Market musings April 7, 2009

The market was up overnight about 50 on the DOW. The job report at 8:30 would be the the critical data for traders today, but there were plenty of other news as well. 7:00 AM Bank of England Announcement - interest rate = no change 7:45 AM European Central Bank Announcement - interest rate = -25 bp to 1.00% 8:30 AM Highlights The rate of layoffs is definitely coming down but those out of work are staying out of work longer, the good and bad results of this week's jobless claims report. Initial claims fell a sizable 34,000 in the May 2 week to 601,000 for the lowest rate since late January (prior week revised slightly higher to 635,000). The drop pulled down the four-week average by 14,750 to 623,500 for the lowest level since mid-February. Now the bad news. Continuing claims rose for a 14th straight week, up 56,000 to a new record 6.351 million. The unemployment rate for insured workers rose another tenth to 4.8 percent. The rise in the insured unemployment rate is a reminder that the number of unemployed continues to rise. But the improvement in initial claims confirms that the rate of deterioration is moderating. There was no significant reaction to the report, at least initially. The Labor Department will post the monthly jobs report tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. ET. Link to summary at the NASDAQ here 8:30 AM - Productivity and costs Link to summary at the NASDAQ here Link to Bureau of Labor Statistics here 10:30 AM - Natural Gas report Natural gas in storage rose 95 billion cubic feet in the May 1 week to 1,918 bcf. 82 bcf last week. Full report from Energy Information Administration here Fair value of the indexes shrugged off the job numbers and opened up a moderate amount, only to see those gains slip away as the day wore on. On this day the financials did not lead the market higher, possibly due to the anxiety over the "Stress Test" release today after market close. The sell off accelerated when the the 1:00 PM 30yr bond offering didn't go off very well. Rueters link to bond auction Also contributing to the day was the 3:00 PM announcement of Consumer Credit. Highlights In the steepest contraction since early in World War II, consumer credit outstanding fell $11.1 billion in March following an $8.1 billion contraction in February ($7.4 billion first reported). The contraction for March was split evenly between revolving credit, at -$5.4 billion, and non-revolving, at -$5.7 billion. Consumers are retrenching, paying down their debts and putting their money into the bank in a very big way. It's been a very volatile day in the financial markets but stocks did fall when the report hit the tape. You can see the NASDAQ summary here Check today's closing numbers on the left. Today's action per sector: Today at 5:00 PM we finally got the long awaited Stress for the banks. The results are all over so I won't link them. Some need money, some don't, and the ones that do are doing it in various ways. What we have on tap tomorrow: Non-Farm payroll at 8:30. This might dictate the direction of the market. Earning reports: ABR Arbor Realty Trust Inc. Financial ACET Aceto Corp. Healthcare ARD Arena Resources Inc. Basic Materials BECN Beacon Roofing Supply Inc. Services BRK-A Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Financial BRNC Bronco Drilling Co. Inc. Basic Materials BRT BRT Realty Trust Financial BZH Beazer Homes USA Inc. Industrial Goods CCIX Coleman Cable, Inc. Industrial Goods CCOI Cogent Communications Group Inc. Technology CEP Constellation Energy Partners LLC Basic Materials CODI Compass Diversified Holdings Financial CPN Calpine Corp. Utilities CV Central Vermont Public Service Corp. Utilities DRQ Dril-Quip, Inc. Basic Materials EIX Edison International Utilities EP El Paso Corp. Basic Materials EPB El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. Utilities ERF Enerplus Resources Fund Basic Materials EVEP EV Energy Partners LP Basic Materials FHC Female Health Co. Consumer Goods GMET Geomet, Inc. Basic Materials GROW U.S. Global Investors, Inc. Financial GTN Gray Television Inc. Services HALO Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. Healthcare HUN Huntsman Corp. Basic Materials ICOC ICO Inc. Basic Materials IT Gartner Inc. Services IX ORIX Corp. Financial JOUT Johnson Outdoors Inc. Consumer Goods KFS Kingsway Financial Services Inc. Financial LINTA Liberty Media Interactive Services LMIA LMI Aerospace Inc. Industrial Goods LRN K12, Inc. Services MAG Magnetek Inc. Industrial Goods MDC MDC Holdings Inc. Industrial Goods MEA Metalico Inc. Basic Materials MGS MetroGAS S.A. Utilities MIM MI Developments Inc. Financial MIR Mirant Corporation Utilities MRLN Marlin Business Services Corp. Services NANX Nanophase Technologies Corp. Basic Materials NGS Natural Gas Services Group Inc. Basic Materials NXG Northgate Minerals Corp. Basic Materials NXTM Nxstage Medical, Inc. Healthcare PBR Petroleo Brasileiro Basic Materials PCLN Priceline.com Inc. Technology PETD Petroleum Development Corp. Basic Materials PONE Protection One Inc. Services RDNT RadNet, Inc. Healthcare REP Repsol YPF SA Basic Materials RGCI Regent Communications Inc. Services SNI Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. Services SRZ Sunrise Senior Living Inc. Healthcare SYMX Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. Basic Materials TM Toyota Motor Corp. Consumer Goods UXG US Gold Corporation Basic Materials VNR Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC Basic Materials VNUS Vnus Medical Technologies Inc. Healthcare VTIV inVentiv Health, Inc. Services WIN Windstream Corporation Technology WR Westar Energy Inc. Utilities XTEX Crosstex Energy LP Basic Materials That pretty much gets us up to speed for today and the start of tomorrow. Nope, thought of one more thing. Stephen Friedman has resigned as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, saying his role had been at the central bank has been maligned. The link is in the text. If you haven't followed that story, you should. I won't spell it out here, but the blogesphere has been on this much longer than the "real" media. What a crock of ****. ****** Speaking of a crock of ****. My daily CNBC cheerleading grade = B- As much as they have been pumping this rally, and telling us to buy, buy, buy, they said the words bearish, concerned, and overbought today. Shame on you CNBC - your slipping. I swear, If I hear "less worse than expected" one more time I'm going to barf. Happy trading.