Monday Morning Musings

Markets are off to a lackluster start this Monday morning as we celebrate Veteran's Day in the US.  The bond market is closed today in observance.  There were also no economic reports this morning.

Shares of AAPL are a bit weak this morning as there is some chatter that the company is putting its plans for a TV on hold.  Not sure what to make of this rumor, since AAPL never confirmed its plans for a TV to begin with, even though there has been much speculation.

Asian markets ended on a mixed note overnight.  China released some economic data which showed CPI rose 3.2% year/year, industrial production rose 10.3% and retail sales rose 13.3%.  All of those were basically in-line with forecasts, and nothing really stood out on the upside or downside.

Europe's markets are modestly higher today.  Standard and Poor's lowered their rating on the European Financial Stability Facility from AA+ to AA, due to their downgrade of France last week.

Commodities are mixed today, with gold lower to $1281 and oil prices higher near $95.15.  Oil could be higher due to talks breaking down in Geneva regarding Iran shutting down their nuclear program.

The volatility index remains low trading at 12.75 today.  With the exception of a brief trip to lower levels in March, this level on the VIX has basically been a floor so it wouldn't be surprising to see a bounce from here.

Trading comment: Growth stocks began to pullback last week and shows signs of the beginning of a correction phase.  But true to form, the major indexes bent a little but didn't break as they rallied strong on Friday.  That continues the pattern of mild pullbacks that resolve themselves mostly by sideways consolidation as opposed to deep pullbacks.  The end of the year is surely starting to creep up on portfolio managers where performance anxiety begins to play a role and without a deeper pullback in stocks some may be forced to pay up and chase stocks higher as they try to play catch up into year-end.