The market made some big swings in this option expiry date before finishing the session higher by about 1%. It did briefly drop below the points set during the "1000-point crash" on May 6th at the opening few minutes. The VIX index hit 48 before receding. Volume is extremely high with over 2.3 billion shares exchanged hands on the NYSE. Investors seemed to be somewhat relieved by the fact that some uncertainties hovering the market for the past few sessions were gone, at least for the time being. After the close yesterday, the Senate passed the financial reform bill. The bill has been a big headwind for the financial sector since the beginning of the year. Although many items in the bill will be negative for the banking earnings, the rebounce in the sector shows that investors temporarily feel relieved by the passage of the bill. Separately, Germany's two Parliamentary Houses earlier approved the EU's rescue package, which paved the road for the assistance to Greece.

All 10 major sectors finished the session higher led by financials and materials. The CRB commodity index rose 0.5%. The US dollar was lower against most currencies. Treasury yields were mixed. The three-month US LIBOR advanced 3 bps to 51bps. The VIX index dropped more than 10%. The market breath was positive on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was very heavy.

The market saw its biggest one-day drop for more than a year on Thursday. By close, all three major indexes were off by around 4% and are now officially into the correction territory, defined as 10% drop from recent highs. Once again, it is the uncertainties hovering around the market that caused today's broad sell-off. For example, bank shares were under great pressure during the final hour of trading as investors were uncertain how the passage of the financial reform package would mean for the banking profits. The vote is expected either late today or early tomorrow. There is also uncertainty regarding whether a key German vote of the rescue plan to Greece will pass by tomorrow's morning. The euro, however, managed to close the session higher and some attributed the relative strength to central banks' intervention. Most economic news was ignored these days and it is no difference in today's trading. We had some disappointing news from the job front. Initial jobless claims unexpectedly jumped to 471K. Leading economic indicators for April showed a 0.1% decline. A small increase had been expected. Finally, the Philadelphia Fed Index for May came in at 21.4, mostly in-line with expectations.

All 10 major sectors finished the session lower led by financials and industrial. The CRB commodity index dropped 1.0%. The US dollar was higher against most currencies. Treasury yields were lower. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged at 48bps. The VIX index surged almost 30%. The market breath was negative on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was very heavy.

The market finished the Wednesday well off its lows but was still in the red. It was also the ninth down day during the past twelve sessions. All three major indexes breached their 200-day moving averages during the session. Investors hate uncertainty and there are several big uncertainties hovering in the market these days. First, the future of the euro is uncertain. Despite joint efforts by the EU and IMF, many investors still believe that the euro will collapse in the next few years and some of the EU countries will default on their bonds. When things are good, people are usually more optimistic than the reality indicates. Now the opposite occurs. Second, what the potential crash in the Chinese real estate market could mean for the global economy. The Shanghai stock exchange has already dropped 22% from the beginning of the year and it looks like to drop further down the road. Many industrial commodity prices have crashed during the past two weeks out of fear that China's demand could dry up. We believe the Chinese real estate market has reached an inflection point and it is certainly wise to avoid those commodities and commodity-related currencies. Third, the financial reform bill could mean a lot uncertain to the domestic economy. Although the economy has recovered well during the past two quarters, any mis-steps in policy making could derail the recovery. That's certainly the last thing investors what to hear.  

Most major sectors finished the session lower led by utilities and industrial. The CRB commodity index dropped 0.9%. The US dollar was higher against most currencies. Treasury yields were mixed. The three-month US LIBOR advanced 2 bps to 48bps. The VIX index rose 5%. The market breath was negative on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was heavier compared to the previous session.

The market resumed its slide on Tuesday with all three major indexes finishing the session lower by at least 1%. Issues in Europe remained the focus in today's trading. Earlier, traders were cheerful following the EU giving Greece some 14.5 billion euros. But the euro was materially weak against the dollar in late trading as Germany surprised the market by announcing that it would ban naked short selling of certain financial stocks, credit default swaps and government bonds. Financials were under particular pressure and finished the session lower by almost 3%. In other economic news, the April PPI decreased 0.1% but excluding food and energy, it rose 0.2% month-over-month. Housing starts for April climbed 5.8% to an annualized rate of 672K, stronger than expected. Building permits, however, dropped 11.5% to 606K, well below 680K expected.

All 10 major sectors finished the session lower led by financials and consumer discretionary. The CRB commodity index rose 0.7%. The US dollar was higher against most currencies. Treasury yields were lower. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged at 46 bps. The VIX index surged more than 2 points. The market breath was negative on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was similar compared to the previous session.

The market finished the first session of the week modestly higher after recovering all of the earlier losses. At its worst, all three major indexes were down more than 1%. Investors remained jittery about issues at Europe and the trading activity in the equities followed closely the movements of the euro. High beta stocks were underperforming low beta stocks such as telecom and consumer staples in today's trading.

Most major sectors finished the session higher led by telecom and consumer staples. The CRB commodity index tumbled 2.1%. The US dollar was higher against most currencies. Treasury yields were higher. The three-month US LIBOR advanced 1 bps to 46 bps. 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.