The market finished the finished the final session of the week in a mixed fashion. Even a surprisingly good earnings guidance from the tech giant Intel couldn't help the Dow to extend its eight-day winning streak. But nonelessless all three major indexes were up again on a weekly basis. Most economic news for the session met market expectations. However, merely matching expectations are not enough when the market valuation is quite a bit richer compared to a few months ago. This can also be seen from the Intel positive guidance this morning. If the news were out one quarter ago, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Dow post a triple-digit gain. But when the news came out this morning, the Dow futures only moved up by 30 points. We should note that many tech and retailer companies posted better-than-expected earnings results recently. However, the two sectors are also among the best performers since March. In other words, the market is feeling a bit tired at this moment.
  
Most major sectors finished the session modestly lower led by healthcare and industrial. The CRB commodity index increased 0.5%. The US dollar was higher against most major currencies. Treasuries rose with the yields falling. The three-month US LIBOR dropped 1 bps to 35 bps. The VIX index was little changed. The market breath was negative on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was a bit heavier compared to the previous session.

The market has every reason to finish the session lower. Why? The Dow has risen for seven conseutive sessions entering into this session. For now almost everyone on the Street is looking for at least some short-term pullback. Then we have some disappointing economic report. Although initial jobless claims came mostly in-line with expectation, the whisper number had been much lower than that. We also had a very poor Asian market entering into this session and most commodity prices were also down. Yet in the end, the market finished the session higher, by a modest margin to be fair. But that's enough to extend the Dow to an eighth straight gain. With six more trading sessions left for the summer, we should enjoy this kind of benign market as much as possible.

Most major sectors finished the session modestly higher led by industrial and financial. The CRB commodity index rose 0.2%. The US dollar was lower against most major currencies. Treasuries declined with the yield curve steepened. The three-month US LIBOR dropped 1 bps to 36 bps. The VIX index was little changed. The market breath was positive on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was on the light side.

The market finished the Wednesday essentially flat. It was a typical dull session in the late summer as the stocks were moving in a very narrow range. Better-than-expected economic news kept pouring in. Durable goods orders for July jumped 4.9%, the sharpest increase in two years. However, the increase is mostly due to the Cash for Clunkers program. Excluding transportation, durable goods orders increased 0.8%, in-line with expectations. Another piece of good news came from the housing front. The new home sales for July hit 433K and jumped 9.6% over June. Economists were looking for a modest increase to 390K. The month-over-month increase is the sharpest since 2005. Most recent economic news was better than expected, which helped the Dow post gains for seven consecutive sessions. But we should note that as summer moves close to its end, volatility will return soon. We will continue to pay close attention to commodity prices, especially crude oil. In addition, high beta low priced stocks were extremely active in the past few sessions, which is not a good sign for the market going forward.
  
Most major sectors finished the session little changed. The CRB commodity index declined 0.5%. The US dollar was higher against most major currencies. Treasuries were mixed. The three-month US LIBOR dropped 1 bps to 37 bps. The VIX index was little changed. The market breath was neutral on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was a bit lighter compared to the previous session.

The market finished the Tuesday modestly higher. Falling crude oil price didn't halt the summer rally in equities. The biggest headline news was nomination of the Fed Chairman Bernanke a second four-year term by President Obama. The news came out late yesterday so the market had little reaction in yesterday's trading. Although the nomination was widely expected, the timing was quite interesting. Many congressmen are currently on vacation and it seems that the President didn't want too much heat around his nomination. Most economic news for the session came better than expected. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Composite 20-City Index for June showed a 15.4% year-over-year decline while economists were looking for a decline of 16.4%. In addition, prices are now up for the second consecutive month on a month-over-month basis. Separately, the Consumer Confidence Index for August came in at 54.1 compared to 47.4 in July. Economists were looking for a reading of 47.9. 
  
Most major sectors finished the session higher led by industrial and financial. The CRB commodity index declined 1.5%. The US dollar was higher against most major currencies. Treasuries rose with the yield curve flattened. The three-month US LIBOR dropped 1 bps to 38 bps. The VIX index was little changed. The market breath was positive on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was neutral compared to the previous session.

The market finished the first session of the new week essentially flat. There is no economic news scheduled today and the news flow for the rest of the week will be on the light side. As we are approaching the end of the summer season, activities are expected to dry up further as many traders take vacations. However, both volume and volatility will return following the Labour's Day weekend. We should be prepared for those 2% plus sessions from time to time. In the financial market, it is usually the uncertainty that causes the biggest swing. One classical example is the Lehman Brother bankrupcy filing last September, which caused the credit market to freeze for a couple of weeks and led the global economy into severe recession. By its unknown nature, it is extremely difficult to predict the uncertainties but we can start with those we've already known. First of all, investors are expecting strong economy towards the end of this year and companies should enjoy very easy comparisons for at least two quarters(Q4 2009 and Q1 2010). Chances are we may get that. But 2010 is another story. If more evidene points to a weak 2010, stock market will show no mercy. Second, commodity prices will be a key leading indicator if history can be used as a guide. During the Great Depression, weakness in commodity prices caused the market to give up 80% of the rally after it bottomed in July 1932. Crude oil price is certainly something worth paying a close attention to.
 
For the week ending on Aug 21st, most major indexes continued their bullish stances with both 50-day and 200-day MAs trending up. Sectorwise, commercial banks, brazilian stocks and pharmaceuticals were doing the best while solar, drybulk and alumninum were lagging.
 
Most major sectors finished the session higher led by industrial and energy. The CRB commodity index increased 0.7%. The US dollar was higher against most major currencies. Treasuries rose with the yield curve flattened. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged. The VIX index was little changed. The market breath was neutral on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was lighter compared to the previous session.