Market Still Befuddling The Bears

I have to keep this morning's post short as I have a meeting to get to.

The market is higher this morning, on the heels of strong rallies in the Asian markets, led by China which spiked +4.5%. The market looked like it might break down further yesterday morning, but by the close it had rallied back into positive territory, and is building on those gains this morning. For the bears who smelled blood, this is another frustrating development in the ongoing stairstep market.

Jobless claims were a bit higher than expectations, but the Philly Fed index was surprisingly strong at 4.2, well above the -0.2 expected and the -7.5 reading in July. Combined with the strong NY Manf. Index last week, the manufacturing sector looks like it is indeed getting a boost.

Google (GOOG) is trading +3.3% higher after being added to Goldman's Conviction Buy List.

The dollar is flat; oil is trading near $73.30, and gold is around $940; the 10-yr yield is up to 3.48%; and the VIX is -4.6% lower back down to 25.05. The VIX is back below its 50-day average, and only closed above it once this week. I think the lower VIX is signaling that another big selloff is not in the cards (unless its a headfake).

On this 40th anniv. of Woodstock, my friend Doug Kass posted this link to the actual lineup of artists and the setlists they played, with some interesting footnotes as well.

long GOOG