At the close, the DJIA had lost -236.77 -2.08% to 11147.44, the S&P 500 -29.01 -2.28% to 1244.69, and the NASDAQ Composite -59.55 -2.60% to 2234.89. The Russell 2000 small cap index plunged -2.8% while the Toronto Composite was down -199 or -1.44%.

Crude Oil ($WTIC) started the day strong, moving from 136.04 the prior day to a high of 138.28, based on concerns of an Iranian missile test. But then the $WTIC settled back to a gain of just +1 cent at 136.05.

$GOLD futures gained +$5.30/oz to 928.60.

There were no leading industry groups of note. The losers were the REITs ($DJR -7.1%) after Goldman Sachs issued a scathing report on the future of real property in the US, plus Broker-Dealers and Banks ($XBD -6.2% and $BKS -5.7%) and Airlines ($XAL -5.9%). This was a reversal of fortune from the previous day’s trading.

For the extreme Cara 100 stocks, the winners were NUE (+3.8%) and IMO (+2.1%). The losers were BC (-9.0%), JC Penny (-6.1%) after Sachs didn’t look too good, CSCO (-5.7%) and CCL (-5.4%).

The 30-year US Bond ($USB) gained +0.29% to 117.19. The yields on all Treasury issues were down a bit as traders moved from equities to fixed income.

The US Dollar index ($USD) lost -0.52% to close at 72.62. The Euro gained +0.50% to 1.5745, Yen +0.75% to 93.71, Pound +0.69% to 1.9829, and the Cdn Loonie +0.86% to 0.9891.

Earlier today, the Asia-Pacific equity markets dropped back except for Hong Kong and Japan, which were up modestly. The Australia All-Ords lost -1.35% to 5020.5; the Shanghai Composite lost -1.54% to 2875.5; the Hang Seng of HK gained +0.07% to 21821.8; the Indian Sensex 30 lost -0.27% to 13926.2; and the Nikkei 225 was up just +0.12% to 13067.2.

European stocks this morning at about 8:00am ET. were weak, but gaining a bit of traction. The FTSE 100 is down -0.96% to 5477; the French CAC down -1.38% to 4280 and the German DAX off just -0.20% to 6374.

Crude Oil futures are up +0.62/bbl to 136.67, while the $USD is up a bit (+0.31%) to 73.095, and the Euro down to 1.5652.

Spot prices at 7:45am ET for gold, palladium, platinum and silver are quiet (like for all week), at: 928.10, 443, 1982, and 18.12, respectively.

The DJIA futures are at 11206, up +57, but down about -25 in the past hour (at about 8:00am ET). THIS REPORT WAS DELAYED OVER 1 HOUR DUE TO ISP PROBLEMS JUST AS I WAS SUBMITTING IT. SORRY.

At 9:15am ET, the DJIA is down -18 to 11131, and the $USD has softened, although still up since midnight.

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Comments & Outlook

In case you missed my commentary yesterday, I recommended that each of you set up a sample portfolio at Google Finance for every bank and broker with a market cap of say $5 billion or more. To make it easy, here’s a list:
AIB BAC BBD BBV BCH BCS BK BMO BNS C CM CS DB GS HBC HDB IBN ITU JPM KB KEY LEH LYG MER MS MTU NBG NMR PNC RY SAN SCHW STD STI TD UBB UBS WB WBK WFC

Then watch for the earnings reports of these banks, comparing the results (and expected increase in write-downs) to their stock action in the market. Two things could happen to tell you this Bear market is going to end soon: (i) the Bank and Broker-Dealer write-downs are minimal, and (ii) their share prices rally—not for one or two banks, but across the board--for several days after the corporate results for the biggest banks are released.

I think there is more downside—perhaps -10% in the major market indexes from here—before a positive bias returns to the market. But, after a summer rally of sorts, there could be a rapid hammering of prices that flushes out the weak hands, and then the Bull (admittedly not in the healthiest condition) can return to the ring.

This is a time when you scan your list of candidates (like my Cara 100) to focus in on the ones you think will have a good run of profits, dividend increases, increased operating and profit margins, no capital raise-ups, no management issues, and so forth. I would only buy a small percentage of your allocated funds for each selection, and I’d wait for market weakness before doing it.

The name of the game is to manage risk before thinking gains. At the end of the day, if you position your portfolio appropriately, the stocks of high quality companies will perform well.

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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:

At least one RSI value <30:

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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

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

You can do this table yourself by entering the following string into the Summary window at Billcara2.com and then clicking on the link for Performance. XLE XLB XLI XLY XLP IYH XLF SMH IYZ XLU XLK SPY . You can also add more ETF’s – up to 30 in total.

For a list of components to any ETF, go to the AMEX.com web site, and click on ETF's.

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10 (energy: XLE)

Table 2: Senior oil & gas equities

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15 (basic materials: XLB)

Table 3: Senior metals and steel equities

Table 12: Senior gold equities

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20 (industrial: XLI)

Table 4: Senior capital goods makers and transportation

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25 (consumer discretionary: XLY)

Table 5: Senior consumer discretionary equities

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30 (consumer staples: XLP)

Table 6: Senior consumer staples equities

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35 (healthcare: IYH)

Table 7: Senior healthcare equities

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40 (financial: XLF)

Table 8: Senior financial company equities

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45 (technology, semiconductor: SMH)

Table 9: Senior technology equities

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50 (telecom: IYZ)

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55 (utilities: XLU)

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International Equity Market USD-denominated ETF Review

Table 13: International equities perspective

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Japanese equity market ETF: EWJ

Here is the Japanese (EWJ) equity market ETF Daily data charts:

Interactive EWJ Daily data:

Interactive EWJ Weekly data:

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U.K. equity market ETF

Here is the United Kingdom (EWU) equity market ETF Daily data charts:

Interactive EWU Daily data:

EWU Daily data:

Interactive EWU Weekly data:

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Canada's equity market

Here is the Canadian (EWC) equity market ETF Daily data charts:

Interactive EWC Daily data:

Interactive EWC Weekly data:

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Bonds & Yields Review

Table 10: Yahoo Finance U.S. Treasury Debt, Municipal and Corporate Bond Yields

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Here is the $USB 30-year Treasury Bond chart.

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US Bond Funds -- Interactive Daily Data Charts

SHY Daily data series chart:

IEF Daily data series chart:

TLT Daily data series chart:

AGG Daily data series chart:

LQD Daily data series chart:

TIP Daily data series chart:

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Table 11: Interest-sensitive securities

Consumer Finance -USA -- Interactive Daily Data Charts

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Commodities Review

$CRB Index

Open Futures Contracts

Interactive Chart of Daily CRB Commodities Index:

Interactive Chart of Weekly CRB Commodities Index:

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Oil Review

Here is the e-miNY Mar-08 Crude Oil chart.

Interactive Chart of Daily Crude Oil:

Interactive Chart of Weekly Crude Oil:

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Gold & Precious Metals Review

Spot gold chart for the week

Interactive Chart of Daily Gold EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Interactive Chart of Weekly Gold EOD Continuous Contract Index:

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Spot silver chart for the week

Interactive daily data

Interactive Chart of Daily Silver EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Interactive chart of the Silver Bullion index.

Interactive Chart of Weekly Silver EOD Continuous Contract Index:

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Spot platinum chart for the past three days

Interactive Chart of Daily Platinum EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Interactive Chart of Weekly Platinum EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Interactive chart of the Platinum metal index.

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Spot palladium chart for the week

Interactive Chart of Daily Palladium EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Interactive Chart of Weekly Palladium EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Interactive chart of the Palladium metal index.

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Interactive Chart of Weekly Copper EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Interactive Chart of Daily Copper EOD Continuous Contract Index:

Interactive chart of the Copper metal index.

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Table 12: Senior gold equities

To watch the moves in precious metal miners, you will have to monitor the individual stock charts, preferably in real-time, as follows:

NEM ABX AU GFI GG HMY AUY KGC BVN
Interactive Daily data
Interactive Weekly data

MDG LIHRY AEM BGO IAG EGO RGLD GOLD CDE GRS
Interactive Daily data
Interactive Weekly data

CBJ SSRI SIL NG KRY UXG GRZ TSE_HRG TSE_GUY TSE_AGI
Interactive Daily data
Interactive Weekly data

NXG GSS MNG DROOY MFN RNO RANGY MRB CLG
Interactive Daily data
Interactive Weekly data

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Here are the key Silver miners and the SLV ETF:

SLV SIL CDE HL PAAS SSRI SLW MGN

Interactive Daily data
Interactive Weekly data

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Here are the Weekly and Daily Data charts of the indexes:

Interactive Chart of Daily U.S. Goldminers Index:

Weekly U.S. Goldminers Index:

Interactive Chart of Weekly U.S. Goldminers Index:

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The U.S. goldminer share trust ETF trades under the ticker symbol GDX.

Here are the U.S. Goldminer ETF (GDX) index Weekly and Daily data charts:

GDX Daily data:

GDX Weekly data:

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The Toronto Exchange-listed goldminer iUnits S&P/TSX Capped Gold Index ETF trades under the ticker symbol TSE:XGD. Yes, just like GDX on the AMEX, you can trade XGD on Toronto.

Here are the Weekly and Daily data charts for the TSX Goldshares (XGD) index:

Interactive Chart of XGD Daily data:

Interactive Chart of XGD Weekly data:

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Forex Review

Here is the chart of the week's trading in the $USD.

Interactive Chart of Daily U.S. Dollar Index:

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Interactive Chart of Daily Euro Dollar Index, priced in USD:

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Daily British Pound Index:

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Daily Japanese Yen Index:

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Daily Canadian Dollar Index:

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Wrap-up