Rising Rates Contine To Provide Excuse To Take Profits

I should just start out my post by saying "ditto". That is because once again we see the market under pressure at the open. For most of the last few weeks, any early weakness has dissipated by the market close. But yesterday the market did close with mild losses.

Of course, the silver lining of yesterday's selloff was that the investor sentiment indicators spiked higher quickly. This is a good sign, in that it means that investors are still skeptical of this market, and that should help any pullback be relatively shallow.

New Zealand unexpectedly raised interest rates yesterday, which is adding to the rate worries among equity investors. The 10-year U.S. T-Note spike higher, to 5.05%. That is the highest yield since July 2006.

And oil is spiking also this morning, with crude prices topping $67 on worries about storms in the Persian Gulf. May same-store retail sales were also released this morning, and were a bit of a mixed back. (I will have a roundup later).

On a positive note, UBS upped its target on Apple (AAPL) to $160, saying investors are underestimated its potential free cash flow and strong demand for iPhone.

long AAPL