Event Risk In Focus

With earnings season winding down,event risk has become the focus for traders now.Stocks closed at their lows of Friday's session,with financials losing big on concern over a criminal probe into Goldman Sachs' activities.Traders are worried that further negative information about the Wall Street titan will toughen new financial regulations even more.The other main concern is the Greek debt crisis,which has reached a critical juncture this weekend.If no bailout is reached by Sunday night,Friday's selling could resume on Monday.Greece needs to come up with cash for a May 19 debt payment.
Nonetheless,stocks closed up both for the week and the month.April is traditionally a strong month for equities,while the summer months are believed to yield weaker results,according to conventional wisdom.The S&P futures were down sharply this evening,losing 21.90,while bond futures rose.In golf,Tiger Woods was in danger of not making the cut in the PGA event at Quail Hollow,with relatively obscure players being on the leader board.

Stocks Still Forging Ahead

For the eighth straight week,the stock market continued their upward momentum,unfazed by the Greek debt worries that resurfaced or impending financial regulatory reform.For the week,the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.7,while the NASDAQ rose 2.0 and the S&P climbed 2.1.A flurry of new home sales and ex-transport durable goods business lifted investors' spirits.They didn't seem concerned that there hasn't been a pullback in so long,things are starting to look toppy.We've been headed straight up for some time now,and the laws of physics will have to be reckoned with eventually-just not yet,in their opinion.
We all know about porn on the web.Peep show girls seem to pop out at you from every corner of social media.The cheapening of affection has never been so rampant-just another sign of the moral disarmament that is wearing civilization down,from Wall Street to the other side of the street-the Securities and Exchange Commission,it's regulator,where several high-ranking staffers are being disciplined for wasting taxpayer time on trivial viewing excursions.That was truly stupid.
The S&P futures were optimistic this evening,up 10.60,and bond futures were retreating,signaling a continuation of the week's gains on Monday morning.

Fear Returns To Market

It's been a while since fear stalked the trading floor,but that is just what happened on this one-headline Friday.With the Securities and Exchange Commission filing civil charges against Goldman Sachs,the thought of the day was just who would be next.The financial stocks are so central today,so critical to the market's welfare,any threat to them calls into question the recent rally.All of the largest firms fell big time in a session that saw the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index jump 15.54.The financials lost 44 billion dollars in value on Friday,while Goldman alone dropped 10 billion.
Nonetheless,even though the cold breath of fear breathed down traders' necks again,the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a 0.2 gain for the week.The NASDAQ was up 1.1,but the S&P 500 stepped down 0.2 for the week.The futures gave little hope for the resumption of equities trading on Monday,with the S&P futures down 18.20and the Dow futures off a triple digit at -112,while Treasury futures rose in contrast.
Razorback fans were comforted as Arkansas took a 3-2 lead over the Georgia Bulldogs in college baseball,while some major league fans relaxed with Philadelphia leading Florida 5-1.
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Golf Is Normal Again

The Masters is on,drawing viewers into its tranquil intensity,which is the genius of golf broadcasts.Tiger Woods is there,but he's taken up where he left off.The girl stories have faded into the background already.It's almost as if they happened to someone else in some other sport.They just don't seem to matter much anymore,unless you're the National Enquirer.
Wall Street has also been tranquil this week.The Dow rose 0.6,while the S&P moved up 1.4 and the NASDAQ led the field with a 2.1.It was the sixth straight week of moderately higher performance.It has become a near-perfect market.Today's volume was very light,though,at less than a billion shares.That is a flaw.The lack of conviction persists-a reminder that just over a year ago we had hit rock bottom,a fall for the ages.
It's hard to have conviction when there are still so many foreclosures and small businesses can't get the loans they need.Those headwinds may be breezes,but they're still there.
The S&P futures were up 8.9 early this evening.Treasury futures were up as well.Mets fans were freezing at Citi Field as the Mets led the Washington Nationals.

Manufacturing,Jobs Looking Better

The holiday-shortened trading week was capped off today by a positive employment report,with the private sector yielding more than 120,000 new jobs-the biggest gain since the recession began.Manufacturing reports contained strong data worldwide.Bonds were traded on Good Friday,with most Treasuries ending somewhat down,while stock futures reacted with an upswing,signaling a possibly good resumption of trading on Monday.
Christians were thinking of Jerusalem,a city of great and holy events commemorated at this time.They may have given some thought to finance,but their hearts were elsewhere today,in the midst of their faith that is rooted in the Middle East.Unfortunately,the Israeli-Palestinian conflict boiled over in Gaza,but Jerusalem itself wasn't in the bad news of the world.Pilgrims carried large wooden crosses in procession,retracing the last hours before Christ's crucifixion.The Western and Orthodox churches are celebrating Easter at the same time this year,unlike the usual divergence of calendars.
To all Christians,the happiest Easter to you and to yours.