Planet Wealth

Hi Everyone, I'm back from the land down under, so let's get caught up on what's going on.  The market is lower today, based on a number of factors.  The government was trying to sell some of it's ownership in Citi in order to pay back the US taxpayer, however there weren't a lot of takers and share price has dropped below the initial purchase price from the government.  The lack of interest is certainly concerning about the long term viability of Citi, or at least the negative view of Citi in the short term.

Jobless claims posted a small increase, something we would normally cheer, however the market seems to want to see some signs of actual job growth.  It's like the market has accepted that the economy seems to have stopped getting worse, but wants to know that it is getting better.  Obviously, those are two completely separate scenarios.

Fed Ex's earnings disappointed as well, however the CEO was suprisingly positive in the conference call.  Fed Ex is used as a barometer of economic activity by some.

One of the main reasons for the lower market however, most likely is due to the Bernanke nomination hearings in the Senate Banking Committee.  The Committee voted 16-7 to approve the nomination of Bernanke for another four year term.  The market appeared to be waiting for the results of the nomination hearing as the market hates uncertainty and there seemed to be doubt that Bernanke would be approved for nomination.  The market started to rebound until it was revealed that Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top ranking Repulican on the committee, was among those that voted "no".  That immediately created the uncertainty again that the Bernanke nomination may face some trouble in the full Senate vote.

For now, we are again watching that important 1100 level on the S&P.