The Carl Icahn intervention in the potential Yahoo-Microsoft combination was settled in Icahn’s favor for now, but at the end of the day, Microsoft appears to be the winner in that a new bid in a Bear market will come on their terms and Yahoo’s founder/CEO Jerry Yang will get discarded by shareholder pressure.

The Bank of America (BAC) followed Citigroup (C) with lousy results but we got the expected la-la land hype that their future looks rosy, and that the Countrywide acquisition will be earnings accretive this year. How could they know that when nobody yet knows the extent of Countrywide losses?

American Express (AXP) has been trashed in the after-market and in the German market today after missing badly on earnings estimates and guiding negatively. Extra write-downs… wealthy client spending hit the wall in June… earnings no longer tracking nicely… tough operating conditions… these are the words from the American Express CEO.

Switzerland's well-managed Roche Holdings (OTC ADR:RHHBY) has offered to buy the 44% of world leading biotech firm Genentech (DNA) that it doesn't already own. The $43.7 billion proposal highlights the need by the big drug companies to build their product pipelines.

But the Wall St Journal reported that the bid blindsided Genentech and is a potential threat to the delicate relationship that exists between the two companies.

Today, Wachovia Bank, the 4th largest in the US, badly missed earnings estimates of -$0.78/share when they reported a loss of -$8.9 billion (-$4.20/share). So, yesterday’s hype from the other banks will be taken down by Wachovia and American Express. The DJIA futures are down over -100 points at 7:45am ET.

Yesterday, the DJIA (-29.93 -0.25% to 11467.34), S&P 500 (-0.68 -0.05% to 1260.00) and NASDAQ Composite (-3.25 -0.14% to 2279.5) were down a bit, but after a large rally at the open, most of the day was selling, in quiet volume. The Toronto Composite was up +1.28% to 13689, but the Toronto Venture board was down -0.48% to 2288.

Earlier today, the Asia-Pacific markets were mixed. Tokyo, re-opened with a catch-up gain of +2.98% to 13185, and India had a gain of +1.84% to 14104, but Australia and Hong Kong were flat and Shanghai dropped -0.53% to 2846.1.

In Europe this morning at 7:46am, there is widespread selling. The UK FTSE is down -1.87% to 5303, the French CAC -1.23% to 4274, and the German DAX -1.28% to 6343.

Crude Oil futures are up +$0.22/bbl to 132.04.

Gold, palladium, platinum and silver spot prices are all up, marginally, presently at: 974.38, 417.5, 1874, and 18.61, respectively.

The Euro is a bit stronger at 1.5886.

DJIA futures, which had been down over -100, are presently (7:55am ET) down -94 at 11371.

Whole Foods Market (WFMI), Netease (NTES), and Silver Standard (SSRI) are looking good in the NASDAQ pre-open. Yahoo (YHOO) and Schwab (SCHW) are not.

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Comments & Outlook

Volume is weak and the electronic brokers are soft. Yesterday, it was OXPS -5.2% and IBKR -4.5%, which were the two weakest stocks of the Cara 100 companies. This morning SCHW is getting hit.

The feeling here is that as the banks and broker-dealers leave uncertainty in the market as to their real earnings (ie, losses in many cases), traders will hold off making decisions. In fact it is a good time to be in cash and go on vacation. This situation is likely to adversely impact the electronic brokers.

The other observation I have today is that the consumer electronics (mp3 sales) and auto manufacturer share prices are down –see Apple’s iPod—which is due to June sales, which had been signaled to me by the recent crushing in SNDK (especially) and INTC stocks, which are the companies that make the chips that fill those products.

Now we are starting to see the impact on companies like American Express, and Apple.

This is not a good time to be chasing stocks. When I mention that you ought to be watching a relatively small number of stocks of quality companies (for potential purchases at their cycle bottoms), you also have to be generally aware of the business environment these companies are operating in and share prices can best tell you that. Macro-economic data is lagging, and is based on estimates and surveys, which is also not often helpful other than as a confirmation of the price trends and cycles you see in the market.

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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