The DJIA (+3 +0.02% to 12612), S&P 500 (+2 +0.16% to 1372.5) and Nasdaq Composite (-6.15 -0.26% to 2364.8) were quiet and mixed. The Toronto Exchange gained +77 (+0.56%) to 13800.

In the Far East, Hong Kong (+1.29% to 24579) and Japan (+1.18% to 13450) were up just about +1.25% to start the day. Then the European bourses followed through with gains of +1.0%: FTSE (+1.14% to 6015); CAC (+0.89% to 4945); and DAX (+0.85% to 6821). That boosted the US to open higher, at least.

During the day, the Healthcare sector (XLV +1.14%) was the only notable mover. Among industries, the Banks ($BKX +1.58%) and Broker-Dealers ($XBD +1.32%) were stronger, but nothing really stood out.

On the corporate scene, Alcoa (AA) reported 1Q net earnings dropped from $662 million ($0.75/sh) to $303 million ($0.37/sh), missing at $0.44/sh the Street expectations for continuing operations of $0.48/sh. Higher costs were cited.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) said it would cut 10% of its work force, which traders see as a company suffering from business pressures from industry leader Intel (INTC).

On the economics front, consumer debt grew at a more restrained pace.

Crude Oil ($WTIC) jumped +$2.86/bbl to 109.09 after a fire at Finnish company Neste Oil extended its Porvoo refinery shutdown.

The 30-year US Bond ($USB) dropped -0.64% to 118.34, while yields gained across the board (30-year $TYX +1.18% to 4.369) (10-year $TNX +2.15% to 3.556) (5-year $FVX +4.18% to 2.743) and (T-Bills +3.03% to 1.360). That strengthened the US Dollar.

Despite the $USD strengthening (+0.32%) to 72.22, while all major currencies slumped (Euro -0.08% to 157.17; Yen -0.92% to 97.60; Pound -0.26% to 198.78; and the Loonie -0.42% to 98.68), $GOLD lifted +$13.60 (+1.49%) to 926.80.

Earlier today, the All Ords of Australia (-0.87%), Hong Kong (-1.09%), BSE 30 of India (-1.08%) and Nikkei of Japan (-1.49%) were all down. At 8:27am ET, Europe was down about -1.0% (FTSE -0.73%) (CAC -0.99%) (DAX -1.01%).

The futures market has the DJIA (12555 -47), Crude Oil (108.79) and Euro (1.5645), all a bit weaker.

Spot gold, palladium, platinum and silver are at 912.94, 445, 2003, and 17.71 respectively, which has softened.

The talk is of softening economic data.

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Comments & Outlook

If unemployment is going to become a crisis in America, I think that the US Retailers ($RLX) will continue under pressure. Part of that pressure will also come from inflated import prices, and high costs of fuel for automobiles.

As we go into the 10th and the few days following, traders have to be watching this industry. “No shoes for baby” could become a mantra.

Yesterday, some of the US retailers continued to be knocked down (KSS -2.7% among the Cara 100 companies). I noted many losers, such as Ann Taylor (ANN -6.5%), Pacific Sunwear (PSUN -5.6%), Dilards (DDS -6.5%), TJX Stores (TJX -3.1%), Tween Brands (TWB -4.2%) and The Buckle (BKE -4.1%) all very weak on the day.

Just something to watch. Either the US consumer has savings or credit, or they do not. The US economy is weakening because they do not.

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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	111.10	83.05	55.52	66.86
SYT	60.82	80.61	69.67	66.25	Sell alert (trig. 1 days ago [on 2008-04-07 at $60.82, +0.00% chg], after a 1 day DZ)
GGB	37.21	78.45	72.39	81.74	Distribution Zone (for 1 days)
TT	46.40	76.19	78.11	64.24
NUE	71.28	75.90	70.16	59.40
RIO	36.77	75.03	64.54	73.66
ATVI	27.25	74.46	59.58	53.10
NKE	66.83	73.58	62.80	51.21	Sell alert (trig. 4 days ago [on 2008-04-02 at $67.97, -1.68% chg], after a 1 day DZ)
WMT	54.23	71.55	76.31	65.15	Sell alert (trig. 2 days ago [on 2008-04-04 at $54.40, -0.31% chg], after a 3 day DZ)
RIMM	118.07	70.34	66.74	58.09
PDA	50.11	70.19	55.76	57.44
ECA	76.78	70.15	62.67	60.64
VCP	31.75	69.15	59.55	72.20
BHP	75.07	67.19	61.64	82.17
CHRW	59.83	67.06	67.28	70.24
TEF	91.87	64.78	62.05	78.27
CHL	82.53	63.69	63.05	76.90
TCK	45.90	63.03	67.79	75.13
CVX	88.27	58.82	59.57	70.69
STO	31.77	57.69	64.48	78.32
HBC	84.82	53.83	72.14	66.99
ERTS	52.30	50.91	60.07	70.05
PAYX	35.98	47.42	63.08	73.19
DOW	38.80	45.83	57.79	71.13
TGP	30.30	42.58	56.92	83.77
GSK	45.03	37.51	51.71	70.38
UBS	34.88	28.88	48.95	72.78

At least one RSI value <30:

Ticker	Last	RSI-7M	RSI-7W	RSI-7D	Zone
SBUX	18.31	21.37	44.30	56.53
TM	97.47	23.64	34.03	31.77
INFY	36.96	26.50	42.34	54.40
GOL	16.00	26.86	37.79	50.33
JCP	40.26	27.46	43.20	48.06
AET	42.31	28.22	18.98	40.40
BA	74.98	28.57	31.45	44.35
BC	16.96	28.58	49.03	52.98
UBS	34.88	28.88	48.95	72.78
KSS	43.63	28.98	45.60	44.28
SNDK	25.57	29.06	46.45	67.43
DELL	19.23	29.18	33.56	37.01
GRMN	52.70	32.70	29.68	34.84

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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
C	24.60	0.52	2.16%	14.85%	5.72%	17.65%	-14.94%	-12.95%	-49.07%	-52.30%
AIG	48.04	0.74	1.56%	11.08%	4.19%	12.03%	-14.67%	-14.67%	-30.77%	-28.54%
GM	21.01	0.43	2.09%	10.29%	3.09%	-4.33%	-13.93%	-11.20%	-45.00%	-34.14%
MRK	40.78	0.78	1.95%	7.46%	-7.84%	-2.32%	-28.92%	-29.59%	-23.79%	-10.45%
AXP	46.55	0.44	0.95%	6.47%	-1.81%	12.09%	-8.80%	-5.69%	-23.81%	-16.82%
JPM	45.54	-0.03	-0.07%	6.03%	-2.17%	21.25%	7.99%	10.16%	-4.29%	-6.62%
XOM	88.92	0.18	0.20%	5.13%	3.46%	7.79%	-4.91%	-2.52%	-2.67%	15.15%
DD	48.99	-0.51	-1.03%	4.77%	4.99%	8.87%	12.00%	13.19%	-1.13%	-0.67%
UTX	71.79	0.06	0.08%	4.32%	2.06%	6.37%	-4.55%	-3.86%	-11.19%	10.57%
BAC	39.50	0.09	0.23%	4.19%	-6.95%	7.51%	-2.61%	-1.00%	-25.06%	-22.32%
AA	37.44	-1.56	-4.00%	3.83%	6.85%	2.30%	3.63%	13.08%	-3.48%	8.24%
CVX	88.27	0.22	0.25%	3.41%	5.07%	3.53%	-5.55%	-4.19%	-4.39%	16.74%
WMT	54.23	-0.17	-0.31%	2.94%	1.12%	8.68%	15.63%	16.47%	19.53%	12.35%
MSFT	29.16	0.00	0.00%	2.75%	-0.03%	4.63%	-17.21%	-15.75%	-2.28%	2.14%
INTC	21.75	-0.12	-0.55%	2.69%	-1.72%	8.37%	-14.20%	-4.94%	-14.84%	11.08%
PFE	21.48	0.13	0.61%	2.63%	4.22%	0.61%	-6.24%	-7.53%	-16.03%	-16.87%
VZ	37.40	0.06	0.16%	2.61%	1.16%	6.61%	-13.45%	-13.73%	-17.29%	-1.58%
JNJ	66.14	0.41	0.62%	1.96%	1.93%	7.53%	0.35%	-1.08%	-0.17%	7.46%
HD	28.50	-0.29	-1.01%	1.89%	-2.60%	10.12%	9.15%	12.34%	-16.72%	-25.04%
T	39.01	0.53	1.38%	1.85%	2.58%	11.43%	-4.85%	-5.84%	-7.43%	-0.66%
MMM	80.19	-0.33	-0.41%	1.31%	1.97%	4.81%	-3.05%	-1.13%	-16.34%	4.48%
IBM	116.31	0.55	0.48%	1.02%	-2.31%	2.08%	11.10%	16.25%	0.01%	20.50%
BA	74.98	-0.67	-0.89%	0.82%	-1.72%	-2.11%	-13.44%	-9.52%	-26.67%	-17.15%
GE	37.26	-0.30	-0.80%	0.68%	-0.37%	15.61%	1.36%	2.99%	-10.80%	6.40%
PG	70.51	-0.09	-0.13%	0.63%	0.77%	7.16%	-2.49%	-2.73%	-0.45%	11.92%
HPQ	45.92	-0.48	-1.03%	0.57%	-4.19%	-2.94%	-7.81%	1.26%	-9.78%	9.86%
DIS	31.52	0.28	0.90%	0.45%	-1.62%	2.47%	-1.01%	1.16%	-11.14%	-9.71%
MCD	55.65	-0.07	-0.13%	-0.22%	-0.22%	6.47%	-4.22%	-4.10%	-1.28%	21.56%
KO	60.37	0.12	0.20%	-0.82%	-1.32%	2.58%	-1.18%	-4.64%	3.96%	21.91%
CAT	77.25	-0.58	-0.75%	-1.33%	1.60%	10.61%	9.37%	12.40%	-3.83%	14.22%

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

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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	26.52	0.16	0.61%	6.63%	-0.82%	9.05%	-6.49%	-3.39%	-25.86%	-25.84%
XLB	42.68	-0.23	-0.54%	6.25%	7.45%	7.81%	3.34%