Monday Morning Musings

The markets are lower this morning on further delays with the Greek debt talks. Also, don't rule out the fact that the market had a very strong week last week, so some consolidation would be normal.

I called the Greek debt situation a yo-yo recently since we continue to see so much back and forth with the talks. Today it appears that Greece does not really want to implement the austerity measures as they have been laid out. I'm not sure how much wiggle room they have considering how badly they need the loans just to make their current debt payments.

There is little in the way of economic reports this morning. There have been a handful of earnings reports, but more of them are seeing negative reactions today. Stocks down after reporting include: HUM, SYY, LAZ, and SOHU. A couple stocks higher on earnings are HAS and BRO.

Asian stocks were mixed overnight. Japan was higher, but China was flat after the IMF trimmed its economic forecast for the country to 8.25% from 9.00% on weaker demand for exports.

The euro is lower and boosting the dollar. This is weighing on most commodities. Oil prices are lower to $97.25, gold prices are down to $1721, and silver and copper prices are also lower.

The 10-year yield is slightly lower at 1.92% after a nice pop higher on Friday due to the strong jobs report. The VIX is up almost 5% to 17.93 after plunging to a 7-month low on Friday.

Trading comment: With the market lower this morning, it will be interesting to see if dip buyers quickly step up again. The market is still overbought, but pullbacks have been few and far between. Friday's strong jobs report didn't help the bears at all, as it adds another economic indicator flashing improvement for the economy. New highs on the exchanges rose on Friday, and leadership in the stock market continues to broaden. This is another positive sign for the market.