4:20 pm : The major averages closed sharply lower Friday amid growing fears of a liquidity crunch and worries that sub-prime mortgage misfortunes will spread into the broader economy. Even though Fed Chairman Bernanke briefly put both concerns to rest in a Q&A session on Wednesday, his words appear to have since fallen on deaf ears.
With Tuesday's sell-off shifting the market's focus to everything negative, the implications of what a mass exodus of speculative buying interest may have on the rest of the market made increasingly risk-averse investors even more frightened about the much talked about market correction.
As evidenced by another plunge in the futures market Friday morning, another rally in the Japanese yen shed some more light on the high degree of speculation that has been fed by unprecedented levels of liquidity. The correlation again raised concerns that hedge funds benefiting from the so-called carry trade may all start to unwind positions at the same time, which could have a ripple effect around the globe.
Meanwhile, U.S. regulators today demanded tougher standards for sub-prime adjustable-rate mortgages; but the news merely minimized losses in Countrywide Financial (CFC 37.19 -0.25) which yesterday reported in an SEC filing that delinquencies surged 19% last year.
On a positive note, St. Louis Fed President Poole made some early remarks. He dismissed fears of a recession, said he sees nothing in carry trades that is disruptive at this stage and that stock market valuation "does not seem to be elevated" at this time. Nonetheless, the market's "sell first, think later" mentality led to even more asset reallocation and continued to overshadow the fact that market fundamentals have not changed and that valuations on stocks are actually still attractive. DJ30 -120.24 NASDAQ -36.21 SP500 -16.00 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2259/759/2.15 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2452/822/1.67 bln
3:30 pm : As expected, especially going into a weekend, recent attempts to pare losses weren't met with much conviction. Even if the indices were trading at improved levels, the market may take such a recovery with a grain of salt since trading desks have been thinning out all afternoon.
In fact, volume today doesn't come close to what was seen over the last three sessions, which averaged about 2.4 bln shares on the NYSE. The Big Board didn't even reach 1.0 bln shares until 2:00 ET. DJ30 -76.46 NASDAQ -25.71 SP500 -10.75 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2175/814/1.96 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2376/880/1.47 bln
3:00 pm : The major averages are bouncing off their worst levels of the day, but the rebound isn't nearly enough to make a significant change in the standings. At their lows, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were off 1.0%, 1.1% and 1.4%, respectively.
Last-ditch buying efforts more suggestive of some short covering than anything else still leave the Nasdaq off 1.0% on the session and down nearly 5.5% for the week. DJ30 -78.21 NASDAQ -25.49 SP500 -11.49 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2149/832/1.83 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2379/872/1.35 bln
2:30 pm : The bottom continues to fall out of stocks as concerns about sub-prime mortgage misfortunes spreading into the broader economy and signs of liquidity drying up continue to weigh on the proceedings.
Even though Fed Chairman Bernanke put to rest those fears in a Q&A session after speaking before the House Budget Committee on Wednesday, his words appear to have since fallen on deaf ears. Countrywide Financial (CFC 37.05 -0.39) has since reported in an SEC filing that delinquencies surged 19% last year while U.S. regulators today demanded tougher standards for sub-prime adjustable-rate mortgages.DJ30 -109.07 NASDAQ -31.43 SP500 -14.97 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2211/750/1.66 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2390/834/1.22 bln
2:00 pm : Not much has changed since the last update as sellers remain in complete control of today's action. All 10 sectors continue to post losses while the S&P 500 is now down 1.0%; the Nasdaq is down 1.3% fueled by a 1.3% sell-off in Tech.
On the Dow, 26 of 30 components are contributing to its 100-point decline. In fact, if it weren't for a 3.6% surge in shares of American International Group (AIG 69.80 +2.39), the Dow would be turning in an even worse performance. DJ30 -100.92 NASDAQ -30.19 SP500 -13.79 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2173/764/1.51 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2337/877/1.10 bln
1:30 pm : The indices continue to make fresh session lows as it remains to be seen if and when an intraday bottom will be established. As reflected in the A/D line, decliners outpace advancers on both the NYSE and the Nasdaq by a more than 2-to-1 margin.
The ratio of down to up volumes paints even more of a dismal picture at the Big Board and the Composite. About the only thing the bulls have going for themselves right now is the fact that below average volume today, following three heavily-traded sessions, lends less credibility behind the bears' follow-through efforts.DJ30 -89.69 NASDAQ -29.37 SP500 -12.70 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2108/797/1.36 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2220/951/990 mln
1:00 pm : Selling remains the name of the game as investors returning from lunch continue to sip from a glass half full. While today's losses still pale in comparison to the meltdown felt around the world on Tuesday, participants continue to see the worst in everything. Case in point, oil prices are now trading at session lows.
While the decline in crude isn't extensive, the fact that Energy (-1.4%) has sold off substantially in response further underscores the lack of enthusiasm to own stocks. ..OIX -1.8%. ..OSX -1.7%. DJ30 -66.25 NASDAQ -24.50 SP500 -10.26 XOI -1.3% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2100/790/1.23 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2246/924/880 mln
12:30 pm : Stocks take a turn for the worse as the afternoon session gets underway. While falling bond yields usually bode well for stocks, especially growth areas more dependent on borrowing, Treasuries simultaneously hitting session highs lends further validation to the asset reallocation that has been occurring all week.
The 10-year note is now up 8 ticks, pushing the yield to 4.51%, as investors price in some protection heading into the weekend. As a reminder, geopolitical tensions are also still on investors' minds after the Taliban confirmed earlier in the week that Vice President Cheney was targeted in the suicide bombing attack that killed at least 23 people near a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.DJ30 -52.75 NASDAQ -21.62 R2K -1.4% SP500 -7.69 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1874/977/1.01 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1924/1194/740 mln
12:00 pm : Stocks are still struggling to find their footing midday as investors remain extremely sensitive to anything that might have bearish implications.
Ever since the Shanghai sell-off on Tuesday touched a nerve of complacency and shed a light on the high degree of speculative buying interest around the world fed by unprecedented levels of liquidity, a strengthening Japanese yen has continued to raises fears about the ramifications of carry trades being unwound by hedge funds that borrowed money at low rates.
With the market now overly pessimistic, as evidenced by a growing sense of risk aversion ever since Tuesday's sell-off, whether or not there will be another rush to secure profits and/or minimize losses before things get even uglier continues to act as an overhang.
Fortunately, the market is also sensitive to positive news, and encouraging remarks from St. Louis Fed President Poole earlier have helped to alleviate what was shaping up to be an even bigger disappointment for the bulls. After initially dismissing fears of a recession and saying he sees nothing in carry trades that is disruptive at this stage, Poole has also lent some reassurance by saying there is "no pressing need" for action after the recent sell-off.
No key economic data to lend some clarity to Fed policy and a lack of influential earnings reports also leave investors without the needed catalysts to recoup some of this week's daunting declines. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq are currently down 3.5%, 3.6% and 4.9%, respectively, already this week and volume has all but dried up after three very busy days. DJ30 -28.60 NASDAQ -11.14 SP500 -4.83 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1717/1082/890 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1915/1182/634 mln
11:30 am : Not much has changed since the last update as recent recovery efforts run out of steam. That's not all that surprising as a lack of follow-through on the part of buyers has been a recurring theme all week as the market now places more of an emphasis on the negatives.
On a positive note, Financials and Health Care are holding their own in positive territory; but gains are modest at best while further deterioration in Energy and the lack of upside leadership from Technology continue to act as offsets. DJ30 -12.16 NASDAQ -5.95 SP500 -2.19 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1686/1092/762 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1876/1175/530 mln
11:00 am : A renewed wave of buying interest within the last 30 minutes now leaves the major averages trading in split fashion. A turnaround in Financials has been the biggest catalyst behind the rebound as investors embrace recent comments from U.S. regulators about the sub-prime mortgage lending market.
Countrywide Financial (CFC 37.71 +0.27), which was off as much as 2.1% following reports that delinquencies surged 19% last year, is now in positive territory. As evidenced by Multi-Line Insurers (+2.4%) ranking as today's second best performing S&P industry group, Dow component American International Group (AIG 69.59 +2.18) soaring 3.2% after unveiling plans to buy up to another $8 bln in common stock is acting as the sector's biggest source of support. DJ30 +3.02 NASDAQ -5.39 SP500 -1.42 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1740/970/620 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2019/970/420 mln
10:30 am : After initially paring their losses upon the release of today's only economic report, the major averages are almost as quickly retracing morning lows. According to a study compiled by the University of Michigan, sentiment unexpectedly weakened a bit in late February, inching lower to 91.3 from a preliminary reading of 93.3 earlier in the month.
However, since the data do not correlate well with short-term consumer spending trends, the report has been relatively ignored. DJ30 -38.29 NASDAQ -13.08 SP500 -5.61 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1717/886/420 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1985/925/266 mln
10:00 am : The indices extend their reach to the downside as all 10 sectors slipp further into negative territory. Utilities, the only sector yesterday to post a gain, is pacing the way lower today with a 0.8% decline.
The absence of leadership from even more influential areas like Financials, Technology and Industrials are also preventing the bulls from recouping losses during what so far is likely be the worst week for the S&P 500 since September 2003. DJ30 -41.65 NASDAQ -11.46 SP500 -5.82 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1506/885/200 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1790/723/82 mln
09:40 am : As expected, stocks open on a downbeat note for a second straight day but well off the lows futures indications were suggesting about an hour ago. With the market now overly pessimistic, as evidenced by a growing sense of risk aversion ever since Tuesday's global sell-off, continued fears about carry-trade unwinding and sub-prime lending woes are again underpinning a negative tone.
Fortunately, the market is also sensitive to positive news, and encouraging remarks from St. Louis Fed President Poole this morning have helped to alleviate what was shaping up to be an even bigger disappointment for the bulls. After earlier dismissing fears of a recession and saying he sees nothing in carry trades that is disruptive at this stage, Poole has also lent some reassurance by recently saying there is "no pressing need" for action after the recent sell-off. DJ30 -26.01 NASDAQ -7.85 SP500 -4.10 NASDAQ Vol 112 mln NYSE Vol 68 mln
09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -7.0. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -16.0.
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