Canadian Open Dry and Tough

An unforgiving course and its dry greens kept scores high at the RBC Canadian Open in Vancouver.At the end of the second round,Americans Michael Thompson and Chad Campbell shared the lead at -4.Canadians Adam Hadwin and David Hearn shared fifth place with a number of other golfers at -2.
At the LPGA Evian Masters on the French shore of Lake Geneva,Japan's Miki Saiki topped the leader board with a nine under par through the second round.Americans Stacy Lewis,Paula Creamer and Kristie Kerr were close behind,with Lewis at eight under,and Creamer and Kerr at seven under par,respectively.
While the golfers seemed to be in relatively cool surroundings,the Mid-Atlantic region was gravely hot.At Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia,the rules were relaxed so fans could bring bottled water to the baseball game.Even in Toronto,on Thursday the dome of Rogers Centre was closed against the 100F heat.
Stocks were not hot for the week,but did score modest gains.The broadly based S&P 500 index was up 2.19 on some strong earnings reports from Microsoft and McDonald's,among others,as well as apparent progress in European debt talks.The Reuters/Jefferies CRB commodities index climbed 2.66 on the week.
Next week,a plethora of earnings will be logged in by Ford Motor,3M,US Steel and Exxon Mobil,to name a handful of the 300 companies slated to report.There will also be a lot of data to react to from the housing sector,as well as consumer sentiment,GDP and durable goods reports.
The S&P futures were down 1.50 Friday evening,while oil,gold and bond index futures rose.
Microsoft(MSFT),McDonald's(MCD)

Watson Aces Sixth Hole,Stocks Down on Week

Tom Watson,one of golf's leading lights at 71 years old,showed a flash of old brilliance in second round play at The Open Championship Friday.Watson hit a hole in one at the sixth,the fifteenth ace of his career and his second at a major.He also aced at the 1980 U.S. Open.Watson finished the round at an even 70,four strokes off the lead.Phil Mickelson was three strokes behind at one under par.
Fellow American Lucas Glover and Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke shared the lead at four under par.The tournament is being held at the Royal St.George's Golf Club in Sandwich,England.
The stock market did not score an ace this week,suffering modest declines on the endless debt concern as well as unemployment hangover from last Friday and a weak Empire State manufacturing report,coupled with poor consumer confidence.The Dow fell 1.4,while the NASDAQ lost 2.5 and the S&P slipped 2.1.The Jefferies-Reuters CRB commodities index edged up 0.5.
Next week features data on existing home sales,housing starts and Mid-Atlantic manufacturing,the Philly Fed report.The S&P futures were up 8.20 Friday evening,and bond index futures also rose.Oil futures were up 1.55 at 97.24 a barrel,and gold futures rose 0.80 to 1590.10 an ounce.
Update:Darren Clarke,who will turn 43 next month,took sole possession of the lead in Saturday's third round of The Open Championship,shooting a 69 five under par.Young Americans Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler were second and third on the leader board,respectively.Clarke only missed a few greens in the challenging weather conditions,and was the only player to make birdie on the first hole.
The crowd favorite,Clarke had previously won at Majorca,Spain on the European tour this season.Phil Mickelson was at even par Saturday,five shots back of the lead in seventh place.

Pueblo Faces Wind as Rockies Win

Pueblo County,Colorado braved fierce winds and quarter-sized hail as thunderstorms rocked the Front Range this evening.At 6:52 pm,a gust of 78 mph was recorded,and a semi truck was knocked over on its side 5 miles east of Pueblo.
Meanwhile,the Colorado Rockies were playing ball back east in Washington.They bested the Washington Nationals 3-2 as closer Houston Street blanked the Nats,striking out two in the ninth inning.The Rockies have won four straight games against the Nats,and the last 15 out of 18 contests with the Nats.
The stock market faced the winds of a poor employment report on Friday.Nonetheless,it managed a slight gain on the week,with the Dow up 0.59,the NASDAQ adding 1.55,and the S&P improving by the hair of 0.31,supported by strong manufacturing data from the Institute for Supply Management.June was the 23rd consecutive month of expansion in the sector,with new orders and production up modestly and employment rising a strong 1.7%.
Next week will see the start of earnings season as companies report their Q2 results.Alcoa reports on Monday,while JP Morgan Chase goes on Thursday along with Google.Citigroup checks in on Friday,and the Empire State manufacturing report will also be released at that time.
The futures were still affected by nerves Friday evening,as the S&P dropped 9.90.Oil futures also fell,losing 2.46,while gold and bond index futures hiked upward.
Alcoa(AA),Citigroup(C),Google(GOOG),JP Morgan Chase(JPM)

Jays Lose,But Canadian Powers Nats Win

The Toronto Blue Jays could not deliver a victory to fans on Canada Day,losing 7-6 as the Philidelphia Phillies came from behind to win Friday afternoon in Toronto.Canadian Matt Stairs,however,celebrated his homeland's birthday with a walk-off base hit,earning a 2-1 win for his team,the Washington Nationals,over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Nationals Park Friday evening.
Reliever Chris Resop had shut the Nats down with his fastballs in the eighth inning,but the veteran Stairs came through in the bottom of the ninth with his second RBI in a Nationals uniform.It was a nice hit,Stairs said;it was a good feeling.
Traders were having a good feeling on Friday as well,with all three major averages logging a successful week at the closing bell.The Dow rose 5.4 on the week,and the NASDAQ gained 6.2,while the broadly-based S&P added 5.6.The Jefferies-Reuters CRB Index showed a commodities loss of 0.4.
The S&P futures continued the rally,up 19.30,while bond index futures declined.
The holiday-shortened next week will test the rally with several data points,including the ISM service sector reading;factory orders;chain store sales;and the crucial employment report on Friday.

North Dakota Devastated by Flooding

Many residents of Minot,North Dakota failed to get flood insurance,believing their levees would protect them.Although the levees would not breech,they are being topped,leaving many homeless for the foreseeable future.
Record flood waters,the result of prodigious winter snowfall and spring rain in the U.S. and Canada,are raising the misery index exponentially in Minot and nearby communities in the upper Midwest.Dam floodgates had to be opened in three Canadian dams and one American dam,sending a cascade of ruinous proportions southward down the Souris River,submerging countless homes and businesses.
Financial fears are mounting in Europe and the U.S.,where the Greek debt issue continues to ruffle markets.Accord has been reached with the EU and IMF,but the Greek parliament still has to approve the austerity requirements to receive the aid for upcoming repayments.As well,the Fedreral Reserve's quantitative easing program,or QE2,ends next Thursday,with unknown consequences for the stock market.
For the week,the Dow dropped 0.58%,while the NASDAQ lost 1.39 and the S&P edged 0.24 lower.
A number of data points will also condition trading next week.Pending home sales,consumer confidence,the ISM manufacturing index,and the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index will be released.
In reaction,the S&P futures tumbled 13.10 Friday evening,but bond index futures climbed.
At the College World Series in Omaha,Nebraska,South Carolina climbed past Virginia 3-2 in 13 innings on two throwing errors.The Gamecocks will face the Florida Gators in a best of three final beginning on Monday.

McIlroy Dominates At Congressional

Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy dominated the early going at the U.S. Open at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda,Maryland.Mature beyond his 22 years,McIlroy,who also had led the year's first major,The Masters,through most of the tournament,made golf history on Friday by posting the best ever 36-hole score at the U.S. Open.
Although botching the eighteenth hole along with Phil Mickelson,McIlroy ended the day with an 11 under 131 for the tournament so far.Mickelson was well back at 1 over.
News from Europe dominated the stock market this week,resulting in several poor closing bells.By week's end,however,things had calmed down in Athens,Greece and the Europeans seemed closer to resolving their debt crisis for the moment,allowing the major averages to post minute gains.The Dow and S&P closed fractionally up for the week,at 0.4 and 0.04,respectively.The NASDAQ gained a more appreciable 1.0.
The Wallow fire,worst in Arizona history,continued to burn Friday evening,being 33% contained.Gusty winds were unfortunately in the forecast,posing further danger of blazes in the drought-ridden West.
The week ahead poses more danger for portfolios as the Federal Reserve issues an interest rate decision and statement on Wednesday.Data on home sales,durable goods and Gross Domestic Product may also prove significant to investors.
The S&P futures took a positive slant,rising 2.50 Friday evening,while bond index futures headed downward.

Worries,Wildfire and Sun Devils

The stock market rolled further down its losing path this week,finishing lower for the sixth straight week for the first time since 2002.The slowness of the recovery,a ballooning national debt and overseas concerns remain stumbling blocks to further appreciation of most equities as a correction drives investors into the havens of bond funds and cash again.
Opportunists scoop up bargains at such times,but profit-taking is the rule of the day,especially on the cusp of a weekend with all its inherent uncertainties.For the week,the Dow lost 1.6,and the S&P surrendered 2.2,with the NASDAQ falling 3.3.Commodities dropped on Friday as the dollar rose,as expressed by the Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index,which slipped 2.30.
The Arizona State Sun Devils didn't slip when they cuffed the Texas Longhorns 3-1 at the NCAA Super Regionals Friday evening in Austin.The first game of the best 2 out of three series was taken control of when Arizona State scored two runs in the top of the 3rd on two Texas errors and an RBI single.
In 2002 and 2005,the Longhorns lost game 1 of the Super Regionals,only to come all the way back and take the College World Series.For tonight,however,the Sun Devils' Joey DeMichele led the way to a win,going 2-4 with 2 RBIs.
At home in Arizona,wildland firefighters worked on saving small towns from a forest fire that was only 5% contained.Five hours from Phoenix,the fire may take up to 3 weeks to fully control.The communities of vacation homes,cabins and resorts will be at risk till then,and in the past it has taken such resorts 5 years to recover from a blaze of this size.
The markets will give their attention to several reports next week,including retail sales,housing starts and inflation.The S&P futures slid a further 18.20 Friday evening,and bond index futures rose on the new week's promise.