By the end of the day, the DJIA (+96.72) and S&P 500 (+10.58) had both lifted +0.79 pct to close the week at 12381.02 and 1353.11 respectively.

Interestingly, the Nasdaq Composite gained less than 4 points to close at 2303.05 (+0.16 pct) and the Russell 2000 small cap index closed lower (-0.12 pct) at 695.43.

The US market sectors that caught the Ambac rumor were, understandably, the Financials (XLF) and Cons. Discretionary (XLY), both closing +2.2 pct higher. Tech (XLK -0.1 pct) did not recover enough in the session to close higher.

The strongest industries were Banks ($BKX +1.7 pct) and REITs ($DJR +2.2 pct).

The Cara 100 stocks that lifted the most were PDA +5.4 pct, CHA +3.8 pct and ABV +3.7 pct – notably all foreign large caps – while there were a number of US company stocks that fell back, including PAYX, INTC, OXPS and AET.

The two hit hardest, however, since Ambac isn’t going to help them, are the large India banks, IBN and HDB, down -4.6 pct and -2.6 pct respectively. The Bombay Stock Exchange 30 Sensex Index closed at 17349.1, down -385.6 points (-2.17 pct).

Earlier in the day, the European equity markets closed down on the session: FTSE -0.74 pct, CAC -0.71 pct and DAX -1.4 pct to 5888.5, 4824.6, and 6806.3 respectively.

Geopolitical tensions in northern Iraq escalated with a broad military offensive by Turkish forces against the Kurds. That situation helped move the price of crude oil higher. At the end of the session $WTIC closed at 98.81, up +0.58/bbl.

Despite a modestly soft $USD (-0.10 pct to 75.52) and stronger Euro (+0.03 pct), $GOLD dipped -1.40/oz to 947.80 on profit taking. The spot gold price dropped at 10:00am to a 10:30 low of $935.3, but closed the week at $944.8, sharply higher than Monday morning’s $900.

Spot silver was strong all week, after dipping to a $17.20 on Wed morning, closed the week at $18.00/oz. There was a significant move from Monday morning’s 16.92 low to a high of 18.14 at mid-day Friday.

Both Platinum and Palladium took a tumble Tuesday night, but bounced back Wed morning to stay on a rising trend through the week. Spot plat and pall closed at 2159 and 498.

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Comments & Outlook

From a DJIA low at 3:15pm of about 12160, the index started moving a little higher for seven or eight minutes, and then literally exploded to the upside, moving up +225 Dow points (about +1.85 pct) in 30 minutes.

The question is, should the SEC post an observer in the CNBC television studio. Should a so-called TV “personality” or financial reporter be permitted to start rumor and innuendo within the last hour of a trading session, particularly on Friday? Should reporters be required to report the news? Should on-air “personalities” who can move markets to extremes be required to provide SEC investigators access to their phone and e-mail records?

Nobody wants to live in a controlled society – certainly not traders of the capital markets – but frankly these markets are not transparent and the acts of deceit and manipulation that routinely go on necessitate some greater monitoring than happens today.

What’s at stake is the credibility of the government, the agencies of government that are involved in the capital markets, the central banks, banking institutions, and so on.

What happened Friday in the last hour of trading was a raid on the shorts, pure and simple. It might have been orchestrated. For certain there were parties acting in concert if even by common motivation.

I continue to say this: capital markets are losing the interest of the average person because they no longer represent a value pricing mechanism. For a world that needs liquidity to grow and prosper, that’s a dangerous precedent. If liquidity contracts to the extreme, the world is facing recession, and perhaps depression.

What happened in the final trading hour of the week was just another warning shot over the bow of a floundering ship. If these incidents continue, uncontrolled, it could be that the next shot is fatal.

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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
PBR	118.55	80.74	66.94	62.71
ABX	50.16	77.82	63.47	57.06
GG	40.52	75.98	68.55	76.47
VIP	37.67	74.55	56.99	62.51
ABV	80.39	71.91	67.18	68.90
VCP	33.19	71.74	66.66	72.14
IBKR	34.49	71.23	65.34	59.97
ATVI	27.20	71.19	61.86	57.75
CHA	77.87	70.91	55.34	56.07
RIO	35.63	70.67	65.37	80.10
RIMM	107.95	70.14	58.51	75.95
GGB	30.78	69.64	64.73	83.80
MICC	113.30	69.01	58.17	80.84
PDA	51.33	67.76	61.54	73.28
NTES	20.81	63.49	66.60	84.78
NUE	65.85	63.39	70.23	73.79
BBD	29.43	63.21	54.39	78.24
BHP	73.83	63.02	59.85	71.56
MFC	38.57	56.48	49.55	74.59
STO	29.91	53.95	56.21	72.52
TS	41.39	43.82	48.18	74.65
GFI	14.89	41.87	45.91	70.04
WAG	37.41	36.60	55.90	76.72

At least one RSI value <30:

Ticker	Last	RSI-7M	RSI-7W	RSI-7D	Zone
UBS	33.65	12.56	17.34	35.02	Buy alert (trig. 1 days ago [on 2008-02-22 at $33.65, +0.00% chg], after a 5 day AZ)
SBUX	18.25	15.83	27.18	45.51
BC	16.49	16.17	37.74	35.24
KSS	45.05	21.20	43.82	50.89
HBC	75.23	22.40	38.38	61.82	Buy alert (trig. 8 days ago [on 2008-02-12 at $72.71, +3.47% chg], after a 4 day AZ)
KB	62.26	24.33	35.98	45.68
DELL	19.54	24.47	26.47	45.99
SNDK	25.65	24.91	21.51	43.37
BMY	22.53	25.33	22.55	31.92
BBBY	28.95	27.12	43.10	44.92
BDK	66.87	27.39	33.89	35.79
GOL	17.68	27.98	27.56	31.21
PAYX	33.03	29.20	35.78	42.96
CSCO	23.60	32.77	21.85	51.58
WFMI	36.76	33.89	38.63	29.02
GE	33.55	34.98	29.20	36.34
GS	177.71	37.21	29.82	39.58
OXPS	24.12	42.49	29.44	31.08
GOOG	507.80	43.58	28.71	36.92
WBK	104.36	44.09	29.46	28.11
IBN	53.87	56.51	39.08	26.74

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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 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
HPQ	47.40	0.57	1.22%	9.57%	17.04%	5.59%	-4.84%	-3.03%	2.11%	16.23%
AIG	48.88	1.29	2.71%	7.43%	-5.36%	-11.19%	-13.18%	-4.77%	-26.71%	-29.51%
AA	36.55	0.25	0.69%	3.37%	11.50%	18.63%	1.16%	3.92%	0.91%	5.18%
JPM	43.93	0.86	2.00%	3.10%	-2.62%	-2.29%	4.17%	7.99%	-4.50%	-14.93%
CVX	85.42	0.64	0.75%	3.06%	8.48%	2.09%	-8.60%	-0.38%	0.04%	20.87%
XOM	87.17	0.25	0.29%	1.89%	6.45%	1.36%	-6.78%	0.15%	4.30%	16.10%
IBM	108.07	1.14	1.07%	1.83%	5.60%	1.09%	3.23%	5.72%	-1.75%	9.72%
HD	27.77	0.38	1.39%	0.95%	-2.22%	-6.06%	6.36%	-1.00%	-20.13%	-32.56%
BAC	42.60	0.39	0.92%	0.85%	-1.78%	6.77%	5.03%	1.09%	-17.52%	-20.67%
DIS	32.57	0.30	0.93%	0.77%	2.68%	11.43%	2.29%	3.40%	-2.98%	-7.37%
JNJ	63.18	0.20	0.32%	0.62%	0.59%	-0.52%	-4.14%	-5.90%	1.82%	-2.47%
CAT	71.18	0.39	0.55%	0.55%	4.19%	9.09%	0.78%	4.77%	-5.47%	5.02%
PFE	22.50	0.10	0.45%	0.22%	-0.75%	-2.39%	-1.79%	0.67%	-8.72%	-13.03%
MCD	55.69	0.46	0.83%	0.20%	2.26%	3.13%	-4.15%	-2.86%	12.82%	20.93%
WMT	49.97	0.18	0.36%	0.00%	0.26%	2.17%	6.55%	11.39%	14.22%	0.56%
KO	58.26	0.27	0.47%	-0.50%	-0.33%	-2.71%	-4.63%	-6.41%	7.99%	23.17%
DD	45.96	0.40	0.88%	-0.56%	1.73%	1.12%	5.08%	3.63%	-6.05%	-12.69%
UTX	72.23	1.34	1.89%	-0.58%	1.06%	-0.45%	-3.96%	-0.76%	-2.22%	7.01%
PG	66.21	0.25	0.38%	-0.63%	0.67%	0.09%	-8.44%	-8.37%	2.27%	2.32%
MMM	79.67	0.71	0.90%	-0.77%	0.70%	5.20%	-3.68%	-1.93%	-10.55%	4.35%
AXP	45.06	0.38	0.85%	-1.38%	-2.99%	-4.35%	-11.72%	-17.08%	-25.06%	-22.51%
MRK	46.11	-0.02	-0.04%	-1.68%	0.90%	-6.96%	-19.63%	-18.42%	-8.44%	6.74%
C	25.12	0.07	0.28%	-2.22%	-5.92%	-8.09%	-13.14%	-18.26%	-48.13%	-53.13%
GE	33.55	-0.14	-0.42%	-2.44%	-1.99%	-3.17%	-8.73%	-9.74%	-14.28%	-5.23%
BA	83.04	1.03	1.26%	-2.56%	4.13%	6.98%	-4.13%	-5.00%	-15.26%	-8.32%
MSFT	27.72	-0.38	-1.35%	-2.74%	-1.42%	-16.63%	-21.30%	-19.02%	-1.77%	-5.68%
INTC	19.85	-0.45	-2.22%	-2.98%	-1.00%	-4.06%	-21.70%	-19.41%	-17.81%	-5.34%
VZ	36.20	0.84	2.38%	-4.79%	-2.03%	-5.31%	-16.22%	-13.71%	-13.44%	-5.83%
GM	24.08	-0.22	-0.91%	-6.74%	-8.44%	-6.01%	-1.35%	-8.75%	-23.14%	-30.46%