STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday 19 February (#1)

[ozymandius]

Thursday February 19, 2004

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 340
REICH-WING RUBBERSTAMP-Congress = DAY...
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 3 YEARS, 69 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 2 YEARS, 121 DAYS
WHERE ARE SADDAM'S WMD? - DAY 333
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 817
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 18
Nabbed: Skilling
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 2
Other Arrests of Execs = 53

U.S. FUTURES & MARKETS INDICATORS
NASDAQ FUTURES-----------------------------S&P FUTURES




AT THE CLOSING BELL ON February 18, 2004

Dow... 10,671.99 -42.89 (-0.40%)
Nasdaq... 2,076.47 -3.88 (-0.19%)
S&P 500... 1,151.82 -5.17 (-0.45%)
10-Yr Bond... 4.05% +0.00 (+0.02%)
Gold future... 412.80 -4.20 (-1.01%)

DOW..........................NASDAQ.......................S&P

||


GOLD, EURO, YEN and Dollars


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PIEHOLE ALERT

Heads Up!
Preliminary info on appearances by Bush & Co. throughout the country. Details & links are added as they become available so check back. And if you know more, are organizing something, or would like to, contact [e-mail]

For information on protests and other actions Citizens For Legitimate Government

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[ozymandius]

1. WrapUp by Scott Middleton

Pause for Stocks

The Nasdaq fell marginally in an uneventful session where it traded in a tight range of 16 points, and spent most of the session just below the flat line with only occasional half-hearted sprints into positive territory. Investors pondered new data on the housing market as construction of new U.S. houses fell by about 8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.90 million in January, according to Commerce Department estimates. The performance is the lowest rate since August, following the 20-year high of 2.07 million established in December.

<cut>
In a blow to IBM, a federal judge has ruled that IBM Corp. owes back payments - possibly worth billions of dollars - to 140,000 older employees who were harmed when the technology giant converted to a new kind of pension plan in the 1990s. The plaintiffs in the case want IBM to make up for what they lost after the company adopted a "cash balance" pension plan, which pays workers a lump sum when they leave the company. A federal judge had ruled last July that the plan amounted to age discrimination because it unfairly penalized older employees. The case is being closely watched because IBM was one of several companies that adopted cash balance plans in the '90s.

more...

[UpInArms]

2. daily dollar watch

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DXY0

Last trade 85.84 Change -0.04 (-0.05%)

related article:

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1075982664224

Dollar advances as profit-taking continues

The dollar held on to most of its gains of the previous day on Thursday as investors continued to book profits, wary of the chances for further dollar gains.

The euro, at $1.271 by mid-morning in London, steadied in Asian trade after falling to a one-week low of $1.266 in late New York trade on Wednesday. In early London trading on Wednesday, the single currency had reached a record high of $1.2927, but rapidly succumbed to hefty profit-taking.

Strategists said that, coming so soon after Friday's similar pullback, the market may be wary of pushing the euro higher again.

"The market is shaken by this second correction and is likely to be quick to take profits and to hesitate to buy ," wrote Meg Browne at HSBC in a note to clients.

Euro support is said to be at $1.2650, with initial resistance at $1.2750.

"If the market fails to buy euros and trading remains thin and choppy, a break to $1.2570 is possible before the market can feel comfortable taking the currency pair higher," added Ms Browne.

For once the dollar's bounce also took it higher against the yen - aided by suspected intervention by the Bank of Japan - and it hit a four-week high of Y107.12 late on Wednesday. It was at Y106.90 on Thursday. Traders said the ensuing short-covering of short-dollar positions as the US currency rose had also helped.

Despite the dollar's rise, strategists remained largely bullish on the yen. Adam Cole at Credit Agricole Indosuez said the successful flotation of Shinsei Bank overnight underlined the positive sentiment towards Japanese assets. The shares traded at a 66 per cent premium to the initial public offering price.

...more...

Lots of reports due out today - am wondering why the Briefing.com schedule shows that the PPI and the Core PPI reports are "Delayed"...

is more time needed to tweak them into shape?

Wonder how many new UE claims will show up in the stream of this jobloss recovery...

so many questions...

Good Morning Ozy and all you Marketeers! Here's to you and your great efforts at shining light on the daily economic mysteries! :toast:

[ozymandius]

5. Good morning UIA and everyone! I'll not be around so much today.

:donut: :donut: :donut: :donut: :donut: :donut:

A delay in these reports? Maybe president's day lag or doctoring these figures to make them seem believable?

I will be around less today. There is much to do, like look for a job, that will keep me away from the message boards.

[UpInArms]

6. Have a terrific day, Ozy!

and good luck in your search!

:donut:

[54anickel]

7. The pension plan issues in Amerika are truely disgusting. When you

add that to what Bushco is attempting to do with SS & Medicare and I am afraid my future plans will be dictated by the need to work until the day I die, living on beans and rice and perhaps a bit of pet food for those special holiday occassions.

Ozy, I was just reviewing the link you offered the other day on the K-wave theory (the one on corporate crime). The final paragraph really helped to clarify some thoughts for me. :think:

Until revolution comes in the 3rd world, you can expect a variable rate of corporate crime...higher in bad times and somewhat lower in good times. You can expect a changing battle between those who profit from corporate crime and those who are its victims. In good times, the victims will find help from the capitalist state. In bad times, the state will deregulate corporations and give them a free hand to transfer costs to workers, consumers, competitors and, especially to the 3rd world.

[UpInArms]

3. Staying power of rally questioned

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0402190321feb19,1,4528552.column?coll=chi-business-nav

n the next few weeks, the financial press will go nuts over an obvious story: the one-year anniversary of the latest stock market rally.

<snip>

But who wants to celebrate four years of stocks being under water?

Instead, investors likely will ask, can the rally keep going?

No one knows. But the market's tentative action in the last few weeks suggests investors are asking the question.

The political overlay looks like this: The market- friendly tax and spending moves by the Bush administration are over, even if President Bush wins re-election in November.

If the Democrats win the White House, Wall Street will take many anxious months to adjust to the surprise.

In terms of business and market issues, the outlook is similarly guarded.

"The operating performance of companies is increasing. The economy is getting better. But stock prices are way outrunning operating performance," said Brian Hamilton, chief executive of Sageworks, a service that translates numerical financial data about companies into text.

Based on traditional accounting measurements, such as net profit, profit margin and asset-to-liability ratio, it's clear that investors again are becoming exuberant about buying stocks, he said.

...more...

[54anickel]

8. Hmmm, so we can expect much cheerleading and fanfare IF the S&P500

breaks 1174 on the upside?
But what happens if it breaks 1122 on the downside?
At 1151.82 now. 22.18 away from cheerleading and 29.82 away from ???

From a technical analyst's viewpoint, the S&P 500 index hovers between 1122, a low reached in January, and 1174, an intraday high reached in March 2002, said Chicago-based money manager Carl Birkelbach.

Breaking above 1174 would mark a new leg of the rally.

"This is a particularly cautious time," Birkelbach said.

[UpInArms]

4. U.S. jobless claims fall on better weather

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?guid={853A38AA-BA85-4271-9AE5-29CB1EF4CAD0}&siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - Initial U.S. jobless claims fell back in the most recent week after bad weather had boosted the level for the previous two weeks. First-time claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 24,000 to 344,000 in the week ending Feb. 14, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average for first-time state jobless claims rose to 352,000 from 351,750 in the week ending Feb. 14, the Labor Department reported Thursday. It's the highest this year. Bad weather had boosted layoffs in the previous two weeks, a Labor Department official said. Excluding those two bad weeks, initial claims have averaged 342,250 over the past six weeks.

I see that they adjusted last week's number again

reported at 363,000 claims - now adjusted to 368,000

I wonder what this week's number will be ajusted to next week?

[54anickel]

9. Humph! 20something K looks better than 10something K.

Sort of like that pricing scheme in the other directions. 19.95 looks more affordable than 20.00, what's five cents or five thousand among friends. Seems like they have some Marketing folks helping to figure those adjustments :evilgrin:

[UpInArms]

10. did you see the thread that underpants posted?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=373035

because I think that the key to this week's number lies in this paragraph:

The Labor Department (news - web sites) reported Thursday that for the work week ending Feb. 14, new applications filed for jobless benefits plunged by a seasonally adjusted 24,000 to 344,000. It marked the largest decline since the beginning of November and left claims at their lowest level since the week ending Jan. 24.

Can you say "tweak tweak"? I thought you could.

[54anickel]

11. Yes, I tend to agree. I am suspicious of just about any stat this

maladministration puts out these days. I truly believe they are in desperate times. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Thing that worries me is the desperation goes way beyond concerns of Shrub's re-selection. The house of "credit cards" is nearly ready to crumble. JMHO

[Paulie]

12. Bad weather causes job losses??

OMG, it's going to rain tomorrow, should I be worried. :scared:


All I can say is :puke:

[54anickel]

13. Yeneticus caught with it's pants down- so much for Artificial Intelligence

:evilgrin:
http://www.fxstreet.com/nou/content/102610/content.asp?menu=technicalanalysis&dia=1922004

Thursday February 19, 2004 : SIGNAL : CLOSE SHORT USDJPY POSITION
The BOJ surprised Geneticus with a big intervention. The system steps retires to lick his wounds. At 9:52 hrs. european (spanish) time with USDJPY asked at 106.74 we have a SIGNAL TO CLOSE THE SHORT USDJPY POSITION.

[UpInArms]

14. looks like

Yeneticus could use a seeing-eye dog :evilgrin:

[54anickel]

15. Inflation or deflation - what is Greenspin truly fighting?

JMHO, I tend to lean to deflation due to it's historic ties to an over-abundance of credit. This is a pretty dang good article, and it supports Julie's long position on the usurper, or should I say emperor. Too much covered to do it justice with cut & paste. I'll try to hit the gist of the article.

http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/35090.html

snip>
Unilateralism has defined U.S. positions on issues ranging from trade to the global environment. However, the most profound and damaging expression of unilateralism has been through the pursuit of the war on terrorism. The invasion and occupation of Iraq explicitly contravened the United Nations and abrogated international law.

This severely damaged U.S. foreign relations with many countries, most notably France, Germany and Russia. In addition, the war on terrorism has also inflamed tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, and increased instability on the Korean peninsula.

Lastly, the war on terrorism has not subdued global terrorism. Terrorist strikes have become more frequent.....

snip>
Last year the strong dollar policy advocated by the U.S. Treasury since the mid-1990s was subtlely abandoned. It is generally assumed that dollar policy was changed in order to improve the competitiveness of U.S. exports, spurring growth of manufacturing jobs. It is more probable that dollar policy was changed, with heavy influence from the Federal Reserve, in order to counter building deflationary pressure in the U.S. economy.

According to the advance estimate of gross domestic product released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on January 30, deflation of durable goods prices accelerated to –3.7 percent in 2003 from –2.9 percent in 2002. Durable goods purchases accounted for 20 percent of total U.S. gross domestic product in 2003. In addition, deflation remained stubborn in non-residential fixed investment prices. This investment accounted for a further nine percent of U.S. gross domestic product last year.

To counter deflationary pressure, the U.S. Treasury, at the behest of the Federal Reserve, will continue earnestly exporting U.S. deflation, via dollar depreciation, to the rest of the world in 2004. In addition to abandonment of the strong dollar policy, the economic threat posed by the staggering twin U.S. deficits are likely to push the value of the dollar lower in 2004....

snip>
The last such episode, which occurred in the mid-1980s, heralded a 30 percent decline in the real effective exchange rate of the dollar. By comparison, the real effective exchange rate of the dollar has depreciated by less than 10 percent over the past 18 months.

snip>
Expected dollar depreciation, the large current account and fiscal deficits and increasing geopolitical instability, driven by U.S. electoral politics, make the dollar a very unlikely safe haven for global investors. Foreign capital flight from the U.S. could easily trigger a large dollar devaluation.

[54anickel]

16. RBI may switch to euro gilts (India)

Aneerkoinos posted this in the Economic Issues forum as well from a different link.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2004/feb/17rbi1.htm

The Reserve Bank of India and the finance ministry are exploring the option of replacing a part of the central bank's investments in short-term US securities with European gilts.

This marks a major departure from the country's dependence on dollar-based instruments and is seen as a means of proactively managing the fast-growing forex reserves of $106.6 billion.

The proposal is in response to the steady depreciation of the dollar and the strengthening of the Euro against the rupee between April 2003 and February 2004.

more...

Another interesting bit on India

With global rates firming up, will we see a flight of capital?
http://www.business-standard.com/today/story.asp?menu=21&story=34414

snip>
This contraction in rate differentials renders India a less attractive destination for international investors, and threatens to weaken India’s share in foreign capital flows.

Though these concerns are valid, the impact will not be significant: only a fraction of India’s capital inflows are sensitive to the level of interest rates, and India has accumulated enough reserves to remain largely unaffected by temporary capital flow shocks.

The level of short-term interest rates is an important driver (among several others) of capital flows in international currency markets.

snip>
Will the rate hike in developed economies, particularly the US, lead to capital flight from India?

FIIs and global fund managers are looking at India as a favourable investment destination. As per Sebi data, the combined FII inflow (debt and equity) stands over $1.2 billion in 2004, that is, in less than two months.

Today, India, Asia’s third largest economy has the fifth largest reserves after Japan, China, Taiwan and South Korea.

The high level of reserves is a reflection of the economy and strong faith of international investors in India’s growth potential. It also represents a “no default” situation.

If NRI remittances continue to flow into India in spite of rates being lower than those offered to domestic investors, it goes to show that there has been a “flight to quality” and not “flight to yield”.

[54anickel]

18. India also setting aside some funds for intervention

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_578586,0002.htm

Govt considering $8.8 bn monetary stabilisation fund
Reuters
Mumbai, February 19

The Reserve Bank of India's planned market stabilisation fund, expected to be approved shortly by the Government, will be backed by about Rs 400 billion ($8.8 billion) in bonds, a senior official said on Thursday.

The move is meant to temper inflows that have swelled foreign exchange coffers to record levels, just 13 years after the country suffered a balance of payments crisis.

Under the fund, the Government would issue the bonds to the RBI, which would sell them when necessary to soak up excess money market liquidity, pumped up by the bank's rupee-selling intervention, officials say.

"Central bank officials and we are meeting on February 23 to discuss several issues, including the tenor of these bonds," said a senior Finance Ministry official on Thursday.


more...

[54anickel]

17. 10:44 numbers and blather

Dow 10,724.66 +52.67 (+0.49%)
Nasdaq 2,084.27 +7.80 (+0.38%)
S&P 500 1,155.70 +3.88 (+0.34%)
30-yr Bond 4.929% +0.014

10:30AM: With the blue-chip averages proving unable to extend their gains to new 52-week highs and the Nasdsaq failing to move above the psychologically significant level of 2100, the buying efforts have been stymied... Contributing to the volatility exhibited in the move lower is tomorrow's options expiration, which has a tendency to influence the preceding session... Despite the pullback, selling efforts are only mild and controlled, as sellers continue to be hesitant in betting against the market's uptrend...
Although advances are becoming more selective and careful stock-picking is key, long-term investors should stay in the market and continue to ride the favorable trend...NYSE Adv/Dec 1767/1136, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1690/1004

[54anickel]

19. Asian Bond Fund info, Thailand is the latest to put in. Also a bit of

background on the fund.

http://www.iht.com/articles/129946.html
BANGKOK Thailand plans to invest as much as $1 billion this year in an Asian bond fund that will buy debt securities denominated in the region's currencies, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said in an interview.
.
The figure equals India's commitment to the fund, which is designed to encourage Asian countries to invest in one another's debt and reduce reliance on creditors outside the region. Such dependence helped worsen the Asian financial crisis that began in 1997.
.
The central banks of 11 Asia-Pacific nations, including Thailand, Singapore, and China, also created a $1 billion fund in June to invest in regional governments' U.S. dollar debt.
.
"India has already put in $1 billion, and I instructed my finance minister that Thailand would put in another $1 billion," Thaksin said Monday in Bangkok. "It's very small - now we are rich."

more....


And a bit of background - (still digging, but other duties call)

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2003/11/11/2003075455

Asia urged to set up `buffer' fund

FINANCIAL CRISES LESSONS: The Asian Development Bank says the region should pool resources to strengthen its monetary and financial cooperation framework

AFP , MANILA
Tuesday, Nov 11, 2003,Page 11
Southeast Asia and China, Japan and South Korea should set up a common fund from their huge foreign reserves as part of a strategy against regional financial turmoil, said a group of experts.

In one of the most comprehensive studies on East Asia's biggest financial turmoil six years ago, the experts also said the region must pool its resources in dealing with financial sector reforms and move towards greater exchange rate policy coordination.

The Manila-based Asian Development Bank commissioned the study by 23 economists and policy-makers from the US, Japan, Australia, France, Thailand, South Korea, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

"This study is timely because East Asia has reached a critical juncture in its initiatives at regional monetary and financial cooperation," said Yoshihiro Iwasaki, head of the bank's regional economic monitoring unit.

After the 1997 to 1998 financial crisis plunged the region into recession, East Asian countries agreed to strengthen regional monetary and financial cooperation in a bid to prevent future turmoil.

more...

http://www.philstar.com/philstar/show_content.asp?article=153614
ADB to establish website for bond market

Publish Date:

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will establish an Asian Bonds Online web site to foster development of mature bond markets in Asia through a $2.4-million grant which will come from the Japan Fund for Information and Communication Technology (JFICT).

To be launched in May this year, the website will be a one-stop clearing house of information on sovereign and corporate bonds issued in the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus People’s Republic of China, Japan, and Republic of Korea (ASEAN+3).

http://www.tdctrade.com/econforum/hkma/hkma030603.htm

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/bline/2003/12/27/stories/2003122701980800.htm

[54anickel]

20. It could be worse, you could be in Zimbabwe - expecting 700% inflation

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=8675

A team set up by Gono is set to tour key countries to encourage Zimbabweans to repatriate money home through official channels at competitive rates

Bulawayo - As Zimbabwe emerges from a three week period of relative currency stability characterised by a drop in the prices of most goods, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has warned that official inflation will rise to 700 percent in March this year before falling steadily for the rest of the year. Addressing a business seminar in the capital Harare late last week, RBZ governor Gideon Gono said projections by the central bank showed that inflation would rise from the current 622.8 per cent to peak at 700 per cent in March. Thereafter it would sink, until reaching a low of 200 percent in December.

snip>
Meanwhile, in a bid to bolster its foreign currency reserves, the RBZ has announced ambitious plans to tap the remittances of an estimated 3.4 million Zimbabweans living abroad in Europe, North America and Southern Africa. A team set up by Gono is set to tour key countries to encourage Zimbabweans to repatriate money home through official channels at competitive rates. The RBZ reportedly plans to increase its exchange rates to closer to the black market price currently averaging between Z$4,000 and Z$5,000 to US $.

[54anickel]

21. 12:19 update and blather

Dow 10,736.44 +64.45 (+0.60%)
Nasdaq 2,082.16 +5.69 (+0.27%)
S&P 500 1,156.19 +4.37 (+0.38%)
30-yr Bond 4.924% +0.009

12:00PM: The major averages have spent the entirety of the morning in positive territory, with the blue-chip averages within a short reach of their 52-week highs... While the Nasdaq spearheaded the advance at the open, supported by gains in the bulk of the technology sectors, the tech composite has forgone its reigns of relative outperformance through the morning trade, in favor of the Dow, which is currently the strongest relative performer among the major averages... Supporting the advance are sectors including notable gainers such as the semiconductor, biotech, and paper groups...

In the semiconductor sector, Applied Material (AMAT 23.15 +0.84) and OmniVision (OVTI 31.10 +5.47) reported better than expected earnings, while Broadcom (BRCM 43.25 +0.79) raised Q1 guidance to 16-18% in sequential revenue growth from 10% previously... Speaking of guidance, the world's largest retailer Wal-Mart (WMT 57.99 +0.79) upped its FY04 guidance, putting a bid into retailing shares... Laggards of note are more difficult to come by, but include the application software group... Elsewhere, the bond market is pulling back, with the 10-year note down 5/32, bringing its yield up to 4.07%...

On the economic front, the Initial Claims report checked in at 344 K (consensus 352K), auguring well for continued stabilization in the job market... The normally non-market-moving Leading Indicators report checked in in-line with the consensus of 0.5%... Finally, the Philly Fed Index just came in at 31.4, below the consensus of 35.0, but keep in mind that any reading above zero is expansionary...

[54anickel]

22. Steppin' out for a bit Marketeers. Will try to check in later....n/t

[JNelson6563]

23. Hey Everybody!

Howdy all!

Thought I'd stop in for a quick update. 1:56 and here's a snap-shot:


Dow 10,743.24 +71.25 (+0.67%)
Nasdaq 2,076.67 +0.20 (+0.01%)
S&P 500 1,156.48 +4.66 (+0.40%)
10-Yr Bond 4.050% +0.001

Will check back, hope it's all good in your world! :hi:

Julie

[54anickel]

24. What happened? I leave for some errands and come back to

everyone below the waterline!

[UpInArms]

26. piehole effect

* was talking about the economy on daytime televison - oops!

final numbers for the day

Dow 10,664.73 -7.26 (-0.07%)
Nasdaq 2,045.96 -30.51 (-1.47%)
S&P 500 1,147.06 -4.76 (-0.41%)
10-Yr Bond 4.052% +0.003

[54anickel]

27. Doh! And I was just about to post those closing numbers.

Glad I double checked!

Here's the blather to go with them as well, though not very interesting.

Close Dow -7.26 at 10,664.73, S&P -4.76 at 1,147.06, Nasdaq -30.51 at 2,045.96: What started out as a winning session with the Dow setting a new 52-week high, shaped into a reversal of fortune as the major averages closed in the red, with the Nasdaq down as much as 1.5%... The early favorable bias was incited by a combination of better than expected earnings reports, upward guidance and upbeat commentary, as well as solid economic reports... Specifically, tech players including Applied Materials (AMAT 22.24 -0.07) and OmniVision (OVTI 29.55 +3.92) reported better than expected earnings...

EMC (EMC 14.20 -0.07) said tech spending is picking up, while Broadcom (BRCM 41.57 -0.89) raised its revenue growth estimates for Q2... Finally, world's largest retailer Wal-Mart (WMT 58.38 +1.18) raised FY04 guidance, putting a bid into retailing shares... On the economic front, the Initial Claims report at 344K (consensus 352K) and the Philly Fed Index at 31.4 (consensus 35.0) pointed to a stabilizing employment market and an expanding manufacturing sector, providing further support to the market...

Yet, all of this proved insufficient as program selling, today's moderate volume totals, and tomorrow's options expiration proved to be the right combination to take the market lower... Note that moderate volume days, particularly ahead of options expirations are often marked by an exaggerated degree of volatility and today's session was certainly not an exception in that regard, as all of the day's gains came to be erased in the final half an hour of the session... All said and done, leaders to the upside were difficult to come by at the end of the session, with the paper group being the only winner of note...

Notable laggards were more plentiful and included the software, semiconductor, integrated telecom, hardware, internet, networking, broker/dealer, and healthcare sectors... Elsewhere, the bond market closed near its morning levels after selling off earlier in the session... The 10-year note ended the session up 4/32, bringing its yield down to 4.03%...NYSE Adv/Dec 1214/2074, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1093/2073

[54anickel]

25. Treasuries nudge up, take heart from factory blip

http://www.forbes.com/home_europe/newswire/2004/02/19/rtr1268132.html

NEW YORK, Feb 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasuries crawled into the black on Thursday after data showed regional U.S. manufacturing did not flourish as much as expected in early February, which offset upbeat comments from a Federal Reserve official.

"Obviously, you can see the market is not moving much today day-to-day based on this data. Even volatility indices are extremely low across the board," said Joseph Shatz, government strategist at Merrill Lynch.

"Basically, the market got a lot of very important numbers in the last week or two and it's going to be kind of quiet until (traders) get some more major information that changes their view that the Fed will be on hold for a while," he said.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury <US10YT=RR> rose by 2/32 in price to hold at 4.05 percent on the day.

more...

[UpInArms]

28. Dollar approaches 107 yen line, overcoming early selling in Tokyo

http://www.hedgeco.net/news_story.php?id=2382&flag=2

TOKYO, Feb. 19 (Kyodo) -- The U.S. dollar overcame early selling and attempted to retake the 107 yen line Thursday in Tokyo as hedge funds running short-term funds continued to buy back the currency.

At 5 p.m., the dollar was quoted at 106.72-74 yen, compared with Wednesday's 5 p.m. quotes of 106.70-80 yen in New York and 105.57-60 yen in Tokyo. It moved between 106.30 yen and 106.88 yen during Thursday trading in Tokyo, trading most actively at 106.60 yen.

<snip>

In the morning, the dollar trimmed sharp overnight gains above 107 yen and mostly traded around the mid-106 yen level as it faced selling by Japanese exporters.

''The dollar briefly dropped to 106.30 yen from an early high of 106.77 yen, which was a (high) level not seen for a long time for exporters'' in Japan, said Tatsuro Karitani, a foreign exchange manager at Mizuho Corporate Bank.

But the early selling gave way to dollar buybacks possibly by hedge funds based in the United States and Middle East in the late morning, dealers said.

<snip>

But dealers said maybe not all of the dollar's buying against the yen stemmed from the shrinking euro gains. Japanese monetary authorities might have secretly jumped on the bandwagon to depreciate the yen, they said.

ya think the BoJ would secretly do that? :evilgrin:

[54anickel]

29. Nah! They wouldn't do that. Seems they've built a nice cushion from

that 105 line. And to think Yeneticus was getting all set for 102 on Sunday. Silly Artificial Intelligence. :silly: