The DJIA (+96.41 +0.78 pct), S&P 500 (+8.34 +0.62 pct) and Nasdaq Composite (+8.15 +0.35) started strong and gained throughout the session. The sector leaders were the Financials (XLF +1.53 pct) and Energy (XLE +1.12 pct).

In the industry groups, the Papers (+3.2 pct), Comp. Hardware (+2.9 pct) and Telecom (+2.4 pct) were strong, but Oil Services (-1.23 pct) was not.

Earlier in the day, the Nikkei 225 gained +2.99 pct and Hong Kong +0.99 pct. There was clearly a renewal of the Japanese Carry Trade by hedge funds as the top four performers of the Cara 100 were all Brazilian/Argentinean stocks: VCP (+7.0 pct), TS (+4.9 pct), PDA (+4.6 pct) and GOL (+4.5 pct).

During the day, the European bourses were stronger: FTSE (+1.66 pct), DAX (+1.09 pct) and CAC (+1.92 pct).

The Conference Board's US Consumer Confidence Index for January fell to 87.9 from 90.6 in December.

The US House of Representatives approved the federal stimulus package, sending it to the Senate.

On the political stage, the Republicans in Florida sunk the hopes of Rudy Guiliani, sending McCain (36 pct) up over Romney (31 pct), while the Democrats clearly favored Clinton (50 pct) over Obama (33 pct). Guiliani and Roberts look cooked.

On the earnings front, Yahoo (YHOO) 4Q net income dropped -26 pct to $206 million from $269 million. Meanwhile the company cut 1000 jobs. The stock is down -10 pct in the pre-market.

United States Steel (X) 4Q net income plunged -88 pct to $35 million vs $297 million a year earlier, due to inventory issues and a work force reduction charge.

Dow Chemical (DOW) 4Q net income dropped -52 pct due to restructuring and a $1.7 billion rise in spending on materials and energy, the largest Y/Y cost increase in company history, they reported. Earnings fell to $472 million ($0.49 cents/share) from $975 million ($1/share) a year earlier.

Today, Switzerland's largest bank, UBS, announced ahead of the Feb 14 quarterly report that it expects a record 4Q loss of around $11.45 billion, ensuring a full year loss of about -$4.03 billion. That will be the first loss in its 10-year history since UBS was formed through the combination of Union Bank of Switzerland and Swiss Bank Corporation in 1998, one that created the world's largest wealth manager. "These results reflect weak trading revenues in the fixed income, currencies and commodities business in the investment bank," UBS said in a statement. The numbers "will include around $12 billion (8.12 billion euros) in losses on positions related to the U.S. sub-prime mortgage market and approximately $2 billion (1.35 billion euros) on other positions related to the U.S. residential mortgage market," it said.

Today also, Honda Motor (HM) reported a surprising +38 pct profit increase due to a sales bump in their fuel-efficient cars.

Yesterday, the $USB (30-year US Treasury Bond) dropped -0.55 pct as the yield ($TYX) gained +1.26 pct. The yield on the 10-year ($TNX) gained +2.01 pct.

The $USD was off marginally -0.04 pct to 75.55, while $WTIC (Crude Oil) gained +0.71 pct to 91.64/bbl and $GOLD dropped -0.21 pct to 930.80.

After 6am ET this morning, the March Euro contracts popped +0.24 pct to 1.4795 vs the weakening USD, and March Crude Oil was up +0.98 pct to 92.575. The Dow Jones equity futures for March were down -16. Then, with USD weakness this morning, the spot gold and silver were up +2.62/oz and +0.16/oz respectively to 924.40 and 16.77 at 6:30am.

By 9:24am, the DJ futures had dropped to -24, and Crude Oil to up +0.49 pct to 92.03, with spot gold and silver at 918.44 and 16.68, both a little softer than earlier.

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Comments & Outlook

The lead news story today is the question of how much the FOMC will cut the Fed Rate again.

(AP) The Federal Reserve is likely to follow its bold action last week to battle an economic downturn with further interest rate reductions, although analysts are split on just what size the future cuts will be.

Traders are anticipating up to a -100 basis point Fed Rate cut, and no less than -50bp, to be announced at 2:15pm ET today. The Gold Bulls and $USD Bears are expecting that as well. There could be a massive equity market sell-off should the FOMC disappoint, and there might even be one after a -50bp cut because after this second cut in about 10 days, there is not likely to be another for some time, and probably not until other central banks cut their rates again.

But what does these sharp cuts by central bankers say about the markets other than they are in a bind, being driven down in Japan, Europe and the US from unrelenting pressures within the global financial system and due to economic slowing.

I see nothing on the horizon to stall the Bear. The pre-open markets appear to be softening.

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Links & Charts

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International Economics Review

US Economic Calendar.

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Knobias Cara100 Tables

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Cara 100 Daily RSI-7 Charts

At least one RSI value >70:

Ticker	Last	RSI-7M	RSI-7W	RSI-7D	Zone
ABX	53.23	83.87	75.92	70.42	Distribution Zone (for 2 days)
PBR	108.53	78.63	57.68	59.88
GG	37.72	77.74	65.88	58.95
HDB	119.32	72.76	46.81	44.16
IBN	62.26	71.57	51.00	45.30
COST	66.68	70.90	51.21	52.22
TT	44.65	70.30	65.12	55.26
WHR	82.49	41.59	53.80	70.54	Buy alert (trig. 7 days ago [on 2008-01-18 at $71.53, +15.32% chg], after a 1 day AZ)
BC	17.91	18.24	46.29	79.20	Buy alert (trig. 7 days ago [on 2008-01-18 at $15.09, +18.69% chg], after a 3 day AZ)

At least one RSI value <30:

Ticker	Last	RSI-7M	RSI-7W	RSI-7D	Zone
SBUX	19.97	14.74	36.95	55.90
BC	17.91	18.24	46.29	79.20	Buy alert (trig. 7 days ago [on 2008-01-18 at $15.09, +18.69% chg], after a 3 day AZ)
KSS	43.53	18.39	38.30	60.73
UBS	43.05	22.11	39.56	51.35	Buy alert (trig. 6 days ago [on 2008-01-22 at $40.56, +6.14% chg], after a 2 day AZ)
SNDK	25.30	25.30	13.00	28.88	Accumulation Zone (for 1 days)
JCP	44.99	25.89	47.97	68.82
DELL	20.56	27.32	28.39	43.61	Buy alert (trig. 4 days ago [on 2008-01-24 at $21.09, -2.51% chg], after a 2 day AZ)
WAG	34.72	28.27	36.90	53.37
DIS	28.80	30.36	25.08	39.90	Buy alert (trig. 5 days ago [on 2008-01-23 at $28.52, +0.98% chg], after a 2 day AZ)
BMY	23.61	31.62	29.44	37.37	Buy alert (trig. 2 days ago [on 2008-01-28 at $23.59, +0.08% chg], after a 4 day AZ)
LLTC	27.38	31.74	23.06	37.59	Buy alert (trig. 5 days ago [on 2008-01-23 at $28.05, -2.39% chg], after a 2 day AZ)
YHOO	20.81	34.46	29.67	39.43	Buy alert (trig. 7 days ago [on 2008-01-18 at $20.78, +0.14% chg], after a 1 day AZ)
CSCO	24.06	35.76	24.62	36.93
ERTS	45.57	36.43	23.78	19.25
ADBE	35.54	36.55	28.74	37.83
GSK	47.54	37.49	32.41	25.91
PG	64.68	45.90	23.69	16.65
JNJ	62.97	48.23	30.06	22.63
GOOG	550.52	48.83	27.10	24.78
NKE	57.35	51.85	28.04	40.93

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International Equity Markets Review

Europe

Here is the latest session data for the bourses of Europe.

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Here is the latest session data for the London stock exchange FTSE.

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Here is the latest session data for the German DAX.

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Here is the latest session data for the French CAC 40.

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Here is the latest session data for the Milan Italy stock exchange MIBTEL.

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Here is the latest session data for the Swiss market index.

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Asia-Pacific

Here is the latest session data for the Asia-Pacific stock exchanges.

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Here is the latest chart for the Japanese Nikkei 225 index.

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Here is the latest chart for the Singapore index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Shanghai Composite index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Hong Kong Hang Seng index .

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Here is the latest chart for the India BSE 30 index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Australian All Ordinaries index .

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US Equity Markets Review

DJIA (interactive) chart

NASDAQ Composite (interactive) chart

Table: 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
JPM	47.45	1.88	4.13%	16.07%	14.72%	9.69%	12.52%	1.67%	7.28%	-4.08%
GM	27.21	0.68	2.56%	15.00%	14.86%	7.55%	11.47%	-28.32%	-12.51%	-16.71%
C	27.91	0.26	0.94%	14.34%	-3.96%	-4.71%	-3.49%	-34.62%	-40.58%	-48.37%
AA	32.66	1.19	3.78%	13.44%	-0.73%	-11.39%	-9.60%	-19.22%	-12.70%	2.70%
AXP	47.80	0.40	0.84%	10.11%	7.42%	-5.98%	-6.35%	-21.00%	-18.36%	-17.07%
INTC	20.50	0.21	1.03%	10.04%	-11.18%	-23.39%	-19.13%	-21.93%	-12.91%	-1.87%
UTX	73.18	-0.55	-0.75%	8.66%	1.37%	-4.80%	-2.70%	-3.43%	-0.15%	11.40%
HON	58.44	-0.48	-0.81%	8.30%	1.12%	-4.51%	-2.44%	-2.13%	-0.29%	32.13%
AIG	56.73	1.98	3.62%	8.14%	-4.37%	-2.09%	0.76%	-10.24%	-13.20%	-17.00%
CAT	68.99	0.78	1.14%	8.02%	2.56%	-5.70%	-2.32%	-6.64%	-9.25%	11.82%
DD	45.15	0.31	0.69%	6.09%	-1.89%	1.92%	3.22%	-7.88%	-3.57%	-7.78%
HD	29.71	0.57	1.96%	5.24%	17.01%	11.61%	13.79%	-5.38%	-19.16%	-25.56%
T	37.89	1.49	4.09%	5.22%	-1.61%	-10.72%	-7.59%	-9.22%	-3.44%	3.78%
IBM	106.10	1.12	1.07%	4.80%	3.08%	-3.62%	1.35%	-7.58%	-8.23%	7.67%
BA	80.96	3.36	4.33%	4.42%	-0.87%	-8.26%	-6.53%	-16.53%	-21.94%	-5.31%
PFE	23.18	0.19	0.83%	4.23%	-3.30%	1.22%	1.18%	-5.43%	-2.56%	-11.05%
MMM	78.02	0.58	0.75%	3.79%	-0.61%	-8.31%	-5.67%	-9.25%	-13.36%	-1.19%
MO	76.12	1.11	1.48%	3.72%	-3.27%	0.21%	1.59%	4.32%	16.80%	15.18%
XOM	85.08	-0.05	-0.06%	3.19%	-6.33%	-10.44%	-9.02%	-9.11%	-0.60%	16.23%
DIS	28.80	-0.57	-1.94%	2.49%	-5.11%	-11.17%	-9.55%	-16.96%	-14.64%	-16.96%
VZ	38.71	0.60	1.57%	2.30%	-9.96%	-13.25%	-10.41%	-15.83%	-7.83%	1.79%
GE	34.76	0.04	0.12%	2.00%	-1.97%	-6.91%	-5.44%	-14.30%	-10.39%	-3.95%
MSFT	32.60	-0.12	-0.37%	1.91%	-5.21%	-9.75%	-7.44%	-5.70%	10.92%	6.78%
HPQ	43.38	-0.42	-0.96%	1.66%	-5.96%	-15.54%	-12.91%	-16.21%	-6.63%	2.26%
KO	58.55	-0.86	-1.45%	-0.37%	-8.94%	-5.97%	-4.16%	-5.32%	11.99%	22.72%
WMT	49.01	0.30	0.62%	-0.39%	2.81%	1.93%	4.50%	8.89%	6.68%	2.90%
PG	64.68	-0.61	-0.93%	-0.71%	-7.98%	-12.89%	-10.55%	-9.95%	2.96%	-0.31%
MCD	50.75	-0.32	-0.63%	-3.24%	-7.66%	-14.71%	-12.65%	-14.24%	4.08%	17.40%
JNJ	62.97	-0.10	-0.16%	-3.58%	-7.33%	-6.54%	-4.46%	-3.09%	5.35%	-4.81%
MRK	48.01	-1.24	-2.52%	-6.50%	-19.69%	-18.23%	-16.32%	-16.89%	-4.21%	5.49%

You can do this table yourself by entering the following string into the Summaries window at www.billcara2.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 Billcara2.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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The Americas

Here is the latest session data for the exchanges of the Americas.

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Here is the latest chart for the Brazilian Bovespa stock exchange in Sao Paulo.

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Here is the latest session data for the Toronto Stock Exchange composite index.

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Sector ETF Summary for the US equity market

The tables I show in this section are for ten (GICS) Sector Index Funds (ETF's) only, but they cover the full spectrum of the US equity market.

Table 1: Cara ETF List is sorted by price performance Week over Week (W/W), i.e. 1W%N.

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
XLF	28.53	0.38	1.35%	9.56%	2.59%	-1.14%	0.60%	-15.59%	-14.45%	-22.16%
XLB	39.39	0.19	0.48%	6.86%	-4.53%	-6.21%	-4.62%	-9.99%	1.23%	9.60%
XLE	71.05	0.79	1.12%	5.60%	-7.70%	-11.53%</