The DJIA (-146.70 -1.22 pct to 11893.7), S&P 500 (-10.97 -0.84 pct to 1293.4), and Nasdaq Composite (-8.01 -0.36 pct to 2215.5) closed off the lows of the day after a final hour attempt to rally prices in the Financials (+0.58 pct). The Basic Materials sector (-4.2 pct) was extremely weak.

Of the industry groups, the Goldminers ($XAU -3.08 pct) were weakest, while REITs ($DJR +1.54 pct) were the strongest on the day.

Earlier in the day, the Asia-Pacific equity markets closed the week sharply down: Nikkei 225 (-3.27 pct to 12782.8), Hong Kong (-3.60 pct to 22501), Australia (-2.95 pct to 5368.9), and India (-3.42 pct to 15975). European bourses were also down, but less so. The UK, French and German markets dropped between -1.2 pct to -1.3 pct to 5700, 4619, and 6514 respectively.

Non-farm payrolls for February plunged a net -63,000, which is the largest decline since March 2003. Private employment dropped by over -100,000 jobs.

On the earnings front, Ciena (CIEN +10.0 pct) had better than expected earnings in the most recent quarter. Gary Smith, Ciena CEO, told CNBC, "We are at the fairly early stages of very large demand (growth) for bandwidth, both consumer and commercial... We are not seeing a slowdown with our customers." Other network equipment makers Cisco Systems (CSCO -0.2 pct) and Juniper Networks (JNPR -4.0 pct) had also reported in line or ahead of analyst expectations.

Carlyle Capital, the European investment fund linked to the huge private equity firm Carlyle Group, said Friday it is now considering “all available options” after lenders started to liquidate its $21.7 billion loan portfolio on Thursday after the fund failed to meet margin calls. That situation had hit the REIT’s hard, but there was a rebound ($DJR +1.54 pct) on Friday.

Bond yields weakened with the safe-haven flight that followed the weak Jobs Report. The 30-year US Bond ($USB) gained +0.40 pct to 118.42, while the yield ($TYX) dropped -0.83 pct to 4.541. The ten-year ($TNX -2.24 pct to 3.541) and five-year ($FVX -3.26 pct to 2.431) yields also dropped. There was a small increase in the T-Bill yield to 1.400.

Crude Oil softened a little (-$0.32/bbl) to 105.15 after the weak employment report led to demand concerns.

The US Dollar rebounded mid-day, closing at 73.04 (+0.13 pct). The Yen (+0.38 pct to 97.55) and Euro (-0.06 pct to 153.51) were mixed, but precious metal prices dropped in any event. $GOLD fell -$2.90/oz to 974.20, and was looking shaky under pressure of profit taking.

Spot prices were soft for the precious metals. Closing prices were 972.60 (gold), 493 (palladium), 2016 (platinum) and 20.12 (silver), down considerably from early in the week.

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Comments & Outlook

I shall return Sunday afternoon with the Week In Review.

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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	111.67	89.14	54.40	36.59	Sell alert (trig. 6 days ago [on 2008-02-29 at $117.34, -4.83% chg], after a 2 day DZ)
ATVI	27.29	75.41	62.62	52.40
ABX	50.42	75.08	60.76	44.67
GG	42.77	74.02	71.56	53.87	Sell alert (trig. 1 days ago [on 2008-03-07 at $42.77, +0.00% chg], after a 1 day DZ)
TT	45.47	74.01	72.71	62.81	Sell alert (trig. 6 days ago [on 2008-02-29 at $45.05, +0.93% chg], after a 1 day DZ)
ECA	76.91	71.55	77.06	66.03	Sell alert (trig. 1 days ago [on 2008-03-07 at $76.91, +0.00% chg], after a 2 day DZ)
RIO	33.14	70.19	53.24	39.06
DNA	79.39	58.66	78.61	67.72
GFI	15.86	46.66	54.42	75.80

At least one RSI value <30:

Ticker	Last	RSI-7M	RSI-7W	RSI-7D	Zone
SBUX	17.10	13.03	21.02	27.25	Accumulation Zone (for 1 days)
UBS	29.23	17.01	12.54	16.98	Accumulation Zone (for 6 days)
SNDK	21.41	19.62	14.44	15.54	Accumulation Zone (for 6 days)
BC	15.39	20.47	31.48	29.39
PAYX	30.50	23.77	25.65	24.13	Accumulation Zone (for 2 days)
GSK	42.41	24.12	30.44	33.03	Buy alert (trig. 1 days ago [on 2008-03-07 at $42.41, +0.00% chg], after a 1 day AZ)
KB	56.95	26.06	27.52	20.63	Accumulation Zone (for 2 days)
INFY	35.91	26.53	31.15	19.84
LEH	46.36	26.60	27.06	20.88	Accumulation Zone (for 2 days)
BDK	64.42	27.20	31.99	24.58
GOL	16.02	27.39	21.98	21.37	Accumulation Zone (for 2 days)
KSS	42.83	27.46	35.88	34.48
BMY	21.88	27.52	20.08	28.50	Accumulation Zone (for 2 days)
WAG	35.53	27.75	44.29	34.27
JCP	41.00	28.41	37.87	23.95
DELL	19.35	29.08	28.00	36.71
BA	76.60	29.78	32.81	23.61
CCL	38.42	30.22	34.48	27.59
ADBE	32.55	30.32	28.20	27.17
BBBY	27.06	30.83	34.82	29.88
GE	32.23	31.20	21.54	24.72
DOW	36.18	31.50	33.67	19.88
TM	103.37	31.97	38.67	25.60
GS	160.07	32.48	21.21	28.36
DB	108.16	33.20	24.16	31.04
DIS	30.76	33.30	41.03	22.24
OXPS	20.73	33.52	20.32	16.41
WFMI	34.07	34.47	31.97	22.76
GOOG	433.35	35.13	20.05	18.56
GRMN	55.14	35.31	24.48	21.15
ERJ	42.25	36.85	40.58	29.92
WBK	97.64	37.18	25.18	23.05
TGP	29.49	37.49	44.84	28.89
SWK	47.02	38.01	40.07	27.28
AET	46.94	38.47	23.08	25.06
RY	46.40	40.01	29.36	19.63
UTX	67.49	40.48	29.72	24.37
PTR	133.99	42.38	28.69	26.09
IBN	43.17	42.39	25.49	12.28
HDB	95.14	46.01	28.08	22.88
COST	60.30	48.37	33.66	28.59
XOM	82.49	49.87	35.77	25.59
CHL	69.69	52.79	31.98	29.18
NKE	58.24	53.70	38.95	27.73
NOK	33.05	56.71	35.05	23.40
VIP	32.83	63.77	42.19	27.59

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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
MSFT	27.87	0.30	1.09%	2.46%	0.54%	-0.89%	-20.87%	-19.29%	-2.00%	0.94%
KO	58.85	-0.25	-0.42%	0.67%	1.01%	0.68%	-3.67%	-6.81%	7.80%	25.88%
WMT	49.90	-0.08	-0.16%	0.63%	-0.14%	0.12%	6.40%	1.80%	17.72%	4.11%
T	35.01	-0.01	-0.03%	0.52%	0.09%	-5.38%	-14.61%	-8.99%	-9.60%	-1.19%
INTC	20.07	0.20	1.01%	0.50%	1.11%	0.10%	-20.83%	-27.62%	-21.20%	4.97%
IBM	113.94	1.42	1.26%	0.07%	5.43%	11.33%	8.84%	4.67%	-1.39%	21.29%
PG	65.80	-0.71	-1.07%	-0.57%	-0.62%	0.05%	-9.00%	-11.23%	0.50%	5.99%
JNJ	61.51	-1.12	-1.79%	-0.73%	-2.64%	-2.07%	-6.68%	-9.12%	-0.28%	-0.57%
HPQ	47.31	-0.47	-0.98%	-0.96%	-0.19%	16.81%	-5.02%	-8.74%	-3.15%	17.77%
AA	36.60	-1.77	-4.61%	-1.45%	0.14%	11.65%	1.30%	-0.84%	4.96%	13.00%
CVX	85.26	-2.54	-2.89%	-1.62%	-0.19%	8.28%	-8.77%	-6.27%	-2.73%	24.78%
AXP	41.53	0.24	0.58%	-1.82%	-7.83%	-10.59%	-18.63%	-27.09%	-28.09%	-25.65%
MMM	76.51	-1.44	-1.85%	-2.41%	-3.97%	-3.30%	-7.50%	-11.23%	-13.96%	3.67%
HD	25.88	0.12	0.47%	-2.52%	-6.81%	-8.87%	-0.88%	-12.24%	-24.35%	-33.14%
GE	32.23	-0.63	-1.92%	-2.75%	-3.93%	-5.84%	-12.32%	-13.43%	-16.83%	-6.12%
DD	45.00	-1.47	-3.16%	-3.06%	-2.09%	-0.40%	2.88%	-4.64%	-5.26%	-10.79%
MCD	52.27	-0.77	-1.45%	-3.40%	-6.14%	-4.02%	-10.03%	-13.12%	6.15%	21.28%
VZ	35.08	-0.20	-0.57%	-3.41%	-3.09%	-5.06%	-18.82%	-22.56%	-15.14%	-1.68%