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Thursday, February 25, 2010

The Market On Thursday

At 7:25 a.m. futures are slightly down. Oil prices are slightly down as well now posting at $79.53 a barrel. Energy is so central to the markets and the sector tends to pull all kinds of equities around with them like a whale in a stream.

At least three things will influence the markets direction today. There's weekly jobless claims before Wall Street opens, the content of Bernanke's second and last day of testimony on the economy before Congress, and Greece's ongoing insolvency issues which oscillate in and out of the investor's terror radar.

CNN: Stocks set to tumble
A report on weekly jobless claims is due out at 8:30 a.m. ET.


...as investors refocused their attention on Greece's woes.
Reuters: Stock futures lower after Greece downgrade fears
...rating agencies said they may downgrade Greece's sovereign debt...


Bernanke resumes his testimony on Capitol Hill today.

5 comments:

Glynn Kalara said...

Y does the market give a shit about the joblessness out here? Are they worried to many people might be working again? Joblessness for millions means more short term profits for Wall st.

Jim Sande said...

I suspect these guys have it all figured out, but its still about consumer spending as a central core theme in how the American economy works and how that spans out worldwide.

If 15% more of the American population is now without money, who is going to buy that new flat screen TV. It kind of looks like they are still generating enough money from sales and such, plus we have to remember that the recovery is aided by a huge debt stimulus. So for the time being employment is back burner. The sense I get out of this thing following it day to day, is that it all works day to day, there's no plan, there's no accounting for tomorrow, its all about right now. Our economy is a huge junk truck sliding down the highway on a bed of ice and parts of it fall off a sit keeps on crashing into things. Its a mess, theres no plan.

Glynn Kalara said...

"Our economy is a huge junk truck sliding down the highway on a bed of ice and parts of it falling off as it keeps on crashing into things." Vividly portrayed!! Bravo!!

As the infamous character from "the famous Firesign Theater radio shows" the Right Reverend Rod Flash once said , "Oh blinding light, oh light that blinds, I cannot see watch out for me!"

Jim Sande said...

Let me add to that.

What the president and his advisers do is try to balance on top of the truck and fix it with 1/2 inch pieces of duct tape, except they have figured out how to unwrap the duct tape.

Jim Sande said...

"haven't"

see what a tiny sip of cream sherry does...