Stock Market Close (Ding, Ding, Ding)

What a week!  One of our readers mentioned "window dressing" today, and that certainly could have helped make this a strange day.  Especially with that distribution volume at the end of the day.  Volume on the NYSE just about dried up this afternoon:

MARKET INTERNALS UPDATE AT 3:30PMET
-  NYSE volume 777M shares, about 40% below its six-month average; decliners and advancers are about even.
- NASDAQ volume 1.57B shares, about 12% below its six-month average; advancers lead decliners by 1.1:1.

The European Central Bank’s (ECB) Liebscher says there is currently no room to lower interest rates, due to inflationary tensions.  Hankie and Bernanke better get the US dollar rallying, or we will just keep tumbling down.  I’ve heard ‘experts’ talking about the anticipated rally of the USD for months now.  Have you seen it?  Me either.

Where was the buying today?  Beats me, but the selling was there.  On Monday, we have May ISM manufacturing & prices paid, and April Construction Spending numbers.  That is at 10:00am ET.  Thornburg Mortgage (TMA) reports earnings after the bell (does anyone still care?).  Their shares close at 0.83 today.  Wow.

We’ll have the wrap up tonight, and I’ll have a post on Sunday night regarding Bear Stearns and why anyone with money in a "managed" fund should be making some serious decisions right now.

Thanks for all your comments today, they are most appreciated!

 

Market Update 1:10pm ET

More utility companies are proposing or petitioning for rate increases, to cover their costs.  I know we’re all jumping for joy over the prospect of paying more for electric and gas:

PEG PROPOSES INCREASING IN WINTER NATURAL GAS PRICES BY ABOUT 20%
- Cites wholesale supply prices as the catalyst for price raise.

AirTran delays getting 18 Boeing aircraft, appears they are putting it off for a couple of years.

ORLANDO, Fla., May 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — AirTran Airways, a subsidiary of AirTran Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AAI - News), announced today that it will defer 18 Boeing 737-700 aircraft originally scheduled for delivery between 2009 through 2011 to 2013 through 2014.

"As we stated during our first quarter earnings call, as a result of continuing record high fuel costs, we are reducing planned growth for September, 2008, through at least 2009 from 10 percent to no more than flat. This transaction will accomplish a substantial portion of that plan," said Bob Fornaro, AirTran Airways’ President and CEO. "We appreciate the support of Boeing in this action as a part of their commitment to our long-term success."

HankiePankie Paulson is saying there needs to be more investment in oil producing countries to boost output.  We need the investment HERE, you xxxx!  Ok, so CNBC guys aren’t the only ones who make me want to cuss.

The market is doing the usual "up on low volume, down on better volume", but overall volume is so-so.  I guess things are moving too slowly for some, as  "takeover chatter" that boosts certain stock prices is being heard about many stocks this morning.

Personal Income Data

The Bureau of Economic Analysis site has the personal income and outlays information.  I urge you all to read it and pay particular attention to the part under the title of "Revisions".  I tried to post the table, but apparently I’m technically-challenged this morning.

Market Update 10:00am ET

A muted opening, but indices determined to remain in the green.  The day is young and so are we.

MAY FINAL UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN CONFIDENCE: 59.8 V 59.5 prior (ooh, big leap there, huh?)
- 1 yr median inflation expectations at 5.2% v Final April 4.8% (inflation expectations are NOT ‘anchored’)

MAY CHICAGO PURCHASING MANAGER’S INDEX: 49.1 V 48.5E
**sub-indices:
- Prices Paid: 87.5 v 82.9 last
- New Orders: 56.1 v 53.0 last
- Employment: 41.2 v 35.3 last
- Inventories: 42.2 v 51.9 last
- Supplier Deliveries:  51.0 v 52.5 last
- Production:  51.5 v 53.0 last
- Order Backlogs:  46.8 v 39.5 last

FED SETS THREE-DAY REPOS, ACCEPTS $7.75B

Pre-Market News

Entering another ‘turbulent’ phase?

US AND EUROPEAN DEBT MARKETS FLASH NEW WARNING SIGNALS - TELEGRAPH
- “The debt markets in the US and Europe have begun to flash warning signals yet again, raising fears that the global credit crisis could be entering another turbulent phase.”
- “The cost of insuring against default on the bonds of Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and other big banks and brokerages has surged over the last two weeks, threatening to reach the stress levels seen before the Bear Stearns debacle. Spreads on inter-bank Libor and Euribor rates in Europe are back near record levels.”
- "The steep rise in swap spreads this week is ominous," said John Hussman, head of the Hussman Funds. "The deterioration is in stark contrast to what investors have come to hope since March."

“Willem Sels, a credit analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort, said the banks are beginning to face waves of defaults on credit cards, car loans, and now corporate loans. "We believe we’re entering Phase II. The liquidity crisis has eased a little, but the real credit losses are accelerating. The worst is yet to come," he said.”

Personal Spending/Income numbers came in better than expected, but not better than the prior numbers.

APR PERSONAL INCOME: 0.2% V 0.1%E; PERSONAL SPENDING: 0.2% V 0.2%E
- Prior Personal Income revised from 0.3% to 0.4%

APR PCE CORE M/M: 0.1% V 0.1%E; PCE CORE Y/Y: 2.1% V 2.1%E; PCE DEFLATOR Y/Y: 3.2% V 3.1%E
- No Revisions

Personal spending: +0.2%
Personal income: +0.2%

Adjusted for inflation those numbers are:
0.0
0.1 respectively

Futures shot up on the ‘better than expected’ numbers, but we’ll see if the market reflects any reality later today.  I don’t know what CNBC is spinning this morning on these numbers, I just don’t have the stomach to watch them.  They tend to make me want to cuss up a storm.