Consumer staples (XLP +1.04%) and Energy (XLE -1.40%) were the strongest and weakest sector ETF’s.

In the industry groups, the Banks ($BKX +1.26%) were strong, while Oil Services ($OSX -1.35%) was weak.

Among Cara 100 stocks, Aetna (AET) and Dell (DELL) each gained +5.4%. As to Dell, Wachovia said the PC end market is healthy and pricing stable. They rate DELL as Outperform.

The Cara 100 losers were led by China’s Netease.com (NTES -6.0%). The Company reported Q1 earnings of $0.30 versus $0.31 and consensus $0.31. Brazil’s Embraer (ERJ -5.5%) and PetroBrazil (PBR -4.2%) were also weak.

Oil and Gold prices weakened during the day.

The precious metals spot prices at 8:13am are: gold 925.95 (same as past two days at this time); palladium 444 (modestly weaker); platinum 2177 (modestly stronger); and silver 18.16 (stronger).

The near futures for Oil: 132.175 (down over $2 from this point yesterday, but stronger this morning); the Euro: 1.5729 (a tad stronger against the $USD this morning); and the DJIA: 12573 (weaker as the sell-off in equities appears to continue heading into the 3-day Memorial Day weekend in the US.

Overnight, the All-Ords of Australia lost -0.91% to 5866.2; Shanghai Composite -0.36% to 3473.09; Hang Seng of Hong Kong -1.31% to 24714; an the Sensex BSE 30 index of India -1.52% to 16650. Japan’s Nikkei Dow was up modestly (+0.24% to 14012).

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Comments & Outlook

The Memorial Day holiday weekend is a time when Americans hit the road for long-distance driving. The big Indy 500 auto race is also held. But this weekend, most drivers will be focused on the $4 per gallon it costs to fill up the car.

Meanwhile, Ford (F) cannot sell as many gas-guzzling trucks and SUV’s as they’d planned and the price has plunged again, closing at $7.16. The chart looks dreadful.

My belief is that the auto, housing and banking industries must return to growth and good health before the new Bull phase of the long equity cycle can begin. This one will be unusual in that most Bull markets start after interest rates fall below a low enough level that business conditions can return to normal. However, rates have already reached a low in the US and probably in most economies, and will rise. So the Bear will likely persist, waiting for demand to pick up again. That is likely to show itself first in the auto sector.

Have a great weekend.

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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
SYT	61.81	91.35	64.87	60.87
GGB	49.82	88.02	90.92	72.80	Distribution Zone (for 6 days)
ECA	94.31	85.01	78.80	66.95	Sell alert (trig. 1 days ago [on 2008-05-22 at $94.31, +0.00% chg], after a 8 day DZ)
ABB	32.95	84.20	80.46	71.53	Distribution Zone (for 1 days)
SU	143.66	81.22	82.62	82.27	Distribution Zone (for 11 days)
ATVI	32.85	80.38	80.41	74.51	Distribution Zone (for 10 days)
RIMM	130.49	79.08	62.36	37.76	Sell alert (trig. 5 days ago [on 2008-05-16 at $140.36, -7.03% chg], after a 1 day DZ)
EXC	90.08	79.02	72.70	81.30	Distribution Zone (for 3 days)
PBR	72.02	78.49	77.53	64.12	Sell alert (trig. 1 days ago [on 2008-05-22 at $72.02, +0.00% chg], after a 5 day DZ)
WMT	56.05	78.31	63.78	44.07
COST	70.76	77.98	58.14	41.95	Sell alert (trig. 5 days ago [on 2008-05-16 at $73.27, -3.43% chg], after a 3 day DZ)
STO	42.23	76.82	89.52	89.39	Distribution Zone (for 6 days)
PDA	58.95	75.53	74.70	55.66	Sell alert (trig. 4 days ago [on 2008-05-19 at $59.94, -1.65% chg], after a 2 day DZ)
TS	61.22	74.33	85.54	82.69	Distribution Zone (for 5 days)
RIO	41.44	74.31	71.40	50.40	Sell alert (trig. 2 days ago [on 2008-05-21 at $41.78, -0.81% chg], after a 3 day DZ)
CVX	101.91	73.95	82.34	73.46	Distribution Zone (for 6 days)
CHRW	64.09	73.95	71.74	47.17
GG	41.96	73.76	60.09	64.11
BBD	22.72	73.54	59.72	43.21
TT	46.16	72.92	60.36	43.06	Sell alert (trig. 3 days ago [on 2008-05-20 at $46.53, -0.80% chg], after a 1 day DZ)
IMO	60.43	72.69	65.99	62.56	Sell alert (trig. 2 days ago [on 2008-05-21 at $60.98, -0.90% chg], after a 1 day DZ)
CEO	198.19	71.52	74.13	66.74	Sell alert (trig. 1 days ago [on 2008-05-22 at $198.19, +0.00% chg], after a 1 day DZ)
TOT	89.54	71.23	83.67	83.84	Distribution Zone (for 5 days)
BHP	92.30	71.18	74.55	61.30	Sell alert (trig. 3 days ago [on 2008-05-20 at $89.69, +2.91% chg], after a 4 day DZ)
NUE	74.49	70.47	56.41	31.14
MBT	88.27	68.25	65.26	80.22
LLTC	36.51	65.17	79.06	56.13
VIP	35.38	64.47	63.55	74.98
QCOM	45.87	64.28	71.74	57.48
ABX	42.56	56.40	48.92	70.99
AET	46.63	44.41	58.04	83.32

At least one RSI value <30:

Ticker	Last	RSI-7M	RSI-7W	RSI-7D	Zone
SBUX	17.09	13.69	46.34	65.59
BC	15.04	20.45	35.75	19.29
UBS	29.91	21.55	32.84	32.60	Buy alert (trig. 1 days ago [on 2008-05-22 at $29.91, +0.00% chg], after a 1 day AZ)
WFMI	28.00	22.20	28.07	19.87	Accumulation Zone (for 3 days)
GOL	14.74	24.78	36.37	26.36
JCP	40.51	24.84	42.84	30.11
CCL	37.95	26.40	37.70	36.25
KSS	44.74	26.44	44.06	25.95
BDK	63.88	28.84	33.76	25.14
BMY	21.95	29.76	41.44	46.56
GE	31.01	33.75	28.40	20.98
IBN	40.91	37.10	37.61	28.76
ERJ	38.13	37.49	35.20	19.66
GS	177.20	37.53	44.44	21.21
ERTS	48.65	41.83	37.40	27.70
PAYX	34.87	43.09	46.19	24.65
DEO	78.40	44.99	31.91	28.71
IBKR	30.62	56.68	50.32	29.34

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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
CVX	101.91	-1.11	-1.08%	3.47%	4.59%	10.29%	9.04%	19.30%	18.85%	24.01%
KO	58.27	1.62	2.86%	2.21%	3.52%	-3.29%	-4.62%	0.02%	-6.39%	13.19%
XOM	92.51	-1.16	-1.24%	1.33%	2.87%	-0.10%	-1.07%	6.13%	6.28%	11.77%
PG	65.62	0.45	0.69%	-1.12%	-0.46%	-1.81%	-9.25%	-0.89%	-9.19%	4.16%
PFE	19.78	0.05	0.25%	-1.49%	-0.95%	-1.30%	-13.66%	-12.09%	-11.50%	-27.73%
CAT	82.22	-1.18	-1.41%	-1.53%	-0.24%	0.49%	16.41%	15.51%	21.02%	8.89%
MMM	76.64	0.52	0.68%	-1.57%	-0.40%	-3.15%	-7.34%	-3.80%	-5.66%	-12.69%
T	39.18	0.29	0.75%	-1.71%	0.82%	1.37%	-4.44%	12.01%	4.62%	-3.12%
WMT	56.05	0.82	1.48%	-1.87%	-1.94%	-2.44%	19.51%	12.17%	24.94%	20.43%
JNJ	65.41	-0.32	-0.49%	-1.90%	-2.23%	-2.91%	-0.76%	3.53%	-2.58%	2.88%
DD	48.43	-0.07	-0.14%	-2.20%	-1.82%	-2.54%	10.72%	5.37%	9.20%	-6.94%
MRK	39.03	-0.10	-0.26%	-2.43%	-0.15%	-2.35%	-31.97%	-15.35%	-30.94%	-27.92%
IBM	124.70	1.22	0.99%	-2.93%	-0.18%	0.41%	19.11%	15.39%	21.99%	16.87%
UTX	71.84	-0.18	-0.25%	-3.30%	-3.00%	-1.18%	-4.48%	-0.54%	-1.29%	3.80%
VZ	37.47	0.25	0.67%	-3.68%	-2.04%	3.05%	-13.28%	3.51%	-10.68%	-12.06%
MCD	58.53	-0.25	-0.43%	-3.83%	-2.07%	-1.76%	0.74%	5.10%	2.09%	11.49%
HPQ	44.90	0.10	0.22%	-3.92%	-8.48%	-7.14%	-9.86%	-5.27%	-8.14%	-1.49%
DIS	33.61	-0.05	-0.15%	-3.94%	-2.75%	5.23%	5.56%	3.19%	6.70%	-7.33%
GE	31.01	-0.02	-0.06%	-4.20%	-4.85%	-5.49%	-15.64%	-7.57%	-16.57%	-16.95%
INTC	23.88	0.22	0.93%	-4.37%	2.05%	5.24%	-5.80%	20.30%	-3.05%	3.87%
AIG	37.81	0.35	0.93%	-4.45%	-14.36%	-19.50%	-32.84%	-22.65%	-26.34%	-47.44%
AA	40.80	-0.90	-2.16%	-4.54%	2.90%	17.07%	12.93%	11.63%	16.01%	4.75%
BA	81.41	0.22	0.27%	-4.84%	-3.95%	-1.92%	-6.01%	-1.96%	-6.86%	-15.62%
BAC	34.73	-0.11	-0.32%	-5.39%	-6.96%	-8.29%	-14.37%	-18.47%	-17.58%	-32.56%
MSFT	28.47	0.22	0.78%	-6.50%	-2.73%	-10.47%	-19.17%	2.71%	-16.83%	-7.23%
AXP	46.36	0.88	1.93%	-7.02%	-5.10%	2.61%	-9.17%	2.89%	-14.69%	-27.87%
JPM	43.05	0.58	1.37%