Midday Check: Gentle Ben Testifies

The market shook off its early losses, even as Bernanke testifies before Congress. Doesn't it seem like every time he goes on TV the market sells off?

The big news today was that the housing authority OFHEO is going to remove its portfolio caps on Fannie and Freddie, which would greatly improve liquidity in the mortgage market.

IBM made more positive comments about its business and outlook, which seems to be helping boost the tech sector. Many of these stocks have come down so much that they are due for a healthy bounce. The Nasdaq 100 is my biggest ETF weighting right now.

The Dept. of Energy said crude inventories rose for the 7th straight week, but all of this supply does not seem to be having much effect on oil prices, which are still over $100. Go figure.

The dollar is weaker again today, as the Yen and Euro spike higher. I am most worried about the Yen hitting new highs. This could spark some selling of things associated with the yen carry-trade, although anything inflation related has been on fire lately.

Asian markets were up across the board overnight, led by Hong Kong and China.

long QQQQ