Just like the previous day, almost from the open on Thursday, the US equity market was stronger. At the close, the DJIA (+212.67 +1.85% to 11715.18), S&P 500 (+19.02 +1.48% to 1300.68), and NASDAQ Composite (+29.18 +1.22% to 2411.64) were up about +1.5% on average. That’s about what you will earn in a money market fund in a year.

In Canada, the Toronto Exchange Composite gained +1.62% to 13750, and the Venture Board gained +0.71% to 1964.

The winning sectors in NY were Financials (XLF +4.0%) and Consumer Discretionary (XLY +2.3%), while Energy (XLE -1.8%) did a turn-about from the previous two days.

The Banks ($BKX +4.5%) and Broker-Dealers ($XBD +4.0%) led the way. Airlines ($XAL) soared +8.7% due to the lower oil price. NatGas ($XNG -1.5%) was soft.

A 52-week low was set by China Mobile (CHL (@57.42). What a terrible three month performance in the market for CHL.

Of the extreme Cara 100 stocks, the winners were RY +5.3%, OXPS +4.8%, VIP and WBK +4.6% and CCL +4.3%. CHL -6.0%, POT -2.8%, CHA -2.3% and DELL -2.3% were losers, but, except for CHL, volumes were down. DELL reported disappointing earnings and operating margins.

The long bond ($USB) was quiet again, almost flat (-0.01%) at 118.78. The T-Bill yield strengthened to 1.700, but is still well below the benchmark Fed Funds rate, so the market is saying that traders are nervous and generally unprepared to make longer-term investment commitments.

Earlier today, the Asia-Pacific equity markets were all up sharply across the board. Call it the Obama factor. The closes were: Australia’s All Ords index (+1.40% to 5215.5); Shanghai (+2.01% to 2397.4); Hong Kong (+1.38% to 21261.9); India’s Sensex (+3.67% to 14564.5); and Japan’s Nikkei (+2.39% to 13072.9). These are major bullish moves.

In Europe at about 9:00am ET, markets are not as strong, with the French CAC +0.5% to 4485, German DAX +0.02% to 6422, and the UK FTSE +0.4% to 5624.

Yesterday the forex market was quiet, with the Euro weakening a tad: the $USD gained +0.13% to 77.12, and the Euro lost -0.19% to 1.4701.

Crude Oil ($WTIC +0.28/bbl to 118.43) and precious metals ($GOLD +0.03/oz to 834.03) were quiet. [Apparently my data here was wrong yesterday]

At 9:00am ET today, the Euro/USD was up a bit to 1.4710, while the $USD is down to 77.11. Crude Oil futures ($WTIC) are up +1.61/bbl to 117.20, mostly due to Gustav. The DJIA Sept futures are down -38 to 11657. Traders are looking forward to the long weekend.

At 9:06am ET, Spot Gold, palladium, platinum and silver futures are a tad stronger, at 835.85 (actually down less than a dollar at the moment), 298.0, 1472, and 13.76 respectively, which are stronger along with oil and a slightly lower $USD.

---

Comments & Outlook

Without 1-800-HOPE and a $90 billion free-money program from the Administration, today’s US Personal Income and Spending report turned out to be a disaster. Yesterday, the public was told that the US economy is really growing at a +3.3% rate, revised up from +1.9%, but the people don’t see much more than the little bit of found money that fell from trees in DC in Q2.

The equity market is being pumped by Humungous Bank & Broker so they can save their bacon. Day traders don’t mind, but further out, the serious weaknesses in the US economic and financial systems will have to be recognized and dealt with.

I remain unchanged in my outlook for a long-term cycle bottom of 10000/2000 for the DJIA and NASDAQ Composite. There are continuous fights between the Bulls and Bears, so this battle is extended. For many of the leaders of HB&B, this is a reprieve in that they can defer taking write-offs while they constantly work behind the scenes to repair their capital issues and restructure their operations.

[note that the Knobias tables downloaded by Jeff and presented below are different than the ones I use, which are the correct ones. Unfortunately, Jeff is still using a file that is six months old and shows LEH in the Cara 100 watch list. No, LEH is on my deathwatch list maybe as the company fell apart in my eyes a long time ago. I apologize for the confusion.]

---

Links & Charts

---

International Economics Review

US Economic Calendar.

---

Knobias Cara100 Tables

---

Cara 100 Daily RSI-7 Charts

At least one RSI value >70:

At least one RSI value <30:

---

International Equity Markets Review

Europe

Here is the latest session data for the bourses of Europe.

---

Here is the latest session data for the London stock exchange FTSE.

---

Here is the latest session data for the German DAX.

---

Here is the latest session data for the French CAC 40.

---

Here is the latest session data for the Milan Italy stock exchange MIBTEL.

---

Here is the latest session data for the Swiss market index.

---

Asia-Pacific

Here is the latest session data for the Asia-Pacific stock exchanges.

---

Here is the latest chart for the Japanese Nikkei 225 index.

---

Here is the latest chart for the Singapore index .

---

Here is the latest chart for the Shanghai Composite index .

---

Here is the latest chart for the Hong Kong Hang Seng index .

---

Here is the latest chart for the India BSE 30 index .

---

Here is the latest chart for the Australian All Ordinaries index .

---

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)

---

The Americas

Here is the latest session data for the exchanges of the Americas.

---

Here is the latest chart for the Brazilian Bovespa stock exchange in Sao Paulo.

---

Here is the latest session data for the Toronto Stock Exchange composite index.

---

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.

---

10 (energy: XLE)

Table 2: Senior oil & gas equities

---

15 (basic materials: XLB)

Table 3: Senior metals and steel equities

Table 12: Senior gold equities

---

20 (industrial: XLI)

Table 4: Senior capital goods makers and transportation

---

25 (consumer discretionary: XLY)

Table 5: Senior consumer discretionary equities

---

30 (consumer staples: XLP)

Table 6: Senior consumer staples equities

---

35 (healthcare: IYH)

Table 7: Senior healthcare equities

---

40 (financial: XLF)

Table 8: Senior financial company equities

---

45 (technology, semiconductor: SMH)

Table 9: Senior technology equities

---

50 (telecom: IYZ)

---

55 (utilities: XLU)

---

International Equity Market USD-denominated ETF Review

Table 13: International equities perspective

---

Japanese equity market ETF: EWJ

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

Interactive EWJ Daily data:

Interactive EWJ Weekly data:

---

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:

---

Canada's equity market

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

Interactive EWC Daily data:

Interactive EWC Weekly data:

---

Bonds & Yields Review

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

---

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

---

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:

---

Table 11: Interest-sensitive securities

Consumer Finance -USA -- Interactive Daily Data Charts

---

Commodities Review

$CRB Index

Open Futures Contracts

Interactive Chart of Daily CRB Commodities Index:

Interactive Chart of Weekly CRB Commodities Index:

---

Oil Review

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

Interactive Chart of Daily Crude Oil:

Interactive Chart of Weekly Crude Oil:

---

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:

---

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:

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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

---

Here are the key Silver miners and the SLV ETF:

SLV SIL CDE HL PAAS SSRI SLW MGN

Interactive Daily data
Interactive Weekly data

---

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:

---

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:

---

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:

---

Forex Review

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

Interactive Chart of Daily U.S. Dollar Index:

---

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

---

Daily British Pound Index:

---

Daily Japanese Yen Index:

---

Daily Canadian Dollar Index:

---

Wrap-up