The market declined sharply on Friday with all three major indexes lower by around 1%. Stocks were under pressure of profit-taking for most of the session before the final hour, when news that ratings agency Fitch downgraded the debt of Spain to AA+ from AAA sent the euro lower. The downgrade was not unexpected but it still reflected the nervousness of investors regarding the European debt problem. Volume was quite high for a Friday trading session and the market will be closed on Monday in observance of Memorial Day. For the month, the S&P tumbled 8.2%, making it the worst month since February 2009.

All 10 major sectors finished the session lower led by energy and financials. The CRB commodity index declined 1.1%. The US dollar was higher against most currencies. Treasury yields were lower. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged. The VIX index rose more than 2 points. The market breath was negative on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was on the heavy side.

The market surged on Thursday with all three major indexes posting gains of around 3%. The rally in equities was powered by rally in the euro, which moved up more than 2 cents against the dollar following the news that China would not dispose its euro-dominated assets. Since early May, the equity market has been hijacked by the movements in the euro and this relationship will not go away anytime soon. Until we see some positive developments in the European debt market, some caution is warranted. Of course, overly pessimism about the long-term US market is also unnecessary as history has shown again and again that the economy has the ability to adjust for itself in even the most hazardous environment.

All 10 major sectors finished the session higher led by energy and financials. The CRB commodity index rose 1.9%. The US dollar was lower against most currencies. Treasury yields were higher. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged. The VIX index tumbled more than 5 points. The market breath was positive on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was lighter compared to the previous session.

The market gave back all earlier gains and finished the session lower as the euro continued to slide. Equity investors were hijacked by the currency market these days and swings in several major currencies can easily move the Dow by one hundred or two hundred points. The late-day selling in the euro was caused by words that China may review its holdings denominated in the euro. Although it could be just a rumor, it showed the nervousness of the market participants. We had some mixed economic news. Durable goods orders for April rose 2.9%, better than expected. However, ex-transportation it fell 1%, worse than consensus. New home sales for April rose more-than-expected to an annualized rate of 504K units, the highest level in two years.

One interesting development today is that the total market cap of Apple surpassed that of Microsoft and becomes the second most valuable stock in the US, just behind Exxon Mobile. At the beginning of 2000, the whole tech sector was dominated by the Wintel - Windows and Intel. The combined market cap of the two companies exceeded $1 trillion at the same time. In that year, the combined revenue and profits for the two tech giants were $56 billion and $20 billion. Fast forward to today, the tech landscape has changed a lot since the Wintel era. The current leaders in the sector are Apple and Google. Interestingly, the combined revenue and profits for the current leaders for the current year are expected to be $80 billion and $20 billion. But the market cap of the two combined companies is less than $400 billion, or less than 40% compared with the previous leaders.

Most major sectors finished the session lower led by telecom and tech. The CRB commodity index rose 1.6%. The US dollar was mixed against most currencies. Treasury yields were higher. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged. The VIX index was little changed. The market breath was negative on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was on the heavy side.

The market made a big reversal on Tuesday and finished the session in a mixed fashion. Shortly after the market was open, both the Dow and the S&P 500 broke their February lows and the Dow was off by as much as 292 points. Just when it looked like the market was going to crash, some buying activities stepped in and moved the market gradually higher. The reversal typically means a short-term bottom and it would be interesting to see if there is any follow-through activities in tomorrow's trading. Financials took the leadership in today's reversal following the Representative Frank's comments that the financial reform bill's language regarding derivatives goes too far. Separately, the May Consumer Confidence Index not only topped consensus but reached a two-year high of 63.3.

Most major sectors finished the session higher led by financials and materials. The CRB commodity index dropped 1.3%. The US dollar was higher against most currencies. Treasury yields were mixed. The three-month US LIBOR advanced 3 bps to 54bps. The VIX index dropped 3.7 points. The market breath was neutral on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was on the heavy side.

The market tumbled on Monday as investors remained jittery about the financial stability in the euro area. News that Spain's central bank took control of a regional savings bank casted new doubt about the financial health of the country. Although the assets of the bank are immaterial, the total government debt for Spain is much bigger compared to that of Greece. As a result, euro resumed its slide and fell 1.6% for the session. Financial shares were under particular pressure and they finished the session lower by almost 3% as a group. The economic news has been largely ignored these days as traders pay keen attention to issues overseas. April existing home sales surged 7.6% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 5.77 million units, which was much better than expected. However, inventory also surged to more than 4 million of units for sale.

All 10 major sectors finished the session lower led by financials and energy. The CRB commodity index rose 0.2%. The US dollar was higher against most currencies. Treasury yields were mixed. The three-month US LIBOR were unchanged at 51bps. The VIX index dropped 1.78 points. The market breath was negative on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was on the heavy side.