The market rallied modestly on this Friday and for the week, it gained more than 3%. The S&P 500 advanced in each of the five trading sessions this week, which was not a small achievement considering that it tumbled nearly 3% last Friday. Even more impressive, the market is able to shrug off negative headline news that the unemployment rate jumped to 10.2% in the latest employment report. Investors seem to view today's report as half-glass full rather than half-glass empty. With the unemployment officially at double-digit, the Fed is unlikely to hike interest rate any time soon. So one big concern surrounding the market can be put aside for the next few months. And today's job report is not as bad as it appeared anyway. Although the headline numbers were horrible, the previous months' numbers were revised to show less job losses. Also, temporary hires were increasing for the first time in months, showing the market might turn corner in the next few months.  

Most major sectors finished the session higher led by industrial and transportation. The CRB commodity index fell 1.8%. The US dollar was lower against most major currencies. Treasury yields declined. The three-month US LIBOR dropped 1 bps to 27 bps. The VIX index dropped more than 1 point. The market breath was neutral on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was lighter compared to the previous session.

The market surged this Thursday with all three major indexes shooting up by around 2%. The points that were lost during the final hour of yesterday's trading following the FOMC decision was recaptured during the first hour of today's trading. Better-than-expected earnings results from the tech giant Cisco and upbeating economic news fueled today's rally. The Dow has gained or lost more than 200 points in three out of the last six trading sessions, which shows that investors are not certain which way the market will go next. It is a typical reaction following every recession in the US history. Until we see more solid data, the market could continue to show volatility while trading in a relatively narrow range. In the case of the S&P 500, that could mean 1000 to 1020 in the lower bound and 1090 to 1110 in the upper bound.

Most economic news for the session was better than expected. Initial weekly jobless claims fell to 512K, below market expectations. Worker productivity, meanwhile, jumped by the most in six years or rose 9.5% in the third quarter. But it could also mean corporations remain hesitant in hiring. Finally, chain retailers in general reported better-than-expected same store sales for the month of October.

All 10 major sectors finished the session higher led by industrial and technology. The CRB commodity index fell 1%. The US dollar was mixed against most major currencies. Treasury yields were mixed. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged at 28 bps. The VIX index dropped more than 2 points. The market breath was positive on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was similar compared to the previous session.

The market finished this Fed decision session in a mixed fashion after giving up most of its earlier gains during the final hour. As usual, the post-meeting statement bared most interests among the market participants. In its statement, the Fed basically gave the market what it wanted to hear and pledged to keep the interest rate low for "an extended period of time". Some investors had worried that the Fed might remove the phrase in the statement. As has been the case recently, the immediate movement following the Fed rate decision can be misleading. In other words, one should not read too much into today's 100-plus points drop in the Dow during the final hour.

We had some mixed economic news in today's session. The ISM service index came in at 50.6, below consensus of 51.5. The ADP job report came in at a loss of 203K, basically in line with market expectations. Friday's non-farm payrolls report will bear much more importance though.
Most major sectors finished the session modestly higher led by healthcare and utilities. The CRB commodity index was little changed. The US dollar was lower against most major currencies. Treasury yields were mixed. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged at 28 bps. The VIX index dropped1 point. The market breath was neutral on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was similar compared to the previous session.

No market comments due to conflicts of travel schedule‏.

The market finished the first session of the new week and month modestly higher. Similar to the previous few sessions, volatility remained at an elevated level. Most of the session's economic news was as good as it could get. Just a quick recap: The ISM Manufacturing Index for October came in at 55.7, beating expectation by more than 2 points; Construction Spending for September rose 0.8% while economists were looking for a small drop; Pending Home Sales for September jumped 6.1% compared to a flat reading expected. Despite all that, the market actually dipped into negative territory in early afternoon. If a market cannot rally in the face of one of the best earnings seasons in decades and in general strong-than-expected economic news, then the logical way for it to take is going down. So what makes investors hold back? The answer probably still lies in the recovery of the economy. Investors are increasingly concerned that the current economic recovery is mostly driven by government supports and the economy would fall back into another recession if the government removes those stimulus plans. While such concerns do deserve some credits, I think the economy is able to grow as long as the housing prices don't fall again. In addition, I don't think Bernanke is going to take any chances by raising the interest rate too soon.

For the week ending on Oct 30th, most major indexes continued to have similar patterns as they did in the previous week. Both 50-day and 200-day MAs continued to move higher but several major indexes including the S&P 500 closed below its 50-day MAs. In other words, the short term trend turned to bearish. Sectorwise, Japanese equities, credit cards and REITS were doing relatively better compared to the broad market while hedge funds, Chinese new media firms were doing the worst.

Most major sectors finished the session modestly higher led by industrial and basic materials. The CRB commodity index rose 1.2%. The US dollar was higher against most major currencies. Treasury yields increased. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged at 28 bps. The VIX index dropped less than 1 point. The market breath was positive on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was similar compared to the previous session.