Market News Summary 08-24-11

Please find our market news summary here below, covering the most important global economic, securities, currency and commodity markets news. At the hour of publishing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up fractionally. The Dollar Index is up fractionally to $74.02; the index is a measure of the dollar against a pool of currencies. Oil prices have increased, with WTI Crude Futures up fractionally to $85.66. Ongoing battles in Tripoli have oil unsettled again today. Gold prices have fallen precipitously over the last two days as hopes mount on Ben Bernanke, with gold futures down $102 today, to $1759.10 per troy ounce.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

Relative tickers: Nasdaq: AMAT, NYSE: PSS, Nasdaq: EXPR, NYSE: GES, NYSE: ATV, Nasdaq: ADEP, NYSE: AEO, Nasdaq: AVNW, AMEX: ATC, AMEX: ESP, Nasdaq: HSOL, NYSE: HEI, Nasdaq: JBSS, Nasdaq: KEQU, Nasdaq: NEWL, Nasdaq: PRCP, Nasdaq: RUE, Nasdaq: SMTC, Nasdaq: SIGM, NYSE: SLH, Nasdaq: SYNO, Nasdaq: TIVO, NYSE: TOL, NYSE: UN, NYSE: UL, NYSE: HPQ.

Market News Summary

Several interesting data-points reached the wire Wednesday. Durable Goods Orders were reported 4% higher for the month of July, versus the 2.0% growth seen by economists. This was less impressive when considering the fact that the prior month was revised higher (lowering the bar), to negative 1.3% from the initially reported decrease of 2.1% for June. When excluding transportation, an adjustment that removes a significant amount of volatility due to the high ticket prices of such things as aircraft, durables orders rose 0.7%, against the economists’ consensus view for an increase of 0.6%. On a year-over-year measurement, durables were 9.2% higher, and 9.6% higher when excluding transportation.

The FHFA offered its latest House Price Index, this time for June. The home price index surprised on the high side, with June pricing up 0.9%, matching well against the 0.2% increase expected by economists. In May, the index showed prices were 0.4% higher. We’ve been forecasting home price stability here at Wall Street Greek for the second half of this year for some time now, qualified against risks tied to new economic downturn.

The regular reporting of mortgage applications showed a 2.4% decrease last week. The change in activity coincided with upticks in mortgage rates. Contracted rates on 30-year and 15-year fixed rate mortgages increased to 4.39% (from 4.32%) and 3.56% (from 3.47%). Thus, refinancing activity declined by 1.7%, after several weeks of inspired activity. Mortgage applications tied to the purchase of homes fell by 5.7%, reaching the lowest point on record since 1996.

The Congressional Budget Office released its latest budget and economic outlook today, and I quote, “The United States is facing profound budgetary and economic challenges. At 8.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the $1.3 trillion budget deficit that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects for 2011 will be the third-largest shortfall in the past 65 years (exceeded only by the deficits of the preceding two years). This year's deficit stems in part from the long shadow cast on the U.S. economy by the financial crisis and the recent recession. Although economic output began to expand again two years ago, the pace of the recovery has been slow, and the economy remains in a severe slump. Recent turmoil in financial markets in the United States and overseas threatens to prolong the slump.”

The EIA released its latest Petroleum Status Report today. This week’s report covering the period ending August 19 showed oil inventory decreased by 2.2 million barrels, while gasoline inventory increased by 1.4 million barrels. Crude inventory is above the upper limit of the average range for this time of year, while gasoline is in the upper limit of the average range.

In overseas market news, Germany issued a report that raised alarms across Europe today. The EU’s cornerstone nation produced its Ifo Business Climate Index. The measure dropped to its lowest point since June of 2010. Also, euro zone industrial new orders fell more than expected in June, reported today. The month showed a decline of 0.7% against May and was just the latest in a string of economic measures threatening GDP growth in Europe. France unveiled austerity measures toward deficit reduction, while also revising lower its GDP forecasts for 2011 and 2012. Needless to say, the euro weakened.

The corporate wire saw Unilever (NYSE: UN, NYSE: UL) find a buyer for two of its brands. Unilever will sell its Alberto VO5 and Rave brands to private equity firm Brynwood Partners VI LP. Terms were not disclosed. Rumors surfaced that Lenovo (OTC: LNVGY.PK) may be the buyer of Hewlett-Packard’s (NYSE: HPQ) PC lines. Also, Samsung Electronics’ name has been tossed around.

The Most Active Stocks List Includes:

WINNERS	LOSERS
Celgene (NasdaqGM: CELGZ)	Inphi Corp. (Nasdaq: IPHI)
Verenium (Nasdaq: VRNM)	Pacific Sunwear (Nasdaq: PSUN)
Severn Bancorp (Nasdaq: SVBI)	United Therapeutics (Nasdaq: UTHR)
Arotech (Nasdaq: ARTX)	China HSG Real Estate (Nasdaq: HGSH)
AspenBio Pharma (NasdaqCM: APPYD)	ProLogis 6.85% Pfd. (NYSE: PLD-PP)
Lightbridge (Nasdaq: LTBR)	American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO)
MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG)	ShoreTel (Nasdaq: SHOR)
Aspen Technology (Nasdaq: AZPN)	Hadera Paper (AMEX: AIP)
SPAR Group (Nasdaq: SGRP)	Globe Specialty Metals (NasdaqGS: GSM)
Tangoe (Nasdaq: TNGO)	LiveDeal (Nasdaq: LIVE)
Bank of America Wts (NYSE: BAC-WTA)	American Realty Investors (NYSE: ARL)
Northeast Bancorp (NasdaqGM: NBN)	Gevo (Nasdaq: GEVO)
China Hydroelectric (NYSE: CHC)	Volterra (Nasdaq: VLTR)
Primo Water (Nasdaq: PRMW)	GLG Life Tech (Nasdaq: GLGL)
Supreme Industries (AMEX: STS)	Kent Financial (Nasdaq: KENT)
CE Franklin (NasdaqGM: CFK)	Richmont Mines (AMEX: RIC)
Rurban Fin’l (Nasdaq: RBNF)	CIFC Corp. (NasdaqCM: DFR)
Peregrine Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: PPHM)	Minco Gold (AMEX: MGH)
Edgewater Technology (Nasdaq: EDGW)	Food Technology (Nasdaq: VIFL)
Swift Transportation (Nasdaq: SWFT)	Eagle Rock Energy (NasdaqGS: EROCW)
Avago Technologies (Nasdaq: AVGO)	Extorre Gold Mines (AMEX: XG)
Vestin Realty Mortgage (Nasdaq: VRTB)	Bonso Electronics (Nasdaq: BNSO)
A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts (Nasdaq: ACMR)	Books-a-Million (Nasdaq: BAMM)
Elecsys (Nasdaq: ESYS)	Human Genome Sciences (Nasdaq: HGSI)

Our market news summary EPS schedule includes news from Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT), Collective Brands (NYSE: PSS), Express (Nasdaq: EXPR), Guess (NYSE: GES), Acorn International (NYSE: ATV), Adept Technology (Nasdaq: ADEP), American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), Aviat Networks (Nasdaq: AVNW), Cycle Country Accessory (AMEX: ATC), Espey Manufacturing & Electronics (AMEX: ESP), Hanwha Solarone (Nasdaq: HSOL), HEICO (NYSE: HEI), John B. Sanfilippo (Nasdaq: JBSS), Kewaunee Scientific (Nasdaq: KEQU), Newlead Holdings (Nasdaq: NEWL), Perceptron (Nasdaq: PRCP), Rue21 (Nasdaq: RUE), Semtech (Nasdaq: SMTC), Sigma Designs (Nasdaq: SIGM), Solera (NYSE: SLH), Synovus Life Technologies (Nasdaq: SYNO), TiVo (Nasdaq: TIVO), Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL) and a few more.

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.