Back In The Saddle

Nice morning to come back to. The market behaved nicely while I was gone, and then this. Is someone playing a joke on me?

I was not surprised at all by the 25 basis point interest rate cut yesterday, but I was very surprised by the strong market reaction. I wonder how the reaction would have differed if this Citigroup (C) rumor came out yesterday?

The talk this morning is that Citi is experiencing a shortfall, and may have to cut its dividend. I view this as unlikely. But it is weighing on the financial sector and the market in general.

Asian markets were mixed overnight, and the Yen is higher today. You know how the market has been unable to rally on days when the Yen is moving higher.

After topping $95, crude prices have reversed lower today. XOM reported lackluster earnings, and its stock is off -2%, while RIG reported strong earnings and is helping the oil service stocks.

There is still a lot of time left in today's session. A handful of stocks are bucking the weakness, including ISRG, GOOG, BIDU, SNDK, CME, MA, etc. On a percentage basis, the declines in the indexes are all that bad. But let's see if the market can firm into the close.

4 days in Vegas is a long time, but it was fun. Steve Wynn gave a great opening ceremony speech. His one quote that sticks in my mind, is when he was describing the Chinese and what is going on over there. He stated simply, "They're us, man!!"

long GOOG, RIG, XOM