's nothing wrong with the facts. What's wrong is that influential people -- politicians, Treasury Secretaries, central bankers and Wall Street -- are telling you to ignore the facts.

There are millions of Americans, however, who depend on these great American corporations for jobs and healthcare and pensions who know their stock portfolios are falling in value. They feel the pain. They cannot afford to ignore the facts.

A long time ago, thinking people stopped listening to leaders tell them stories that things are fine and well under control in the economy. Many of us ceased listening to the proselytizing of the Kudlow's or, for instance, media who carry the precise same story for three days running under the banner "Breaking News" when they know it's important, but not materially changing.

These people have got control of the stage and they want to keep control. To hell with the facts!

In matters of importance, I think most of us can agree we need to totally filter the entertainment aspects of the reports we get, and stick to the facts.

In a few words, I'd say people are fed up with spin, and they want the truth.

They want to know, for example, how a nobody like Bill Cara can tell them three months ago that the Bear market started that week, which it did, when the most well-connected, the most brilliant and most accomplished leaders in America missed the boat.

Did they really miss the boat, or just give us that impression?

The people now ask why most of the Talking Heads are continuing to deny this is a Bear market.

Would it not have been nice to have saved that -13.3 pct loss in your portfolio in the past quarter year, so that for the next 20, 40 or 60 years you could live better, enjoy financial independence and pass along a larger estate to your heirs?

I'll tell you why we don't get the truth. It's simple. It's because the major centers of influence are grinding their own axes, taking care of their own business, and worse " despicable really " misleading the rest of us.

The ones who are involved in the financial world need prices and emotions to rise, and then they need prices and emotions to fall. And during these cycles they " you can call these people the gnomes if you want " are the centers of influence who are buying at the bottom and selling at the top.

Consequently, "they" get richer. And, given that there is only x amount of economic value that exists in the world, the rest of the people get less rich in spite of growing economies and they in fact get poorer in stagnant and declining economies.

It's why "We The People" must stop listening to any vested interest that isn't working in our own interest.

"They" have the unfair advantage; and "We" have to take it back, which we can do by sharing our own knowledge, skills and experiences to help one another. And that's why I blog.

I blog to share; not take.

On the other hand, I see Humungous Bank & Broker, and politicians, and their controlling friends, on the take.

So I'm glad you too share with your comments and volunteer work for the blog. And to that end, we are going to start a Virtual Investment Club together " free (in money terms) to all those who contribute to it in some way. I'm trying to get it organized by the end of the month.

Because that's what sharing people do.

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Global Market Summary

International Equities: This week was a negative performance week for the major international indexes. China (FXI) and Russia (TRF) did better than +2.0 pct each, but Brazil dropped -2.1 pct, and Japan (EWJ), the U.K. (EWU) and Europe (IEV) were all down precisely -1.2 pct W/W.

U.S. Equities : The Nasdaq Composite was down -1.1 pct W/W (again mostly Friday as nervous traders don't want any Monday opening blues). The S&P 500 dropped about -1.0 pct, but the Russell 2000 Small Cap index took a huge hit (-3.2 pct W/W) as traders are shying away from the greater risk that smaller caps entail.

Dow 30 : There were just 7 Dow stocks that were up W/W, with AIG (+2.5 pct) being the only one up more than +1.9 pct. On the other hand, the big U.S. industrial companies got hit. CAT (-8.3 pct), BA and AA (-4.4 pct), housing market dependent retailer HD (-4.2 pct), and UTX (-3.9 pct) were the biggest losers this week. As part of the Fed decision to hold rates for the first time in 18 meetings, there was also a statement that the U.S. economy is transitioning to a slowdown, which traders used as good reason to sell the big industrial corps. I suppose with the next round of corporate layoffs, the traders will be encouraged to buy shares.

U.S. Sector ETFs: Only 2 of the 10 ETF's I track were up, and barely so. Friday was tough on them all, particularly SMH (chips). With the recent rally, I wrote here a week ago: "Remember, this is still a Bear market " just an extended rally into further distribution." Are you getting the picture now? The point I'll make in this WIR is that the selling is sporadic, which means it is more emotionally driven than one sees in the usual sector rotation. In my experience, that is often a precursor to a major selling wave. Traders be careful.

First segment: most influenced by global commodities, forex and capex spending
10: Energy (XLE): #1 (+0.5 pct); A 76 price for crude hurts the economy
15: Basic Materials (XLB): #6 (-1.3 pct); Gave back prior week's gain
20: Industrials (XLI): #10 (-2.6 pct); Heavy damage across the sector
Second segment: most influenced by U.S. consumer spending and economic growth
25: Cons. Discretionary (XLY): #7 (-1.4 pct); Only JCP is doing well
30: Cons. Staples (XLP): #2 (+0.4 pct); PG strong again in this Bear market
35: Healthcare (IYH): #4 (-0.9 pct); From "taking a breather" to winded
Third segment: most influenced by U.S. interest rates and general economic health
40: Financial (XLF): #8 (-1.9 pct); Bad week for LEH, DB, MS and JPM
45: Tech (SMH chips): #9 (-2.1 pct); Friday was a -3.5 pct loser!
50: Telecom Services (IYZ): #8 (-0.9 pct); VZ ok; T gave back week earlier gain
55: Utilities (XLU): #4 (-0.6 pct); Competing bond yields were tough

Bonds: Thanks to Friday, the interest sensitive market had a tough week. A week ago, Treasury yields dropped between -7 and -10 bp, but this week it was all gained back as bonds sold off, with the long en getting hurt most. The appetite for bonds until Tuesday did permit the Fed to pause in hiking rates, but then there was a sell-off as bond traders are now thinking about inflation. If the economy doesn't continue to weaken, look for the Fed to hike in Sept. Otherwise, bonds will come off more. It could be that the bullish turn I called in bonds a couple months ago is now over.

Commodities: $CRB was down -1.6 pct W/W, which means this index has still risen over two weeks. A week ago I wrote: "; Copper finally dropped (-2.0 pct), which put it on a track opposite to precious metals but consistent with a global economy softening." This week all the metals dropped, but oil remained strong.

Oil & Gas: $WTIC futures were up +1.7 pct W/W to go along with a gain of +2.1 pct a week earlier. A week ago I wrote: "If the economy softens, so too will energy prices " given that the Mid East War seems to be in the final days. But it's early for the hurricane season, so expect choppy prices." I feel there will soon be downside surprises in the oil market.

Gold: $GOLD dropped -2.5 pct W/W to 631.43, a loss of -15.83. I remain positive on the precious metals because I hold the view the USD will decline. Japan is now in a rate hiking mode, which ought to rally the Yen against the USD, which in turn will push up on the price of precious metals.

Goldminers: The goldminers were trashed on Friday, which more than made the loss on the week. GDX in the U.S. dropped -2.52 pct on Friday and only -2.35 pct on the week. XGD (Toronto) dropped -2.67 pct on Friday and -2.65 pct on the week. Maybe this was related to a U.N. Resolution that is trying to bring an end to the Middle East War this weekend. Let's see what Monday brings.

Forex: After the $USD had only one day up in the previous eight, it was ready to rebound. This week $USD gained -1.1 pct. On Friday it was up +0.45 pct. That's just a recovery of the loss of two weeks ago. I remain a Dollar Bear.

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Sector ETF:

Eight of ten sector ETF's were down. The market had been quiet ahead of the Fed decision on Tuesday afternoon. Industrials, Semi-conductors and Financials suffered most this week.

For the U.S. equity market, as you know, I study it top down by sector. Here is the weekly performance of my favorite ten Sector Index Funds (ETF's). The following table is sorted by price performance Week over Week (W/W), i.e. 1W%N.

Table 1: Cara ETF List

Sorted by 1-Week Price Performance

Symbol	Close	1Day Change	1Day %Change	1W %Change	2W %Change	4W %Change	YTD %Change	3M %Change	6M %Change	12M %Change
XLE	58.15	0.03	0.05%	0.54%	0.66%	0.57%	10.34%	-0.99%	10.68%	15.70%
XLP	24.84	-0.05	-0.20%	0.40%	0.61%	3.50%	5.97%	4.11%	7.02%	7.25%
XLU	33.87	-0.08	-0.24%	-0.59%	-0.35%	3.70%	5.84%	7.22%	6.64%	6.61%
IYH	62.38	-0.31	-0.49%	-0.86%	-1.50%	4.66%	-1.96%	2.87%	-1.78%	-1.25%
IYZ	26.03	0.01	0.04%	-0.88%	-1.03%	5.81%	13.32%	2.48%	6.99%	7.96%
XLB	30.76	-0.35	-1.13%	-1.32%	-0.03%	-0.06%	-0.52%	-10.92%	-0.45%	5.70%
XLY	32.03	-0.01	-0.03%	-1.36%	-0.71%	2.04%	-2.94%	-6.97%	-3.67%	-7.27%
XLF	32.61	-0.10	-0.31%	-1.92%	-1.57%	3.13%	1.27%	-2.77%	2.16%	9.47%
SMH	30.63	-1.11	-3.50%	-2.08%	-2.51%	-0.29%	-19.22%	-15.39%	-19.63%	-17.26%
XLI	31.23	-0.18	-0.57%	-2.59%	-2.47%	-2.41%	-1.26%	-12.00%	-1.98%	2.73%

You can do this table yourself by entering the following string into the Summary window at Investertech.com and then clicking on the link for Performance. XLE XLB XLI XLY XLP IYH XLF SMH IYZ XLU . You can also add more ETF's " up to 30 in total.

For a list of components to any ETF, simply go to the AMEX.com web site, and click on ETF's. I do that frequently.

10 (energy: XLE)

15 (basic materials: XLB)

20 (industrial: XLI)

25 (consumer discretionary: XLY)

30 (consumer staples: XLP)

35 (healthcare: IYH)

40 (financial: XLF)

45 (technology, semiconductor: SMH)

50 (telecom: IYZ)

55 (utilities: XLU)

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Sector 10 (energy: XLE, IYE, VDE, OIH, PBW and IXC)

This week, XLE was up +0.54 pct W/W, closing at 58.15. Not much, but enough to put XLE into #1 spot performance wise on the week.

Here's the XLE Monthly, Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

XLE Monthly data:

XLE Weekly data:

XLE Daily data:

XLE Hourly data:

Table 2: Senior oil & gas equities

Sorted by 1-Week Price Performance

Symbol	Close	1Day Change	1Day %Change	1W %Change	2W %Change	4W %Change	YTD %Change	3M %Change	6M %Change	12M %Change
CEO	90.00	0.40	0.45%	4.64%	4.40%	10.29%	30.08%	9.16%	7.28%	17.96%
CVX	67.85	0.50	0.74%	3.34%	2.73%	2.21%	14.84%	8.20%	19.86%	8.56%
IMO	39.16	-0.49	-1.24%	3.16%	7.32%	5.41%	-62.35%	-63.06%	-60.04%	-58.71%
SU	84.09	-0.44	-0.52%	1.73%	5.26%	4.82%	28.32%	-4.49%	15.83%	43.94%
XOM	69.73	0.36	0.52%	1.51%	4.07%	7.44%	19.26%	9.88%	17.33%	14.41%
ECA	53.86	-0.46	-0.85%	0.69%	0.00%	6.74%	15.33%	3.62%	28.70%	17.98%
PBR	94.26	-0.68	-0.72%	0.64%	1.66%	5.21%	26.15%	-9.36%	12.08%	59.09%
TOT	67.29	-0.11	-0.16%	-0.22%	-1.16%	3.43%	-48.27%	-52.79%	-47.72%	-49.18%
STO	28.53	-0.39	-1.35%	-2.69%	-5.37%	-6.31%	18.23%	-10.56%	9.44%	19.12%

The XOM/IMO duo continued to be strong, and so was Suncor (SU), which is now up +5.3 pct over two weeks.

CNOOC, the China National Offshore Oil Co (CEO), was up +4.6 pct this week and a spectacular +30.1 pct YTD. CEO is a Cara 100 company.

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CNOOC Limited [GICS 10, Cara 100]
(CEO: Yahoo Finance file)
(CEO: StockChart chart)
(CEO: Investertech chart)
(CEO: ADVFN Financial Data)
(CEO: ADVFN Financial Data)

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Integrated Oil & Gas - Canada

Oil & Gas Exploration & Production -Canada

The Canadian oils did well on the week, which gave a little support to the Toronto index. But some of the oils look over-bought, both in Canada and the U.S., so be wary of chasing these stocks higher and getting trapped into a dead money situation for six months or more.

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Sector 15 (basic materials: IYM, XLB, IGE and VAW)

The Basic Materials ETF (XLB) went from #1 to #6 this week as the metals gave up a lot on Friday. XLB lost -1.32 pct W/W, but -1.13 pct was due to Friday.

A week ago I wrote: "The Basic Materials (XLB) sector is not out of the woods just because precious metals have been rallying. I'd like you to go to the Daily data chart and look at the RSI since mid-July. What I do when I see a chart like that is run a trend support line under the RSI. I'll stay long only as long as that trend line hasn't been violated on the down side.

I thought I'd introduce this point here (in a Bear market where I want to be long the rallies) because I think it's an effective alternative to placing stops. I use it for all kinds of price series."

So I timed this advice very well. If you watch these charts like a hawk, your performance will improve. One chart on its own might not be meaningful, but a time series of charts for one instrument, plus a sector or geography based chart, or charts of the usual market inter-relationships, will help you build better market assessments, and ultimately better decisions.

At this point, traders are carefully watching oil and the USD markets. Should oil come off and the USD strengthen again next week, then the metals may take a bigger hit. This is a tough call as traders' emotions are heightened.

I'm really watching the USD:JPY market closest to help make that call.

Here's an old chart from sharelynx that shows the correlation.

In the 1980's, when I was last a heavy trader of gold, I had at least a dozen indicators like this I used for decision support. In the 4Q06, in getting back into the business, I'm going to ramp up some similar models. And I'll be trading CFD's (Contracts For Difference) off-market, where the leverage is 100 to 1 in gold and the indices and 20 to 1 for about 1500 international stocks.

Somebody recently asked me to what extent I rely on models, and I admitted that while I'm a rules-oriented trader, I have fallen back into the "gut-feel" mode. But as soon as one goes into advisory services work, as I plan to do in October, then the Other People's Money (OPM) factor comes into play. I need to have sound decision-support systems at hand.

In the blog of course, my advice is free and you take it for what it's worth. My objective here is to get people to think more for themselves than to take advice from others, including me.

Here's the XLB Monthly, Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

XLB Monthly data:

XLB Weekly data:

XLB Daily data:

XLB Hourly data:

Table 3: Senior metals and steel equities

Sorted by 1-Week Price Performance

Symbol	Close	1Day Change	1Day %Change	1W %Change	2W %Change	4W %Change	YTD %Change	3M %Change	6M %Change	12M %Change
PD	90.32	1.85	2.09%	4.57%	10.82%	13.20%	20.96%	-6.57%	27.16%	60.20%
ACH	65.79	0.17	0.26%	1.45%	-5.19%	-6.48%	-17.14%	-30.76%	-31.04%	5.84%
N	79.21	2.50	3.26%	-0.21%	3.68%	19.56%	83.06%	17.30%	65.06%	82.55%
GGB	15.38	-0.37	-2.35%	-2.47%	-1.54%	7.93%	-11.66%	-9.26%	-24.16%	30.01%
PKX	59.30	-1.55	-2.55%	-2.50%	-4.12%	-1.80%	18.01%	-20.31%	8.71%	10.35%
BHP	41.07	-0.21	-0.51%	-3.66%	-4.29%	-2.68%	17.34%	-15.44%	14.53%	26.56%
RTP	202.78	-2.62	-1.28%	-4.07%	-3.59%	-0.82%	7.40%	-17.23%	4.61%	36.09%
AA	28.27	-0.66	-2.28%	-4.40%	-4.91%	-8.18%	-5.45%	-21.52%	-8.39%	-5.04%
NUE	48.77	-2.50	-4.88%	-4.78%	-7.19%	-3.20%	40.63%	-13.74%	21.26%	66.74%
RIO	22.41	-0.48	-2.10%	-6.82%	-5.28%	0.45%	4.23%	-19.79%	-4.31%	28.65%

The Inco (N) situation is still in play. Companhia Vale Do Rio Doce (NYSE: RIO), a great Brazilian miner that is in the Cara 100, has thrown its hat into Inco's nickel ring. Traders of RIO don't like that at all, and have trashed the stock (-6.82 pct) this week.

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Companhia Vale Do Rio Doce [GICS 15, Cara 100]
(RIO: Yahoo Finance file)
(RIO: StockChart chart)
(RIO: Investertech chart)
(RIO: ADVFN Financial Data)(RIO: ADVFN Financial Data)

---

RIO now has the best bid, and it's all cash, so the market is saying that bid will likely win and they have backed off trading Inco (N) higher.

Phelps Dodge (PD), another Inco suitor, has other issues, such as being taken over itself, so that's a double whammy to drive the stock higher, and PD jumped +4.67 pct W/W.

From mid-day Thursday, Teck Cominco shareholders were elated at the prospects of Teck losing the Inco play to Rio, and the TCK shares (on the NYSE) jumped from under 64 to over 71 at the open Friday. Here's the chart.

The TCK stock still lost -1.9 pct on the week as traders are now thinking that all the base metals are looking toppy. After all, they have had a terrific run in this Year of the Metals, which is the moniker I gave the market last December.

Finally, I see that China Aluminum was up +1.5 pct W/W, which has followed a very depressing YTD performance. Months ago, I told you about the idiot guest on CNBC telling the audience how sound an investment in ACH would be. The incompetence sometimes is astounding.

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Sector 20 (industrial: IYJ, XLI, VIS, and IYT)

The ETF for the Industrials and Transport sector, aka capital goods producers, (XLI) was down sharply -2.59 pct W/W to 31.23. The market came out of its doldrums and sold down hard as traders started to think (following the Fed report) that the U.S. economy could be in for a hard landing.

Here's the XLI Monthly, Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

XLI Monthly data:

XLI Weekly data:

XLI Daily data:

XLI Hourly data:

Table 4: Senior capital goods makers and transportation

Sorted by 1-Week Price Performance

Symbol	Close	1Day Change	1Day %Change	1W %Change	2W %Change	4W %Change	YTD %Change	3M %Change	6M %Change	12M %Change
TYC	25.51	0.04	0.16%	-0.55%	-2.74%	-1.35%	-13.93%	-7.10%	0.20%	-10.80%
ERJ	33.83	-0.42	-1.23%	-0.59%	-3.26%	0.33%	-13.83%	-11.92%	-9.62%	-0.91%
GE	32.50	-0.17	-0.52%	-0.91%	-1.57%	1.21%	-8.11%	-5.82%	-2.34%	-5.82%
MMM	68.53	0.12	0.18%	-1.32%	-2.82%	-3.78%	-13.37%	-21.38%	-5.62%	-5.29%
HON	37.46	0.22	0.59%	-1.86%	-2.09%	1.22%	0.00%	-13.96%	-5.48%	-3.55%
UTX	60.15	-0.30	-0.50%	-3.87%	-3.22%	2.28%	6.40%	-8.61%	5.29%	16.50%
CBE	83.55	0.15	0.18%	-4.41%	-2.87%	-4.55%	13.09%	-9.41%	0.75%	29.49%
BA	75.96	-0.24	-0.31%	-4.44%	-3.74%	-1.67%	7.99%	-13.89%	4.73%	12.85%
CAT	67.03	-1.29	-1.89%	-8.28%	-5.87%	-3.12%	15.97%	-15.81%	-2.50%	20.77%

Caterpillar (CAT) went from recent hero to outcast this week. The CAT fell -8.28 pct. Ouch! A week ago I wrote: "CAT has enjoyed the best success (up this week +2.63 pct, and +6.92 pct over two weeks), mainly because the gold and silver miners are looking good; But this group has had a tough quarter as Table 4 shows."

So I was kind of pointing out the reality of the problems on the one hand, and the hope that precious metals would stay strong, which they didn't.

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Sector 25 (consumer discretionary: XLY, IYC and VCR)

The Consumer Discretionary sector ETF (XLY) was down -1.36 pct W/W, so the ETF dropped from #2 to #7 of 10 ETFs I follow.

After it hit #2 a week ago, I wrote: "But, I remain basically negative (at best, cautious) on XLY." There are so many factors that hurt the consumer cyclical stocks at this point. There are (i) high fuel costs, (ii) slowing economy (iii) quality jobs being sent abroad (iv) more consumers slipping under the so-called poverty line (v) heightened terror alerts (vi) falling home prices in many markets, which means the end of the ‘wealth effect', and (vii) others too numerous to mention.

You know, next to the chips group (SMH), this XLY is weakest Y/Y and over the past six months and YTD.

At the same time I was telling you "Chip and Dip", I was also writing about "Consumers Have No Tickee". I couldn't make it plainer.

Meanwhile the President was telling you "Noooo Problem!" Well, HE IS THE PRESIDENT, and I'm just one of the Little People.

The difference, of course, is that the other guy is carrying one heck of an axe, and from all the photo ops " must be a record " he has been grinding it constantly for years now.

But the truth is that Little People know that it's tough being a consumer in George's World. As George's Oil Administration gushered in higher oil prices, the U.S. consumer (proxy = XLY plus the GM/Ford auto companies) crapped out. XLY peaked in Dec-2004 and has been in a long Bear phase since then. That's 20 months!

No wonder people are unhappy with politicians.

Here's the XLY Monthly, Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

XLY Monthly data:

XLY Weekly data:

XLY Daily data:

XLY Hourly data:

Table 5: Senior consumer discretionary equities

Sorted by 1-Week Price Performance

Symbol	Close	1Day Change	1Day %Change	1W %Change	2W %Change	4W %Change	YTD %Change	3M %Change	6M %Change	12M %Change
JCP	65.20	-0.38	-0.58%	1.76%	3.90%	0.56%	15.50%	-1.18%	17.99%	25.51%
EBAY	24.20	-0.64	-2.58%	0.00%	-0.94%	-5.39%	-45.57%	-24.42%	-38.78%	-41.80%
TM	107.47	-1.90	-1.74%	-0.62%	1.77%	9.71%	0.58%	-7.89%	4.05%	34.91%
DIS	29.43	-0.15	-0.51%	-1.57%	-0.91%	3.30%	20.61%	-1.24%	10.31%	13.72%
BC	29.47	0.24	0.82%	-2.26%	-0.20%	6.93%	-27.80%	-24.46%	-23.67%	-35.27%
SBUX	29.90	-0.06	-0.20%	-2.32%	-12.14%	-11.17%	-3.14%	-18.17%	-15.77%	14.17%
CCL	37.59	-0.32	-0.84%	-2.36%	-5.31%	-5.36%	-31.12%	-20.95%	-27.99%	-26.51%
NKE	76.51	0.31	0.41%	-2.75%	-4.24%	-2.63%	-10.98%	-5.90%	-9.42%	-6.65%
WHR	76.06	0.61	0.81%	-3.99%	-2.81%	0.32%	-8.00%	-16.45%	-12.86%	-5.75%

A week ago I wrote a lot about a Cara 100 favorite, Carnival Cruise Lines, saying that it would be best to avoid until late Sept or maybe Oct. This week CCL dropped another -2.4 pct. That's -31.1 pct YTD.

When the bottom in this stock comes in " 4Q06 " I think the 24-36 month upside will be huge. But that depends on American's still having good quality jobs, and being able to re-fill their autos at the pumps at a reasonable cost.

There is a new Cara 100 this weekend " as soon as I can post it. It is Target (NYSE: TGT). I haven't yet decided to put it into the Consumer Cyclicals or Staples, but for now it goes into the Cyclicals because I think that the target of Target is the consumer with some Tickee to spend on discretionary items.

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Target Corporation [GICS 25, Cara 100]
(TGT: Yahoo Finance file)
(TGT: StockChart chart)
(TGT: Investertech chart)
(TGT: ADVFN Financial Data)(TGT: ADVFN Financial Data)

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Sector 30 (consumer staples: XLP, VDC, RTH and IYK)

This week the Consumer Staples sector ETF (XLP) gained a wooden dime to close at 24.84, up +0.40 pct W/W to slip into #2 performer spot.

A week ago, XLP gained a wooden nickel. It might be Funny Money, but it's money nonetheless.

Here's the XLP Monthly, Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

XLP Monthly data:

XLP Weekly data:

XLP Daily data:

XLP Hourly data:

Table 6: Senior consumer staples equities

Sorted by 1-Week Price Performance

Symbol	Close	1Day Change	1Day %Change	1W %Change	2W %Change	4W %Change	YTD %Change	3M %Change	6M %Change	12M %Change
PG	60.26	0.00	0.00%	1.36%	6.07%	8.34%	2.52%	8.28%	0.94%	12.30%
MO	80.84	0.28	0.35%	1.18%	0.19%	4.46%	7.82%	13.30%	12.48%	19.83%
BUD	48.20	-0.01	-0.02%	1.01%	0.63%	6.66%	10.37%	4.58%	19.25%	8.49%
PEP	63.33	0.13	0.21%	0.25%	0.32%	2.48%	5.97%	8.53%	9.32%	15.76%
DEO	70.53	-0.06	-0.08%	0.24%	0.01%	5.93%	18.42%	2.57%	17.75%	23.41%
KO	43.76	-0.14	-0.32%	-0.21%	-1.71%	2.60%	6.99%	0.88%	6.32%	-0.79%
WAG	48.42	-0.07	-0.14%	-0.39%	3.17%	5.28%	6.68%	19.11%	11.93%	0.17%
WMT	44.69	-0.20	-0.45%	-0.40%	0.52%	3.81%	-3.33%	-5.42%	-2.32%	-8.70%
ABV	40.88	-0.27	-0.66%	-0.99%	0.74%	5.61%	6.07%	-12.43%	-0.75%	26.60%
WFMI	47.37	-0.86	-1.78%	-7.53%	-17.83%	-18.87%	-38.56%	-32.43%	-26.95%	-30.27%

Procter & Gamble (PG), Altria (MO) and Budweiser (BUD) were up over +1.0 pct each. That makes PG the only winner of the three over the past two weeks.

For what it's worth, it's been a while (the week ending June 3) that PG showed up on the top losers list.

But don't think PG is SAFE in a serious storm like that of Black Monday Oct 19 1987. For proof, turn to the history charts at BigCharts.com and insert PG. Or go to the historical prices for PG at Yahoo Finance for October 1987 and a month forward.

That'll hurt like a staple all right " in your finger! That was real money.

And in case you don't know history, it was the fact that on Black Monday the Little People couldn't get their orders through to the Brokers who had tied up all the phone lines putting in their personal trading orders. I was there, running a trading floor on the penthouse floor of the Toronto Stock Exchange tower at the time. A couple months later, I split from the sell-side of the industry and formed my own registered dealer in ways I knew I could help clients best.

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Sector 35 (healthcare: IYH, XLV, VHT, IXJ, and IBB)

The healthcare ETF (IYH) was down -0.86 pct W/W to close at 62.38.

Here's the IYH Monthly, Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

IYH Monthly data:

IYH Weekly data:

IYH Daily data:

IYH Hourly data:

Table 7: Senior healthcare equities

Sorted by 1-Week Price Performance

Symbol	Close	1Day Change	1Day %Change	1W %Change	2W %Change	4W %Change	YTD %Change	3M %Change	6M %Change	12M %Change
AET	35.41	0.04	0.11%	6.75%	10.07%	-6.42%	-24.71%	-10.83%	-29.48%	-10.65%
GSK	55.04	-0.06	-0.11%	0.71%	-1.04%	1.79%	8.01%	-3.42%	6.83%	14.91%
JNJ	63.47	-0.08	-0.13%	-0.09%	0.87%	4.98%	2.99%	7.87%	8.70%	-1.31%
PFE	25.82	-0.15	-0.58%	-0.62%	-1.11%	15.22%	8.58%	4.07%	0.55%	-2.34%
BMET	33.23	-0.03	-0.09%	-1.04%	-0.84%	9.49%	-9.90%	-10.53%	-10.12%	-13.06%
NVS	55.45	-0.08	-0.14%	-1.19%	-1.60%	1.87%	3.70%	-2.26%	2.53%	10.02%
DNA	79.56	-0.56	-0.70%	-1.50%	-0.72%	0.13%	-15.36%	0.94%	-4.74%	-10.34%
UNH	47.57	0.17	0.36%	-2.04%	-0.59%	0.04%	-22.94%	7.21%	-18.82%	-9.17%
AMGN	66.40	-0.51	-0.76%	-3.47%	-3.87%	3.19%	-17.37%	-1.31%	-7.07%	-17.86%
BMY	20.24	-0.59	-2.83%	-11.03%	-17.29%	-17.59%	-12.91%	-17.79%	-9.64%	-19.39%

This week I dropped UnitedHealth Group (UNH) from the Cara Global Best 100 Companies. I figure if (i) the senior officers are embroiled in a scandalous personal options back-dating affair, and (ii) the auditors will not allow them to file financials with the regulators, I don't want to be associated.

I said this before: I will drop all support for any company that is involved in this scandal. I had been aware that UNH was rumored to be, but I had to wait for proof.

As far as the statement that Apple Computer made, and the Nasdaq response of "No filing; no listing", Apple was not in the Cara 100. I have known Apple since they started "in the garage" in the 1970's, and I can say it has been one cycle after another of good followed by hype followed by bad followed by disappointment.

Good products and good marketing, notwithstanding. Life's too short to play the Apple game.

Aetna had another real solid week. I'm glad I supported the stock at the bottom of the cycle Aug 1 when I wrote it up while trading at $31.03.

Yes, some people hate when I brag, but I did miss the absolute bottom at $30.94 by nine cents. Moreover I published my reasons, and just so you wouldn't miss the point I did a follow-up article a couple hours later where I gave you some Wall Street research that supported my case.

Here's what I call proof of concept in my teaching. Check the mid day low of Aug 1, when I published my positive report on Aetna. You know, I'm still looking for the people on Wall Street who can do this " or who would do it free for the People.

The gain btw has been +14.1 pct in 8½ trading sessions. AET this week was up +6.75 pct W/W.

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Sector 40 (financial: IYG, IYF, XLF, VFH, IXG, VNQ, RWR, IYR, and ICF)

The Financials ETF (XLF) lost BIG this week, -1.92 pct W/W to close at 32.61.

After giving you a list of reasons a week ago, I wrote: "So don't expect any improvement in XLF; Besides, the market is slowing and the economy is slowing, so even the investment banks are going to have a tough time matching this past quarter's operating performance numbers."

Look at Table 8 below to see the results of the week. Not pretty for LEH, DB, MS or JPM.

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Here's the XLF Monthly, Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

XLF Monthly data:

XLF Weekly data:

XLF Daily data:

XLF Hourly data:

Table 8: Senior financial company equities

Sorted by 1-Week Price Performance

Symbol	Close	1Day Change	1Day %Change	1W %Change	2W %Change	4W %Change	YTD %Change	3M %Change	6M %Change	12M %Change
MER	72.73	-0.40	-0.55%	0.21%	0.59%	7.76%	6.24%	-1.72%	-0.08%	23.52%
HBC	90.09	-0.46	-0.51%	-0.58%	-0.85%	3.59%	10.30%	-1.04%	9.44%	8.24%
GS	151.11	-0.52	-0.34%	-1.24%	-0.40%	7.86%	17.26%	-5.13%	7.31%	32.39%
CSR	53.50	-0.92	-1.69%	-1.53%	-4.62%	3.34%	0.28%	-15.76%	-10.76%	21.65%
C	47.64	-0.33	-0.69%	-1.77%	-1.43%	0.13%	-3.35%	-3.72%	3.66%	9.49%
UBS	52.87	-0.30	-0.56%	-1.89%	-2.96%	4.76%	7.13%	-13.27%	-1.87%	26.18%
JPM	43.93	-0.12	-0.27%	-2.64%	-3.41%	7.43%	9.31%	-2.70%	10.05%	26.20%
MS	65.36	0.13	0.20%	-3.44%	-1.31%	7.69%	11.82%	1.71%	8.37%	0.00%
DB	108.04	-0.97	-0.89%	-3.87%	-7.19%	1.91%	8.63%	-13.49%	1.47%	21.04%
LEH	64.26	-0.75	-1.15%	-4.87%	-1.74%	6.16%	-1.05%	-10.46%	-6.53%	20.81%

Humungous Bank & Broker took a big hit this week. I wonder if they pointed that out to their buy-side accounts. (lol)

For all traders who follow the musings of Maria Boardroom on CNBC, alerting us every time "her" financials look heavenly, take a look at the 3-month price performance of the biggest, best-managed, best-connected financial conglomerates in the world.

Only Morgan Stanley (an ex-employer of mine) is above water, and that's because John Mack has managed to turn the ship around where the staff there is now pulling on the oars together. I think when a complete Bull & Bear cycle is finished in a couple years under Mack; Morgan Stanley is going to be one of the remarkable stories on the Street.

If were young and coming out of school with a solid background, I wouldn't hesitate to knock on their door (again).

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Sector 45 (technology: IGM, IGV, IGW, XLK, VGT, IYW, IGN, IXN, MTK and SMH)

Thanks to a disastrous Friday, the semi-conductor industry ETF (SMH) stayed at #9 this week, trading down -2.08 pct, to close at 30.63. On Friday, SMH crashed -3.50 pct.

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Here's the SMH Monthly, Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

SMH Monthly data:

SMH Weekly data:

SMH Daily data:

SMH Hourly data:

Table 9: Senior technology equities

Sorted by 1-Week Price Performance

Symbol	Close	1Day Change	1Day %Change	1W %Change	2W %Change	4W %Change	YTD %Change	3M %Change	6M %Change	12M %Change
CSCO	19.54	-0.02	-0.10%	13.34%	8.08%	8.92%	11.98%	-2.54%	-1.11%	8.19%
ORCL	14.99	-0.14	-0.93%	2.53%	-0.53%	4.90%	18.97%	7.76%	18.12%	12.12%
ADBE	31.85	-0.35	-1.09%	0.41%	15.27%	13.71%	-17.32%	-2.39%	-17.68%	19.33%
INFY	41.48	0.16	0.39%	-0.17%	-0.31%	-47.15%	-48.44%	-47.23%	-43.48%	-42.83%
INTC	17.41	-0.34	-1.92%	-0.46%	-4.24%	-2.63%	-31.91%	-10.07%	-18.22%	-35.09%
ADSK	32.33	-0.82	-2.47%	-2.94%	-0.25%	6.17%	-24.37%	-15.14%	-13.83%	-11.88%
SAP	44.08	-0.40	-0.90%	-2.99%	-3.46%	-5.97%	-4.07%	-18.78%	-11.98%	0.78%
SNDK	45.83	-1.18	-2.51%	-3.80%	-2.78%	16.97%	-32.30%	-25.66%	-25.16%	29.17%
CTSH	65.70	-0.55	-0.83%	-3.91%	1.80%	5.12%	29.61%	-3.88%	18.91%	38.20%
QCOM	33.31	-0.59	-1.74%	-5.66%	-6.93%	-8.41%	-24.30%	-32.57%	-28.61%	-17.71%

Cisco (CSCO) had a stunning week, up +13.3 pct to close at $19.54. Aren't you glad on Wednesday morning at 8:29am I started up the Cisco train with a call to get everybody focused? The stock was $17.30 at the time, which makes the three-day gain (in a dreadful tech market to boot) over +12.9 pct.

Then again, I didn't say Accumulate. I didn't say Buy. I simply wrote that Cisco was one of my favorite companies, and the stock had been hammered unmercifully since the popping of the Internet Bubble. But it was time to get over that. I was looking at put writes that would have taken my cost base (if put to me) back to price levels not seen since 1H03.

As one of the readers commented, it was a tradable rally. The win on the put option premium income can now be applied to past costs or to future costs, thereby reducing the cost base in the portfolio. And that's called effective money management.

In order to out-perform, you have to learn the art of options over-writing (writing puts and calls) to go along with the learning of market timing skills and apply that to the highest quality companies.

Sometimes the RSI doesn't quite get down to the Accumulation Zone, so you have to be aware of the peer group. When the rally happened there a couple weeks earlier, I pointed out that a couple of my group of close to 20 candidates had not started along with the others. Then one of those did, and this week it was CSCO.

Just remember; this was a tradable rally. A short one can be a good one.

No, it can be a great one. The Bond King would die to have a gain of +13 pct in three days (CSCO) or +14 pct in 9 days (AET).

You see, I may call this a Bear market, but it doesn't mean I won't buy stocks long. In a Bear, you must be thinking of the short-term rallies if you are going to take the extra risk of going long.

Bear markets are where you BUY, HOLD and LOSE " unless time doesn't mean much to you.

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Sector 50 (telecom: IYZ, VOX and IXP)

The U.S. telco sector ETF (IYZ) was down -0.88 pct W/W to close at 26.03. The bonds were down, which means the interest yields were up. That means the high dividend yields on the Telcos and Utilities would have more competition from the fixed income market.

So two weeks ago I noticed the bond market sagging, and pointed you to issues that might crop up in the Telco and Utility stocks. In addition to having to compete with rising interest yields, these companies have a lot of bonds as assets on their balance sheets. So this is a double whammy " not a big one unless bonds really crash, mind you.

Here's the IYZ Monthly, Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

IYZ Monthly data:

IYZ Weekly data:

IYZ Daily data:

IYZ Hourly data:

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Sector 55 (utilities: IDU, XLU, and VPU)

The Utilities ETF (XLU) closed down -0.59 pct W/W to close at 33.87.

The sector had been a winner as long as the bonds were in rally mode. For proof of concept go look at the monthly data charts for TLT (20+ year bonds) versus the XLU from April 2004 through October 2005.

Now I don't have the time to put the time horizon to the same period for both, but look at the dates I mentioned, and see the trading correlation. As bonds soared, so too did XLU. Then when bonds headed south, so too did XLU.

Here's the XLU Monthly, Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

XLU Monthly data:

XLU Weekly data:

XLU Daily data:

XLU Hourly data:

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Bonds:

The bond market backed off this week. Yields for the Treasury instruments moved higher by +6 basis points (bp) for the 2-year Treasury paper through +11 bp for the 30-year bonds.

The yield curve sloped gently higher, however, indicating trader notions that the Fed pause on Tuesday may take some pressure off the economy.

This week, 30-year Treasury bonds moved up in yield +11 bp from 4.98 pct to 5.09. The 10-year Treasury yield rallied +9 bp from 4.89 pct to 4.98; the 5-year Treasuries movd +8 bp from 4.82 pct to 4.90, and the 2-year yields moved +6 bp from 4.90 pct to 4.96.

Essentially, these rates are pretty much where they were two weeks ago.

I don't think Ben Bernanke had much of an option for choosing the pause in rate hikes. The bond market is huge, and had been shouting that rates were going to continue to drop and go well below the overnight Fed lending rate. Bankers cold not make any money with the yield curve sloping down.

Besides, higher rates would have worked into higher Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM), which would have caused more economic damage in terms of less demand for housing, greater foreclosures, and so forth.

So Bernanke did what he could do, and now we have to wait until the Sept meeting to see what's in store.

Interest rates and bond yields.

Weekly data charts:

Daily data charts:

Hourly data charts:

US Treasury Bonds

Maturity	Yield	Yesterday	Last Week	Last Month
3 Month	4.91	4.90	4.93	4.92
6 Month	4.99	4.94	4.94	5.07
2 Year	4.96	4.92	4.90	5.16
3 Year	4.93	4.89	4.85	5.12
5 Year	4.90	4.86	4.82	5.07
10 Year	4.98	4.94	4.89	5.10
30 Year	5.09	5.06	4.98	5.13

Municipal Bonds

Maturity	Yield	Yesterday	Last Week	Last Month
2yr AA	3.60	3.61	3.63	3.71
2yr AAA	3.55	3.56	3.63	3.73
2yr A	3.75	3.69	3.78	3.84
5yr AAA	3.67	3.68	3.69	3.85
5yr AA	3.68	3.68	3.71	3.88
5yr A	3.68	3.70	3.75	3.94
10yr AAA	3.90	3.90	3.92	4.08
10yr AA	3.88	3.89	3.90	4.05
10yr A	4.04	4.04	4.05	4.15
20yr AAA	4.28	4.26	4.28	4.44
20yr AA	4.27	4.25	4.27	4.42
20yr A	4.36	4.33	4.42	4.58

Corporate Bonds

Maturity	Yield	Yesterday	Last Week	Last Month
2yr AA	5.41	5.34	5.32	5.58
2yr A	5.46	5.43	5.40	5.66
5yr AAA	5.47	5.38	5.37	5.62
5yr AA	5.53	5.46	5.44	5.69
5yr A	5.60	5.54	5.52	5.76
10yr AAA	6.00	5.73	5.75	5.90
10yr AA	5.87	5.74	5.67	5.89
10yr A	5.96	5.87	5.83	6.04
20yr AAA	6.12	6.05	6.04	6.15
20yr AA	6.30	6.26	6.26	6.36
20yr A	6.32	6.30	6.29	6.37

Interest rates and bond yields.

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A week ago I wrote: "If the rates are held flat for a while, and the economy cools just a little, then I do think the topping out of the equity market and the subsequent termination process for this Bear market will be a long one " similar to the 2H99-1H00, where stocks took a long time to break down; Unless Fed rates come down to match the recent decline in the bond yields, I can't see how the bond yields can continue to fall (and prices rise), however."

So there was a pause " a rate cut " and now the bond yields have started to rally, which puts more pressure on Bernanke.

We'll have to see where bond prices are headed. I'm now not so predisposed to higher prices as I was two weeks ago.

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US Bond Funds -- Monthly Data Charts

SHY Monthly data series chart:

IEF Monthly data series chart:

TLT Monthly data series chart:

AGG Monthly data series chart:

LQD Monthly data series chart:

TIP Monthly data series chart:

US Bond Funds -- Weekly Data Charts

SHY Weekly data series chart:

IEF Weekly data series chart:

TLT Weekly data series chart:

AGG Weekly data series chart:

LQD Weekly data series chart:

TIP Weekly data series chart:

US Bond Funds -- Daily Data Charts

SHY Daily data series chart:

IEF Daily data series chart:

TLT Daily data series chart:

AGG Daily data series chart:

LQD Daily data series chart:

TIP Daily data series chart:

US Bond Funds -- Hourly Data Charts

SHY Hourly data series chart:

IEF Hourly data series chart:

TLT Hourly data series chart:

AGG Hourly data series chart:

LQD Hourly data series chart:

TIP Hourly data series chart:

Two weeks ago, I wrote: "The consumer loan group (CFC, FNM and FRE) had a split result this week. Fannie and Freddie zoomed, while Countrywide took a hit of -6.67 pct, which included a rally on Friday of +3.94 pct, so maybe the worst is over."

It was " for a week. This week, Countrywide Financial was creamed even worse. CFC crashed -11.9 pct W/W, including -2.8 pct on Friday.

So the real estate mortgage lending business is a tough one these days, particularly in California where oil prices are a concern after the BP oil pipeline is going to cause more local cost issues for home-owners.

But the June quarter financial summary data for CFC doesn't look bad, and the foreclosure rates lessened, so, in dumping stock, traders are saying they don't like picture moving forward.

Table 11: Interest-sensitive securities

Sorted by 1-Week Price Performance.

Symbol	Close	1Day Change	1Day %Change	1W %Change	2W %Change	4W %Change	YTD %Change	3M %Change	6M %Change	12M %Change
FRE	58.50	-0.19	-0.32%	1.56%	0.22%	4.84%	-10.41%	-6.71%	-12.44%	-6.30%
FNM	47.71	-0.24	-0.50%	0.42%	-2.69%	1.32%	-2.11%	-5.99%	-12.68%	-8.25%
SHY	79.77	-0.07	-0.09%	0.01%	-0.20%	0.23%	-0.68%	0.14%	-0.20%	-0.98%
AGG	98.47	-0.17	-0.17%	-0.13%	-0.05%	0.60%	-2.16%	0.69%	-1.38%	-3.02%
TIP	100.74	-0.24	-0.24%	-0.24%	0.19%	1.16%	-2.23%	1.10%	-1.49%	-2.36%
IEF	81.16	-0.22	-0.27%	-0.47%	-0.16%	0.64%	-3.27%	1.26%	-1.77%	-3.70%
TLT	85.40	-0.37	-0.43%	-1.07%	-0.35%	0.45%	-6.95%	2.47%	-5.43%	-7.55%
CFC	32.94	-0.96	-2.83%	-11.93%	-9.51%	-10.54%	-5.78%	-21.57%	-0.93%	-7.13%

Consumer Finance -USA -- Weekly Data Charts

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Consumer Finance -USA -- Daily Data Charts

Consumer Finance -USA -- Hourly Data Charts

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Commodities:

$CRB dropped -1.58 pct W/W after having rallied for a couple weeks. Of course, Friday didn't help as the index fell by -1.01 pct that day alone, to close at 344.53.

The price is currently well above the 40-week Moving Average (support when prices are above it and falling, and resistance when below and trying to rally up through it), which is now 337.46, but is barely above the important 50-day MA (344.18).

Weekly CRB Commodities Index:

Daily CRB Commodities Index:

This week $WTIC (near oil futures) closed up +1.65 pct to 75.99, up from 74.76. As I said a week ago, "above 75 is a scary place for equity traders." And you saw what happened to equity prices.

Oil has been strong, with the 50-day MA at 73.53, and the 40-week MA all the way down at 67.23.

Do you remember those days when we said we'd likely not see $70 oil for quite a while, and instead we were looking back to 55-65?

There hasn't been much weakness in this market at all. I wonder how Steve Forbes thinks after being so adamant about his forecast of $35 oil for this year.

I guess if we were all brilliant, like Steve, we'd be billionaires too. (lol)

You know the joke about how these people get to be billionaires? They start with two.

But call yourself a billionaire, and everybody wants to hear you whisper in their ear.

Weekly Crude Oil:

Daily Crude Oil:

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Gold:

$GOLD suffered a loss of -2.45 pct W/W, to close the week at 631.43. For all the screaming, you'd think it was 531.43.

A week ago I wrote: "If there is a Fed pause on Tuesday, I expect a quick spurt to gold and silver, followed by a pull-back due to Fed bullion sales, followed by a very serious rally to the $680-700 level for gold and maybe as much as $15 level for silver. "

Well, there was a Fed pause, followed by a quick $4 rally, followed by a drop to a weekly low of 627.14, which was well above the 50-day MA support (619.56) before closing a little shaky at 631.43.

Yes, Thursday and Friday were weak, more for the miners than the bullion. And within the bullion, more for the spot than the futures.

Future direction here depends largely on the $USD and the Dollar:Euro and Dollar:Yen trading.

The USD does have some strong technical resistance in the days and weeks ahead, but that still leaves several days for strength, which means that the charts don't look all that great for precious metals for the week ahead.

With the cross-currents in the market, what with U.N. resolutions, Alaska oil pipelines being shut down, and matters too numerous to mention, it's probably a good time for me to take a holiday. This gold forecasting game is getting very tough today. :-)

Weekly Gold EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Daily Gold EOD Continuous Contract Index:

This interactive chart shows the recent trading for the Gold Bullion index.

---

$SILVER had a terrible Friday and a worse week. It was the worst of the precious metals I follow.

This week, $SILVER lost -3.80 pct, including -2.14 pct on Friday. The prior Friday, however, it had gained +2.55 pct, so the six-session loss was minimal.

Weekly Silver EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Daily Silver EOD Continuous Contract Index:

This interactive chart shows the recent trading for the Silver Bullion index.

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$PLAT closed down -0.08 pct W/W to 1255.40, which is a wooden buck, hence meaningless. Friday it was even up a bit.

Weekly Platinum EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Daily Platinum EOD Continuous Contract Index:

This interactive chart shows the recent trading for the Platinum metal index.

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$PALL lost -1.45 pct W/W to close at 324.89, and was quiet on Friday.

Weekly Palladium EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Daily Palladium EOD Continuous Contract Index:

This interactive chart shows the recent trading for the Palladium metal index.

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A week ago, I wrote: "This week $COPPER jumped back +6.80 pct to close at 354.90 in some of the most volatile trading seen in years. As I say, these are markets that day traders enjoy whereas the general public hates them. (However) I remain more cautious on copper than gold and silver."

$COPPER moved from 347.95 to 361.50, which is a gain in my books, but the StockCharts data says it actually lost -0.48 pct W/W.

I don't think so, but I'm not gong to stop to figure it out.

Weekly Copper EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Daily Copper EOD Continuous Contract Index:

This interactive chart shows the recent trading for the Copper metal index.

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Table 12: Senior gold equities

Sorted by 1-Week Price Performance

Symbol	Close	1Day Change	1Day %Change	1W %Change	2W %Change	4W %Change	YTD %Change	3M %Change	6M %Change	12M %Change
KGC	12.37	-0.29	-2.29%	2.91%	7.19%	9.76%	25.08%	-2.44%	26.35%	87.14%
MDG	27.40	-0.64	-2.28%	-0.22%	0.00%	-9.24%	14.36%	-23.18%	15.42%	35.44%
NEM	51.75	-1.12	-2.12%	-0.99%	0.45%	-5.84%	-9.43%	-10.98%	-5.57%	25.15%
GG	29.58	-0.70	-2.31%	-1.30%	0.99%	-0.67%	22.23%	-25.06%	21.38%	61.46%
ABX	31.17	-0.73	-2.29%	-2.10%	2.10%	2.74%	8.15%	-9.57%	9.25%	13.76%
GFI	20.65	-0.73	-3.41%	-2.32%	-2.55%	-10.76%	7.16%	-21.57%	-8.26%	81.14%
GLG	36.27	-1.20	-3.20%	-2.66%	-1.65%	-2.37%	21.92%	-11.02%	28.57%	82.63%
LIHRY	43.70	-0.35	-0.79%	-3.15%	1.77%	-4.54%	26.01%	-21.66%	38.91%	91.67%
AEM	35.05	-1.59	-4.34%	-4.21%	-1.79%	0.86%	59.03%	-11.06%	49.85%	157.15%
BVN	28.00	-1.02	-3.51%	-5.08%	-3.35%	6.83%	-5.28%	-7.25%	9.25%	15.23%

The $XAU (Goldminer futures index), the U.S.-listed goldminers ETF (GDX), and the Toronto goldminer index ETF (XGD) were down -1.82 pct, -2.35 pct and -2.65 pct respectively. Most of the losses were incurred on Friday. These indexes were up quite a bit the prior couple weeks.

I'm going to hold off on saying much this report until I can take a vacation in which case I say nothing (just kidding) or gold starts to go my way again, in which case I can take credit. (lol). Actually I'll comment early in the week.

---

To watch the moves in precious metal miners, you will have to monitor the individual stock charts, preferably in real-time, as follows:

NEM ABX AU GFI GG HMY GLG KGC BVN
15-minute data
60-minute data
Daily data
Weekly data

MDG LIHRY AEM BGO IAG EGO PAAS GOLD CDE GRS
15-minute data
60-minute data
Daily data
Weekly data

CBJ SSRI RGLD SIL NG KRY HL TSE_HRG TSE_GUY TSE_AGI
15-minute data
60-minute data
Daily data
Weekly data

NXG GSS MNG DROOY MFN RNO RANGY MRB CLG GRZ
15-minute data
60-minute data
Daily data
Weekly data

Here are the key Silver miners and the SLV ETF:

SLV SIL CDE HL PAAS SSRI SLW WTZ MGN

15-minute data
60-minute data
Daily data
Weekly data

---

Here are the Weekly and Daily Data charts of the indexes:

Weekly U.S. Goldminers Index:

Weekly U.S. Goldminers Index:

Daily U.S. Goldminers Index:

The U.S. goldminer share trust ETF trades under the ticker symbol GDX.

GDX this week was down -2.35 pct W/W to close at $38.69. On Friday, it dropped -2.52 pct.

Here are the U.S. Goldminer ETF (GDX) index Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

GDX Weekly data:

GDX Daily data:

GDX Hourly data:

The Toronto Exchange-listed goldminer iUnits S&P/TSX Capped Gold Index ETF trades under the ticker symbol TSE:XGD.

This week XGD dropped -2.65 pct, but the whole loss was taken on Friday.

Here are the Weekly and Daily data charts for the TSX Goldshares (XGD) index:

XGD Weekly data:

XGD Daily data:

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Forex:

The $USD regained lost ground this week. The $USD moved up +1.06 pct W/W, which included a gain of -0.45 pct on Friday, to close at 85.48. It was just two weeks ago I wrote: "It's going my way." :-(

I'm not going to let two days (Thursday and Friday) discourage me, however. It was just a week ago, I wrote about the losses in the USD: "But, remember, nothing in the market happens in a straight line." You see how right I am. (lol)

Let's wait til Monday to see if there is going to be three up days in a row.

I'm a Dollar Bear, for the long-term.

Weekly U.S. Dollar Index:

Daily U.S. U.S. Dollar Index:

The Euro (priced in USD) fell an equivalent amount to the rally in the $USD this week. The $XEU dropped -1.29 pct W/W.

Weekly Euro Dollar Index, priced in USD:

Daily Euro Dollar Index, priced in USD:

---

Weekly British Pound Index:

Daily British Pound Index:

The British Pound lost -1.02 pct W/W to close 188.94. There was a big down day on Thursday, and the charts are looking weak for the period ahead. Unfortunately for my USD forecast.

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Weekly Japanese Yen Index:

Daily Japanesse Yen Index:

The Japanese Yen was really weak against the USD this week. Friday was a disaster, as the JPY dropped -0.90 pct, which made for a loss of -1.79 pct for the week.

The JPY now sits at 85.92. There is solid technical support at 84.87. But by then my gold might get crushed another $10-$20 USD.

To say I am surprised that the USD gained so much strength against all the currencies this week would be an understatement. To me, the U.N. Resolution and shut down of fighting in Lebabon ought to weaken the USD. Yes, it will also weaken oil, but there are so many other negatives to consider for oil, that I can't see oil dropping like a stone should the war end in Lebabon.

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Weekly Canadian Dollar Index:

The Cdn Dollar gained +0.38 pct against the USD this week, including +0.20 pct on Friday.

I have been waiting for the Cdn Dollar to move up to the low 90's from its current price of 88.92. But the short-term move must break up through the 50-day MA, which is presently 89.10. So, we're close.

A couple years out, I could see it at par with the wooden Dollar.

Daily Canadian Dollar Index:

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International Equities:

International equity markets this week were not so hot. Brazil (EWZ), which had been a big winner a week ago gave it back and more this week.

Table 13: International equities perspective

Sorted by 1-Week Price Performance

Symbol	Close	1Day Change	1Day %Change	1W %Change	2W %Change	4W %Change	YTD %Change	3M %Change	6M %Change	12M %Change
FXI	79.98	-0.01	-0.01%	2.93%	0.79%	7.36%	26.97%	-1.41%	14.26%	23.18%
TRF	70.60	1.10	1.58%	2.10%	2.71%	10.00%	30.74%	-19.45%	4.05%	55.51%
EWC	24.15	-0.03	-0.12%	0.29%	1.51%	3.51%	7.57%	-3.75%	5.46%	19.26%
IFN	37.99	-2.72	-6.68%	-0.71%	-8.92%	-6.20%	-7.95%	-36.70%	-20.69%	-1.20%
SPY	127.01	-0.36	-0.28%	-0.93%	-0.76%	2.83%	0.24%	-3.01%	0.29%	2.56%
QQQQ	36.53	-0.26	-0.71%	-1.14%	-1.56%	1.64%	-11.57%	-10.33%	-10.82%	-7.38%
EWJ	13.45	-0.13	-0.96%	-1.18%	-0.96%	4.67%	-3.58%	-10.51%	-0.96%	22.61%
EWU	21.45	-0.22	-1.02%	-1.20%	-0.56%	5.04%	11.95%	-2.72%	9.94%	12.78%
IEV	92.44	-0.56	-0.60%	-1.23%	-0.92%	5.40%	10.75%	-3.64%	9.10%	14.29%
EWZ	39.50	-0.52	-1.30%	-2.11%	-0.45%	6.33%	13.41%	-11.91%	0.00%	45.92%

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Japanese equity market ETF: EWJ

The Japanese equity market ETF (EWJ, priced in USD), closed at 13.45, down -1.18 pct.

Nothing much really happened. I think traders in Tokyo and Osaka are watching the Dow Transports, QQQQ and Russell 2000 as much as anybody.

Here is the Japanese (EWJ) equity market ETF Monthly, Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

EWJ Monthly data:

EWJ Weekly data:

EWJ Daily data:

EWJ Hourly data:

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U.K. equity market ETF: EWU

EWU (priced in USD) dropped -1.20 pct W/W, closing at 21.45.

Once again, traders are watching the U.S. market as closely as they are their own.

Here is the United Kingdom (EWU) equity market ETF Monthly, Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

EWU Monthly data:

EWU Weekly data:

EWU Daily data:

EWU Daily data:

EWU Hourly data:

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Canadian equity market ETF: EWC

The EWC (Canada's equity market ETF that trades in the U.S. in USD) was up +0.29 pct W/W to 24.15, which is all of seven cents.

Here is the Canadian (EWC) equity market ETF Monthly, Weekly, Daily and Hourly data charts:

EWC Monthly data:

EWC Weekly data:

EWC Daily data:

EWC Hourly data:

(Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore)

(U.K., Germany, France, Italy)

(Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia).

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U.S. Equities:

The Dow Transports, Nasdaq 100, and Russell 2000 are all indicating serious problems ahead for U.S. equities. These issues are mostly economic, as the business cycle appears to have been brought to an end by high costs, a slowing economy and moderately rising inflation that is now on the radar screen of the world's central bankers.

---

---

Those charts all show the break down in the market immediately following the FOMC Decision of May 10. Did the Fed do anything at that meeting to cause the start of the Bear market? I think not. It was just an accumulation of weights loaded on top of market prices that are realistically presuming that economic expansion will slow.

It was just the timing " blame it on Bernanke " but the seeds were all planted long before the man took up the job. And May 10 was simply an attempt to be early " to try to beat the forthcoming negative news by 3 to six months. Nothing more.

Prices move up and down, which is to be expected. But there is also a process at work today that concerns me greatly.

There are now serious credibility issues relating to U.S. corporations that are cropping up all too frequently. We have known for some time that companies like Worldcom and Enron haven't always been run by upstanding managers, but how about Wal-Mart " a once stalwart of credibility and family values?

After pleading guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion, the ex-vice-chairman Tom Coughlin, a 27 year employee, was sentenced to 27 months of home confinement this week.

I guess poor Tom gets to use the swimming pool, but can't get out on the golf course, which is a little less harsh a punishment than the 28 years in prison he had been facing. Sam Walton must be turning over in his grave.

For the life of me, I don't understand what drives people who have so much to want and grab for more.

And I don't understand why other people condone this breakdown in legal and moral conduct. Even this week, on his top-rated TV show, Larry Kudlow was spinning the story that it would be un-American to charge the hundreds of corporate executives who are behind the patently fraudulent back-dating of management options.

Pardon me; but what happened to the Rule of Law?

I have always said this about the law: its prosecution depends too much on who you know, and how many millions you have to pay for a "Dream Team" defense. Sure it's the best system of its kind in the world, but it is highly flawed.

The reason I bring this up is that the ethics of managers and the accuracy of corporate records seems to be hanging by the thread of the value systems of people like Eliot Spitzer. That's not good enough. We as a thoughtful, caring society have to put more effort into solving this problem.

Otherwise, we might as well take our money to a casino or buy lottery tickets, where the systems are checked for accuracy and the payoffs not bad at all.

Did you know that Nasdaq might have to de-list the shares of Apple Computer, among many others, because their financial statements are unreliable and hence cannot be completed, audited and filed with regulators.

And yet there was Larry Kudlow pleading their case: "Innocent by virtue of big numbers". I'll quote him (approximately):

---

"What, are we going to send 800 executives to jail for this? Enough already!"

---

Larry, the answer is simple: I don't care if there are 8,000 or 80,000 executives involved. If they are thieves they must all be apprehended and prosecuted.

Apple, United Health Group; this is just the thin edge of the wedge. If these managers get off scott-free, society would then become even more divided between the greedy ‘haves' and skeptical ‘have-nots'.

I would even have to say, in that case, that U.S. equities would not be worth the paper they used to be printed on.

Equities are like fiat money you know. It's a fragile system, and we can easily lose our confidence in it.

All systems have a super-cycle, and they peak and then decline for fundamental reasons. Ignoring the law and revising history are two good reasons.

As to the U.S. stock cycle and business cycle, I pretty much summed up my feelings a week ago " ahead of the scenario that played out much as I expected.

---

I wrote:

On balance, I think the Fed will pause, and then sell some gold bullion to hold back the flood of capital to precious metals, and out of the USD. But the pressure to buy the precious metals " from all over the world, particularly from India and China, is huge, and I think that's the place to be.

Clearly the Fed will have a tougher time supporting the $USD now that the other major central banks are caught up in a cycle of rate hikes, and the Fed is bringing their cycle to a conclusion for economic reasons.

---

Here is the Monthly data chart of the Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, Dow30, and Russell 2000 (small cap) indexes.

Here is the Weekly data chart of the Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, Dow30, and Russell 2000 (small cap) indexes.

Here is the Daily data chart of the Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, Dow30, and Russell 2000 (small cap) indexes.

Here is the Hourly data chart of the Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, Dow30, and Russell 2000 (small cap) indexes.

For the Dow 30 this week, there were 7 component stocks up and 23 down. That's a swing of ten from a week ago when 17 had been up.

The U.S. equity market is clearly roiled. Conventional sector rotation is out the window. Sector ETFs go from top to bottom and bottom to top performer in a single week. XLE, for example, went from #1 to #10 (week 29), then #10 to #3 (week 30), then #3 to #7 (week 31) and finally from #7 to #1 this week.

Then a week ago, the XLB, which usually tracks energy (and has some energy components to it), went from #7 to #1 (while XLE was crashing), and then this week dropped to #6 (while XLE jumped up to #1.

There is no consistency at this point. Traders are scrambling to buy and sell individual stocks, regardless of the economic or market drivers.

I liken the situation to musical chairs. Just before the music stops, the excitement of the players builds into frenzy.

Didn't you feel like that just before the FOMC decision on Tuesday afternoon?

---

A week ago I wrote:

"; traders were undecided about what the Fed might do and how the major capital pools may wish to allocate capital assets in the future. The best were Procter & Gamble (PG), AT&T (T), Caterpillar (CAT), ExxonMobil (XOM) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ). The worst were General Motors (GM), Intel (INTC), 3M (MMM), Coca-Cola (KO), International Business Machines (IBM) and American International Group (AIG); That is quite an eclectic group, which is the same view I got from the scattered up/down sector ETF's. So, I put it all down to this week not being a good one on which to determine what really is going on in the U.S. equities."

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This week as you can see from the following table, the winners were an insurance company, tech company, oil company and consumer staples company. If there was any consistency, it was the losers list where the list was heavy with the great American industrial companies.

As somebody was remarking in the blog comments, "What ever happened to the capex story?" Well it went the way of all stories after they serve their master. It died.

The facts persist. Stories die.

Table 14: Dow 30 List

Sorted by 1-Week Price Performance

Symbol	Close	1Day Change	1Day %Change	1W %Change	2W %Change	4W %Change	YTD %Change	3M %Change	6M %Change	12M %Change
AIG	61.57	1.25	2.07%	2.50%	1.10%	6.60%	-11.56%	-2.50%	-9.32%	-1.76%
HPQ	33.05	0.04	0.12%	1.88%	2.93%	7.44%	14.88%	1.60%	4.89%	36.68%
XOM	69.73	0.36	0.52%	1.51%	4.07%	7.44%	19.26%	9.88%	17.33%	14.41%
PG	60.26	0.00	0.00%	1.36%	6.07%	8.34%	2.52%	8.28%	0.94%	12.30%
MO	80.84	0.28	0.35%	1.18%	0.19%	4.46%	7.82%	13.30%	12.48%	19.83%
VZ	34.07	0.13	0.38%	0.89%	1.01%	7.75%	12.15%	6.80%	2.68%	2.93%
MSFT	24.43	-0.03	-0.12%	0.58%	0.74%	9.60%	-8.98%	5.21%	-8.47%	-10.41%
JNJ	63.47	-0.08	-0.13%	-0.09%	0.87%	4.98%	2.99%	7.87%	8.70%	-1.31%
KO	43.76	-0.14	-0.32%	-0.21%	-1.71%	2.60%	6.99%	0.88%	6.32%	-0.79%
WMT	44.69	-0.20	-0.45%	-0.40%	0.52%	3.81%	-3.33%	-5.42%	-2.32%	-8.70%
INTC	17.41	-0.34	-1.92%	-0.46%	-4.24%	-2.63%	-31.91%	-10.07%	-18.22%	-35.09%
IBM	75.48	-0.26	-0.34%	-0.57%	-1.92%	2.60%	-8.02%	-8.46%	-7.19%	-8.69%
PFE	25.82	-0.15	-0.58%	-0.62%	-1.11%	15.22%	8.58%	4.07%	0.55%	-2.34%
AXP	51.80	-0.18	-0.35%	-0.79%	-0.75%	1.03%	-1.48%	-1.73%	-2.26%	-8.80%
GE	32.50	-0.17	-0.52%	-0.91%	-1.57%	1.21%	-8.11%	-5.82%	-2.34%	-5.82%
MMM	68.53	0.12	0.18%	-1.32%	-2.82%	-3.78%	-13.37%	-21.38%	-5.62%	-5.29%
DD	39.07	-0.55	-1.39%	-1.44%	-2.67%	-1.51%	-9.27%	-12.98%	-3.98%	-6.51%
DIS	29.43	-0.15	-0.51%	-1.57%	-0.91%	3.30%	20.61%	-1.24%	10.31%	13.72%
C	47.64	-0.33	-0.69%	-1.77%	-1.43%	0.13%	-3.35%	-3.72%	3.66%	9.49%
MRK	40.60	-0.73	-1.77%	-1.81%	-1.26%	12.31%	23.97%	17.65%	18.33%	30.59%
HON	37.46	0.22	0.59%	-1.86%	-2.09%	1.22%	0.00%	-13.96%	-5.48%	-3.55%
MCD	34.69	-0.18	-0.52%	-2.03%	-1.70%	4.99%	3.49%	-1.87%	-4.51%	0.00%
T	30.22	0.00	0.00%	-2.42%	0.53%	13.69%	22.30%	15.74%	9.97%	22.15%
JPM	43.93	-0.12	-0.27%	-2.64%	-3.41%	7.43%	9.31%	-2.70%	10.05%	26.20%
GM	30.11	-0.50	-1.63%	-3.15%	-6.92%	9.61%	59.31%	16.66%	37.68%	-13.75%
UTX	60.15	-0.30	-0.50%	-3.87%	-3.22%	2.28%	6.40%	-8.61%	5.29%	16.50%
HD	33.27	-0.34	-1.01%	-4.15%	-3.82%	-1.68%	-19.33%	-18.30%	-15.17%	-19.83%
AA	28.27	-0.66	-2.28%	-4.40%	-4.91%	-8.18%	-5.45%	-21.52%	-8.39%	-5.04%
BA	75.96	-0.24	-0.31%	-4.44%	-3.74%	-1.67%	7.99%	-13.89%	4.73%	12.85%
CAT	67.03	-1.29	-1.89%	-8.28%	-5.87%	-3.12%	15.97%	-15.81%	-2.50%	20.77%

You can do this table yourself by entering the following string into the Summaries window at www.investertech.com and then clicking on the link for Performance.

AA AIG AXP BA C CAT DD DIS GE GM HD HON HPQ IBM INTC JNJ JPM KO MCD MMM MO MRK MSFT PFE PG T UTX VZ WMT XOM

Here are the links to interactive Dow charts from Investertech.com that I broke into groups of ten, which you can add technical indicators for as well. (list one) (list two) (list three)

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This week, Value Line reported on just one Dow 30 company. It is biggest retailer in the world: WMT.

Wal-Mart is a Cara 100 company that has run into a lot of problems in the past few years, but remains a favorite of mine. It didn't get to be biggest for no reason.

You'll notice that ExxonMobil, General Electric and Citigroup are also in the Cara 100.

This week I did add Wal-Mart competitor Target Corp (NYSE: TGT) to the Cara 100 (and I removed UnitedHealth). Target is a huge retailer more on the cyclical side than Wal-Mart, I think, and Target appears to be well-managed, with good operating metrics, financial strength, and so forth.

When I look at the Wal-Mart story, I am impressed with their ability to grow in many foreign markets (Germany and Argentina excluded), but I don't like to see that debt is growing much faster than revenues. The Company has been using the cash flow to buy back shares instead of paying down debt.

But you stand back and look at the big picture for Wal-Mart and you see that ten years ago, because of faster growth rates probably, the price to book, price to revenues and price to earnings was so out of whack to what it is today.

You know, it wouldn't take much for this company " developing the China and India markets probably " to ramp up revenue and earnings growth rates. It wouldn't take much if American consumers had less of an auto fuel nut to crack, and more Tickee. And the costs of shipping goods in and out have skyrocketed with the higher fuel costs. That could change.

There is nothing wrong with this the world's biggest retailer that a few global economic changes wouldn't solve.

People can knock Wal-Mart all they want, but it's like the Timex commercials " it takes the hit and keeps on ticking. Revenues and earnings are continuing at double digit rates. So what's to hate about that?

Except for the weakening balance sheet, which is nowhere near a crisis, I have no serious concerns, and no intention of dropping Wal-Mart from the Cara 100. This company is actually a terrific candidate for conservative accounts that participate in put and call options over-writing as a process of continuously lowering the cost base.

But if you want to earn annual total returns greater than say 15 pct to 20 pct, you either have to pick the bottoms to buy and the tops to sell in WMT each year, or pick other companies that are growing revenues at say 16 pct to 20+ pct per year, while improving their margins.

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Alcoa [GICS 15, Dow 30]
(AA: Yahoo Finance file)
(AA: StockChart chart)
(AA: Investertech chart)
(AA: ADVFN Financial Data)
(AA: ADVFN Financial Data)
(AA: Value Line Report Jul. 21: next one is due Oct. 20)

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Altria Group Inc [GICS 30, Dow 30]
(MO: Yahoo Finance file)
(MO: StockChart chart)
(MO: Investertech chart)
(MO: ADVFN Financial Data)
(MO: ADVFN Financial Data)
(MO: Value Line Report Aug. 4: next one is due Nov. 3)

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American International Group [GICS 40, Dow 30]
(AIG: Yahoo Finance file)
(AIG: StockChart chart)
(AIG: Investertech chart)
(AIG: ADVFN Financial Data)
(AIG: ADVFN Financial Data)
(AIG: Value Line Report May 26: next one is due Aug. 25)

---

American Express [GICS 40, Dow 30]
(AXP: Yahoo Finance file)
(AXP: StockChart chart)
(AXP: Investertech chart)
(AXP: ADVFN Financial Data)(AXP: ADVFN Financial Data)
(AXP: Value Line Report May 26: next one is due Aug. 25)

---

AT&T [GICS 50, Dow 30]
(T: Yahoo Finance file)
(T: StockChart chart)
(T: Investertech chart)
(T: ADVFN Financial Data)
(T: ADVFN Financial Data)
(T: Value Line Report Jun. 30: next one is due Sep. 29)

---

Boeing Co [GICS 20, Dow 30]
(BA: Yahoo Finance file)
(BA: StockChart chart)
(BA: Investertech chart)
(BA: ADVFN Financial Data)(BA: ADVFN Financial Data)
(BA: Value Line Report Jun. 23: next one is due Sep. 22)

---

Caterpillar [GICS 20, Dow 30]
(CAT: Yahoo Finance file)
(CAT: StockChart chart)
(CAT: Investertech chart)
(CAT: ADVFN Financial Data)(CAT: ADVFN Financial Data)
(CAT: Value Line Report Jul. 28: next one is due Oct. 27)

---

Citigroup [GICS 40, Dow 30, Cara 100]
(C: Yahoo Finance file)
(C: StockChart chart)
(C: Investertech chart)
(C: ADVFN Financial Data)(C: ADVFN Financial Data)
(C: Value Line Report May 26: next one is due Aug. 25)

---

Coca Cola [GICS 30, Dow 30]
(KO: Yahoo Finance file)
(KO: StockChart chart)
(KO: Investertech chart)
(KO: ADVFN Financial Data)
(KO: ADVFN Financial Data)
(KO: Value Line Report Aug. 4: next one is due Nov. 3)

---

Disney [GICS 25, Dow 30, Cara 100]
(DIS: Yahoo Finance file)
(DIS: StockChart chart)
(DIS: Investertech chart)
(DIS: ADVFN Financial Data)(DIS: ADVFN Financial Data)
(DIS: Value Line Report May 19: next one is due Aug. 18)

---

Dupont [GICS 15, Dow 30]
(DD: Yahoo Finance file)
(DD: StockChart chart)
(DD: Investertech chart)
(DD: ADVFN Financial Data)(DD: ADVFN Financial Data)
(DD: Value Line Report Jul. 21: next one is due Oct. 20)

---

ExxonMobil [GICS 10, Dow 30, Cara 100]
(XOM: Yahoo Finance file)
(XOM: StockChart chart)
(XOM: Investertech chart)
(XOM: ADVFN Financial Data)
(XOM: ADVFN Financial Data)
(XOM: Value Line Report Jun. 16: next one is due Sep. 15)

---

General Electric [GICS 20, Dow 30, Cara 100]
(GE: Yahoo Finance file)
(GE: StockChart chart)
(GE: Investertech chart)
(GE: ADVFN Financial Data)(GE: ADVFN Financial Data)
(GE: Value Line Report Jul. 14: next one is due Oct. 13)

---

General Motors [GICS 25, Dow 30]
(GM: Yahoo Finance file)
(GM: StockChart chart)
(GM: Investertech chart)
(GM: ADVFN Financial Data)(GM: ADVFN Financial Data)
(GM: Value Line Report Jun. 2: next one is due Sep. 1)

---

Hewlett-Packard [GICS 45, Dow 30]
(HPQ: Yahoo Finance file)
(HPQ: StockChart chart)
(HPQ: Investertech chart)
(HPQ: ADVFN Financial Data)(HPQ: ADVFN Financial Data)
(HPQ: Value Line Report Jul. 14: next one is due Oct. 13)

---

Home Depot [GICS 25, Dow 30]
(HD: Yahoo Finance file)
(HD: StockChart chart)
(HD: Investertech chart)
(HD: ADVFN Financial Data) (HD: ADVFN Financial Data)
(HD: Value Line Report Jul. 7: next one is due Oct. 6)

---

Honeywell [GICS 20, Dow 30]
(HON: Yahoo Finance file)
(HON: StockChart chart)
(HON: Investertech chart)
(HON: ADVFN Financial Data)(HON: ADVFN Financial Data)
(HON: Value Line Report Jul. 28: next one is due Oct. 27)

---

IBM [GICS 45, Dow 30]
(IBM: Yahoo Finance file)
(IBM: StockChart chart)
(IBM: Investertech chart)
(IBM: ADVFN Financial Data)(IBM: ADVFN Financial Data)
(IBM: Value Line Report Jul. 14: next one is due Oct. 13)

---

Intel [GICS 45, Dow 30, Cara 100]
(INTC: Yahoo Finance file)
(INTC: StockChart chart)
(INTC: Investertech chart)
(INTC: ADVFN Financial Data)
(INTC: ADVFN Financial Data)
(INTC: Value Line Report Jul. 14: next one is due Oct. 13)

---

Johnson & Johnson [GICS 35, Dow 30, Cara 100]
(JNJ: Yahoo Finance file)
(JNJ: StockChart chart)
(JNJ: Investertech chart)
(JNJ: ADVFN Financial Data)
(JNJ: ADVFN Financial Data)
(JNJ: Value Line Report Jun. 2: next one is due Sep. 1)

---

JP Morgan [GICS 40, Dow 30]
(JPM: Yahoo Finance file)
(JPM: StockChart chart)
(JPM: Investertech chart)
(JPM: ADVFN Financial Data)
(JPM: ADVFN Financial Data)
(JPM: Value Line Report May 26: next one is due Aug. 25)

---

McDonalds [GICS 30, Dow 30]
(MCD: Yahoo Finance file)
(MCD: StockChart chart)
(MCD: Investertech chart)
(MCD: ADVFN Financial Data)
(MCD: ADVFN Financial Data)
(MCD: Value Line Report Jun. 9: next one is due Sep. 8)

---

3M Company [GICS 20, Dow 30, Cara 100]
(MMM: Yahoo Finance file)
(MMM: StockChart chart)
(MMM: Investertech chart)
(MMM: ADVFN Financial Data)
(MMM: ADVFN Financial Data)
(MMM: Value Line Report May 19: next one is due Aug. 18)

---

Merck [GICS 35, Dow 30]
(MRK: Yahoo Finance file)
(MRK: StockChart chart)
(MRK: Investertech chart)
(MRK: ADVFN Financial Data)
(MRK: ADVFN Financial Data)
(MRK: Value Line Report Jul. 21: next one is due Oct. 20)

---

Microsoft [GICS 45, Dow 30]
(MSFT: Yahoo Finance file)
(MSFT: StockChart chart)
(MSFT: Investertech chart)
(MSFT: ADVFN Financial Data)
(MSFT: ADVFN Financial Data)
(MSFT: Value Line Report May 26: next one is due Aug. 25)

---

Pfizer [GICS 35, Dow 30]
(PFE: Yahoo Finance file)
(PFE: StockChart chart)
(PFE: Investertech chart)
(PFE: ADVFN Financial Data)
(PFE: ADVFN Financial Data)
(PFE: Value Line Report Jul. 21: next one is due Oct. 20)

---

Procter & Gamble Co. [GICS 30, Dow 30, Cara 100]
(PG: Yahoo Finance file)
(PG: StockChart chart)
(PG: Investertech chart)
(PG: ADVFN Financial Data)
(PG: ADVFN Financial Data)
(PG: Value Line Report)

---

United Technologies [GICS 20, Dow 30, Cara 100]
(UTX: Yahoo Finance file)
(UTX: StockChart chart)
(UTX: Investertech chart)
(UTX: ADVFN Financial Data)
(UTX: ADVFN Financial Data)
(UTX: Value Line Report Jul. 28: next one is due Oct. 27)

---

Verizon [GICS 50, Dow 30]
(VZ: Yahoo Finance file)
(VZ: StockChart chart)
(VZ: Investertech chart)
(VZ: ADVFN Financial Data)
(VZ: ADVFN Financial Data)
(VZ: Value Line Report Jun. 30: next one is due Sep. 29)

---

Wal-Mart [GICS 30, Dow 30, Cara 100]
(WMT: Yahoo Finance file)
(WMT: StockChart chart)
(WMT: Investertech chart)
(WMT: ADVFN Financial Data)
(WMT: ADVFN Financial Data)
(WMT: Value Line Report Aug. 11: next one is due Nov. 10)

---

Wrap up:

Writing this report and looking over my computer screen to all the boats on the lake made me think that these are the dog days of summer, and I ought to be outside with a cold beer in my hand.

Now that's a great idea.

Before signing off, I'd like to thank everybody who participated in the reader survey, and who have been assisting me in starting up the Virtual Investment Club.

I'm going to work pretty hard for the next three weeks to automate a few things, and bring in some help that makes the process of gathering, researching and reporting data easier. And I'm going to try to improve the readability of the blog during this period as well.

Rather than go to a Global 250, I decided I'd do one better. I'm going to have a U.S. 100, an America's 100 (ex-USA), a UK/Europe 100 and an Asia-Pacific 100. I have somebody working on the data retrieval for me, but haven't yet figured out how I'm going to do the monitoring. It may be that volunteers take charge of one or two companies each and write me notes from the info I collect to tell me when they think major events might be happening that necessitate a current report on the blog.

Finally, I started a volunteer project on three companies that will help me create an automated protocol for building Virtual Investment Club Reports on small cap companies. Then I had a business school student offer to have his school club do reports on companies they select. So I have some ideas on how that might work out.

I know I'm pushing, but I don't want to take off for Bahamas in October without having made this free blog as good as it can be, enabling me to work on it more productively " for the days I have less time.

With me, it's all about finishing things. I finish something and then I start something new. I couldn't even stop the cycle by retiring.

Hahaha. Who ever would retire if they enjoyed the market as much as I do?

BCara@BillCara.com