Hurricane Season At Apex;Yankees Hit Five Roundbaggers

Hurricane season is at its statistical peak now.There are several tropical systems active in the Western Hemisphere.Tropical Storm Helene will soon make landfall on Mexico's east coast,if it has not already done so.Tropical Storm Gordon is moving in an easterly direction,away from North America.It may strike the Azores and then Portugal about mid-week if it continues on its present track.
Another system,a tropical wave,is moving off West Africa toward the Caribbean.It will be carefully scrutinised by meteorologists next week.
Rain pelted Yankee Stadium in the Bronx,New York Friday night for a brief time,but Curtis Granderson hit a home run anyway.His teammate Nick Swisher hit two more,one from each side of the plate,and Russell Martin added a fourth as the New York Yankees slammed the Boston Red Sox 6-4.Derek Jeter also homered,making a team total of five for the night.Jayson Nix batted in the other two runs with a single.
It doesn't look as though the Red Sox will make the postseason this year,as they are in last place in the American League Wild Card race.That would be the third consecutive season they have failed to advance to the playoffs.The first place Yankees are coasting into the postseason with their remarkable firepower,smiling all the way.

Market Corrects Some More;Braves Over Brewers

The stock market continued to correct excessive enthusiasm as the S&P 500 Index fell 1.99% on the week.On the year,the S&P has gained 8.96%.Major concerns included a slight slowdown in China;a drop in consumer sentiment at home;and an uptick in worry over Spanish financial news.
Major League Baseball is well underway now.On Friday night,there were some high scoring contests,such as the Atlanta Braves beating the Milwaukee Brewers at Turner Field in Atlanta by a 10-8 margin.The Braves were led by catcher Brian McCann and his two home runs.In another big score game,Boston downed Tampa Bay 12-10 at the Fenway Park opener in Boston.
Next week will see a lot of economic data and major earnings reports crossing traders' desks.Among important considerations will be the Empire State and Philly Fed manufacturing reports;Leading Economic Indicators;existing home sales and retail sales;and earnings from Citigroup;General Electric;IBM;and McDonalds.
Citigroup(C),General Electric(GE),International Business Machines(IBM),McDonalds(MCD)

Manufacturing Slows,Jobs Feeble

The manufacturing sector slowed worldwide recently,the latest data show.This was the one area of the economy that seemed a sure thing.The Institute for Supply Management charted a fall-off in activity,however,from 59.7 in May to 56.2 in June.It is still expanding if the number is above 50-just at a slower pace now.Factory orders fell 1.4% in another report,the largest drop since March of 2009.The question arises whether we are backing and filling or going over a cliff.We'll have to wait till at least next week to know,when earnings season gets underway.
The big report of the week,the unemployment figures from the Labor Department,were hardly reassuring.A loss of 125,000 jobs was recorded last month,while private industry created 83,000 positions.We need 150,000 a month to make a dent in unemployment.In consequence,the stock market clocked out with another weekly loss.The S&P fell 5.0,while the Dow stumbled 4.5 and the NASDAQ also slipped 5.0.The S&P futures registered a further decline of 7.5,and bond futures also gave up ground ahead of the Independence Day holiday.We are down 15% now from the market high of last April.The red returning to portfolios makes it feel like a lot more than 15%.
Boston Red Sox fans forgot about this as the Sox edged Baltimore 3-2 tonight behind 43-year old pitcher Tim Wakefield.In the AT&T National tournament at Aronimink in Newtown,Pennsylvania,Tiger Woods made the cut,shooting a mediocre 70,+3,and Justin Rose topped the leader board at the close of day two.