The market finished the final session of the week in a mixed fashion. For the week, it was essentially flat. As we are approaching the end of the quarter, some window dressing activities should be expected. In terms of news flow, it is a pretty quiet session. The biggest headline news was probably the savings rate of 6.9% in May, the highest in 16 years. We have mentioned before in our market comments that the rise of the savings rate is a good thing for the economy in the run. But in the short run, it is another story. Having reached nearly 15% in early 80s, the savings rate steadily declined through the 90s before briefly turned into negative at the turn of the millenium. Now facing with the Great Recession, consumers are saving once again so it won't be a surprise to see the number back to double digits in the next few months.

Most major sectors finished the session little changed. The CRB commodity index dropped 0.8%. The US dollar was lower 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 NYSE and positive on Nasdaq. The volume was a little heavy compared to the previous session.

The market had its best session so far in June. By close, all three major indexes finished higher by at least 2%. The biggest event for the day is the testimony of the Fed Chairman Bernanke in front of a House committee. I spent more than three hours watching the testimony and it was really worth the time spent. The testimony actually revealed how the key regulators including the Fed, the Treasury, FDIC and OCC reacted to that once in-a-generation crisis during the last fall. In fact, one can get a sense of how the banking industry would be shaped up following the crisis. For those of you that couldn't get a chance to watch it in live, I strongly recommend you to get a review. Other than Bernanke's rather successful testimony, there are several other factors behind today's move. First, the Fed announced plans to let one of its emergency programs expire and trim two others - the first step towards its exit strategy. Yesterday, some traders were a little disappointed with the Fed's statement that didn't explicitly show its exit strategy, which was the main reason behind the 100-point drop in the Dow yesterday afternoon; Second, a $27 billion auction of 7-year treasury notes was rather successful, which followed equally good auctions of 2-year and 5-year in the previous sessions; Third, as we are getting closer to the end of the quarter, there is some talk on the Street that the market may try to extend its winning monthly streak to four. However, whether that will indeed happen remains a question.

All 10 major sectors finished the session higher led by industrial and transportation. The CRB commodity index rose 1.4%. The US dollar was mixed against most major currencies. Treasuries rose with the yield curve flattened. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged. The VIX index dropped more than 2 points. The market breath was positive on NYSE and positive on Nasdaq. The volume was similar to the previous session.

The market finished this Fed decision session once again in a mixed fashion. Overall, it was a very quiet session considering it is not uncommon to see the major indexes moving by 2% or even more following the Fed decision. As widely expected, the Fed kept its target rate unchanged. In the statement, the Fed maintained that the rate wil stay at "exceptionally low levels for an extended period". In other words, we are not likely to see the Fed to hike the interest rate for the rest of this year. Seperately, durable goods orders in May jumped more than expected. The rise of 1.8% in durable orders was far better than a drop of 0.9% expected. Demand for non-defensive capital goods excluding aircraft, usually viewed as a proxy for future business investment, jumped 4.8%, the most since Sep 2004. Finally, sales of new homes were not as good as analysts had been looking for, indicating that there is little sign of a strong housing recovery on the horizon.

Most major sectors finished the session higher led by technology and transportation. The CRB commodity index was little changed. The US dollar was higher against most major currencies. Treasuries declined with the yield curve steepened. The three-month US LIBOR dropped 1 bps to 60bps. The VIX index dropped more than 1 point. The market breath was neutral on NYSE and positive on Nasdaq. The volume was similar to the previous session.

The market finished the pre-Fed meeting session in a mixed fashion. Overall, it was a very quiet day with the Dow moving in a range of less than 100 points. The news flow is quite slow. The only important economic news came from the housing front. Sales of existing homes for the month of May rose 2.4% to an annual rate 4.77 million, slightly below what economists were looking for. Prices, meanwhile, declined 17% from a year ago on average. However, there are some bright spots in the report. First, the share of homes sold as foreclosures was 33% compared to 40% to 50% earlier in the year. The list of homes for sale also dropped by 3.5% and based on the current selling pace, it would take 9.6 months to sell all the inventory, down from 10.1 months in April.

Most major sectors finished the session higher led by materials and financials. The CRB commodity index gained 1.5%. The US dollar was lower against most major currencies. Treasuries rose with the yield curve flattened. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged. The VIX index dropped less than 1 point. The market breath was neutral on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was lighter compared to the previous session.

The market sold off sharply on the first session of the new week, extending the losses from the previous week. By close, all three major indexes were off by mroe than 2%. The S&P 500 now is back into the negative territory for the year. There is little economic news behind today's big drop. Overnight, the World Bank lowered its growth forecast for the global economy to a contraction of 2.9% from a previous estimation of -1.7%. For 2010, the bank also brought its estimation down slightly from 2.3% to 2.0%. However, the cut is more backward-looking and investors just use it as an excuse to book profits.

For the week ending on June 19th, most major indexes including the Dow and the S&P 500 closed right at or slightly above their 200-day moving averages. Because of the lagging characteristics of the 200-day MA relative to the 50-day MA, almost all 50-day MAs continued to move higher while most 200-day MAs were dropping. The S&P 500 would have its golden-cross early this week and become the second major index to do so. However, as 200-day MAs are still trending downwards(although the speed has slowed a little bit), the current rally is still a bear market rally at least from technical perspective. Sectorwise, materials were the worst hit sector among major sectors last week. Within the sector, several groups such as coal and fertilizer saw double digit declines. Defensive sectors such as healthcare and utilities were outperforming.