Wall Street edges up after data, S&P 500 holds at record

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Reuters

BY CAROLINE VALETKEVITCH

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks inched higher on Wednesday, pushing the S&P 500 to another intraday record, after data suggested the economy was slowly building momentum after a winter-related pullback earlier in the year.

Eight of 10 S&P 500 sectors were in positive territory, though gains were limited following a recent push to new highs.

U.S. private employers added 191,000 workers in March, slightly below the 195,000 forecast, while gains in the prior month were revised to 178,000 from a previously reported 139,000, signaling that a winter-related impact on job growth earlier this year was easing.

Separately, orders for manufactured goods jumped 1.6 percent in February, the biggest rise since September and above a 1.2 percent estimate. January's orders were revised to show a larger 1.0 percent drop instead of the previously reported 0.7 percent fall.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/02/us-markets-stocks-idUSBREA2J0UC20140402

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http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20140402&t=2&i=876164865&w=580&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBREA301ITY00

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange April 1, 2014.
CREDIT: REUTERS/BRENDAN MCDERMID

[AAO]

1. The proles still being the consumer "batteries" in the matrix

[jakeXT]

2. Reminds me of the Whitney article mentioning $4 trillion of stock buybacks

According to the Wall Street Journal, almost 20 percent of the total value of stocks today are stock buybacks, that is, corporations that purchase their own shares to push up prices. Here’s the scoop from Jason Zweig at the WSJ:

“Last year, the corporations in the Russell 3000, a broad U.S. stock index, repurchased $567.6 billion worth of their own shares—a 21% increase over 2012, calculates Rob Leiphart, an analyst at Birinyi Associates, a research firm in Westport, Conn. That brings total buybacks since the beginning of 2005 to $4.21 trillion—or nearly one-fifth of the total value of all U.S. stocks today.” (Will Stock Buybacks Bite Back?, Wall Street Journal)

“$4.21 trillion” is a heckuva lot of froth. It means that the market is overpriced by at least 20 percent. Corporate bosses have been aggressively pumping up prices to reward shareholders even though earnings and revenues are looking increasingly shaky. The reason buybacks have caught fire is because– up to now– they’ve been considered a reasonably safe bet. With interest rates locked at zero, and the Central Bank flooding the financial system with $55 billion every month, stocks have been following the path of least resistance which is up, up, and away. (As of Friday, the S and P was up 176 percent from its March 2009 lows.)

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/04/01/stock-buybacks-and-margin-debt/

[Kelvin Mace]

3. Meanwhile...

Margin debt is is approaching half a TRILLION dollars, so any major downturn or shock that causes the Dow to drop a suddenly would result in margin call that will bring the entire scam crashing down in radioactive flames.



Note that the gap between actual market performance and margin debt is increasing dramatically.

[JackRiddler]

4. That will fix everything.