Jamie Dimon is a Greek God

Big bank profits posted by J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) energized stocks for a close of week lift. Jamie Dimon, the most liked guy on Wall Street and perhaps made of Teflon, reassured investors with a high profile interview on CNBC this morning to boot. You’ll enjoy our commentary about Jamie below, and we pray Jamie does too, lest we be shunned by the Greek God of Wall Street. The economic slate was light today, with Producer Prices coming in heavy but on issue seen by most as temporary, if not healthy. Consumer Sentiment slipped slightly, but the consumer mood about the present time strengthened, and that travels further with me. All in all, you can pack up after lunch and head to the beach for your weekend. Jamie has got everything under control here. For more in-depth analysis and research visit our stock market blog.

Jamie Dimon is a Greek God

Market ETF	July 12, 2013	Year-to-Date
SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY)	+0.0%	+17.6%
SPDR Dow Jones (NYSE: DIA)	+0.1%	+18.4%
PowerShares (Nasdaq: QQQ)	-0.1%	+15.0%

Economic Events

ECONOMIC REPORT SCHEDULE
Economic Data Point	Prior Period	Expected	Actual
FRIDAY
Producer Price Index	+0.5%	+0.5%	+0.8%
-Core PPI	+0.1%	+0.2%	+0.2%
Michigan Reuters Consumer Sentiment	84.1	84.1	83.9

The Producer Price Index (PPI), reported this morning for the month of June, showed severe price increase at the producer level. Even when excluding volatile food and energy prices, the 0.2% price increase of the Core measure still reflects an increase worth noting and watching. I heard a television reporter this morning brush this off as a non-factor, and even point toward nascent petroleum price increase as something that would fade with geopolitical issues. I do not believe this will be the case, especially given the recent trend of deep drawdown in crude oil inventory levels.

Energy prices did play an important role in last month’s increase, with producer level energy prices up 2.9%. After increasing by another 1.3% in May, this higher level of pricing should be finding its way into chemicals and further down the line to all goods and services, due to shipping and other less obvious relative costs.

The other economic data point to find investors today was the Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index, which fell off ever so slightly in its early July reading. The data was a non-factor as a result, but bulls can rest easy knowing that recent economic concerns have not manifested in consumer sentiment as yet. What issues you ask? Manufacturing has slowed and global industrial companies have found trouble navigating through European recession and China sluggishness (using the term loosely). Unemployment is of course grossly understated, and small businessmen have soured a bit on the outlook. Housing has found stumbling block due to recently spiking mortgage rates. If those issues do not suffice, give me a minute and I’ll dig up some more skeletons for you eternal optimists to see.

Don’t get me wrong though; I did find good news in the report. Consumers’ view of the current situation improved, and that is important to me, as it should be to you. Because, when consumer sentiment is lofty purely on expectations, they can deflate quickly on disappointing realities. The measure of current economic conditions rose to 99.7, from 93.8, and was notably at its highest mark since July 2007. Those were the good times, so it’s a good sign.

Three Fed speakers are scheduled to address the public today, including regional Fed Presidents Plosser, Bullard and Williams. These guys have big mouths, but there’s not much more that can be said now that has not already been stated, so don’t look for any impact.

Remember when “The Greek” suggested that Larry Summers could be the next Federal Reserve Chairman, back when all the fuss was about Janet Yellen – you know, up until today. Well, today, I took note of a statement from a television reporter who obviously does not read me, suggesting that “all of a sudden” Larry Summers is the front runner for the job. Larry has apparently let it be known in Washington that he is interested. That news should shake things up a bit for stocks, because he comes across to me as a little too stubborn and sure of himself to be the Fed chief. In my opinion, those are the sort of leaders that steered the Titanic. Feel free to reassure and convince me of Summers, because I’m open to hearing the case. My favorite is Timothy Geithner, but I’m not sure he’s interested.

Overseas Markets

EUROPE	10:30 AM	ASIA/PACIFIC	CLOSE
EURO STOXX 50	-0.3%	NIKKEI 225	+0.2%
German DAX	+0.6%	Hang Seng	-0.7%
CAC 40	-0.3%	S&P/ASX 200	+0.2%
FTSE 100	+0.1%	Korean KOSPI	-0.4%
Egyptian EGX 30	-0.9%	BSE India SENSEX	+1.4%

Commodity Markets (10:30 AM ET)

WTI Crude	+0.6%
Brent Crude	+0.7%
NYMEX Natural Gas	+1.5%
RBOB Gasoline	+2.2%
Gold Spot	-0.5%
Silver Spot	-1.6%
COMEX Copper	-0.6%
CBOT Corn	-1.9%
CBOT Wheat	+0.5%
CBOT Soybeans	-1.2%
ICE Cocoa	-0.3%
ICE Sugar	-0.2%
ICE Orange Juice Conc.	+2.7%
CME Live Cattle	-0.4%

Corporate Events

REPORTING EARNINGS
Company	Ticker
FRIDAY
J.P. Morgan Chase	NYSE: JPM
Wells Fargo	NYSE: WFC
Webster Financial	NYSE: WFC
Ocean Power Technologies	Nasdaq: OPTT
Joe’s Jeans	Nasdaq: JOEZ
China-Metro Rural	NYSE: CNR
Daxor	NYSE: DXR
ECA Marcellus Trust	NYSE: ECT
Flow International	Nasdaq: FLOW
Marketo	Nasdaq: MKTO

J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) reported today and Jamie Dimon appeared on CNBC for an interview with Cramer. Is it just me, or is this guy the most liked person on Wall Street today? Seriously, what’s with it? You never hear a negative word said about him from anyone, as if they fear they’ll be smothered for saying anything that might upset the head of the largest bank in America. Maybe that’s it; because everyone needs capital at some point, and you wouldn’t want to disturb the guy most connected to it. Even when his company had a serious internal control failure leading to severe trading losses, where other CEOs would have been forced out of office in disgrace, and driven far away from Wall Street, Jamie shined through. I bet he could run for president and win, because he is either the most politically correct and polished speaker in the world or he is the Anti-Christ. I’ve never met him, though several of my circles cross paths with him. I’ll let you know what happens when I sprinkle holy water on him, which will be from behind and without him knowing it of course. As you would expect, JPM is up today after its EPS beat the Street view.

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BIGGEST LOSERS	% Drop
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Sibanye Gold (Nasdaq: SBGL)	-6%

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.