Market Wrap February 1, 2012

Sorry, way late today, but you know, sometimes other things can get in the way…

Dow Industrials 12716.46 +83.55 +0.66% S&P 500 1324.09 +11.68 +0.89% Nasdaq Comp. 2848.27 +34.43 +1.22% Russell 2000 809.66 +16.84 +2.12%

NYSE Comp. 7931.45 +92.97 +1.19% Nasdaq 100 2488.18 +20.23 +0.82% Dow Transports 5343.10 +23.96 +0.45% Dow Utilities 450.91 +2.07 +0.46%

View Major Index charts

Internals were positive, volume was better. Advances/declines were 4 to 1 on the NYSE and 10 to 3 on the Nasdaq, with up/down volume 6 to 1 on both exchanges. New highs/lows were 302/10 on the NYSE and 139/11 on the Nasdaq.

Leaders — Disk Drives (+6.31%), Comp. Hardware (+4.29%), Homebuilders (+3.05%), HMOs (+2.87%), Biotechs (+2.68%), Semis (+2.40%), Hospitals (+2.39%), Broker Dealers (+2.21%)
Laggards — Transport (-0.78%), Gold/Silver (-0.13%), Utilities (+0.31%), Oil (+0.32%), Natural Gas (+0.39%), Drugs (+0.55%), Commodities (+0.55%), Comp. Tech (+0.79%)

An extensive visual representation of the day’s winners and losers can be found at Finviz.com.

Treasury Yields — 6-Month : 0.08 %,  2-Year : 0.22 %,  5-Year : 0.73 %,  10-Year : 1.85 %,  30-Year : 3.01 %

Energy Prices — Crude oil: $97.43/barrel,  Gasoline: $2.89/gallon,  Natural Gas: $2.40/mmBTU

US Dollar Index — 78.843

Precious Metals — Gold: $1743.00/ounce,  Silver: $33.71/ounce,  Platinum: $1617.00/ounce

BMB Note:  
Comments? You’re lucky you got the numbers today…

Sticking It To Savers February 1, 2012

I saw a blip about this on the CNBC screen this morning. Pretty soon, they’re going to ask you to pay them for the privilege of letting them borrow your money.

This is really getting sick.

“Supercommittee That Runs America” Urges End To The “Zero Bound”, Demands Issuance Of Negative Yield Bonds

“It was broadly agreed that flooring interest rates at zero, or capping issuance proceeds at par, was prohibiting proper market function. The Committee unanimously recommended that the Treasury Department allow for negative yield auction results as soon as logistically practical.” And what JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs want, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs get. And once we get the green light on negative yields at auction, next up will be the push for the Fed to impose negative rates on all standing securities, which means that people will be penalized to hold cash at an institution. And that will be the final straw.

Not only that, but beginning in just 4 short months, the Treasury may launch a brand new product: a Floating Rate Bond.