Friday, March 16, 2007

Stock Market Headwinds

Quad witch is a coincidence; it's the dollar's weakness, or the Yen's strength that's undermining Wall Street today with a 75 point rise in Yen futures. EuroFX is also up more than 70 points above $1.33 and even the Pound is up 81 points. The Euro itself is at the high of the year! The weakening consumer confidence data (though in line and which I dismissed earlier as a non factor) along with two days worth of above plan PPI and CPI getting the better of the buck.

Yen strength or weakness should tell the tale of the tape today.

Incidentally, I booked a profit in gold futures, which are off their highs, though still holding long on GLD.

A few follow ups...

As noted yesterday... No $60 bln buyout for Dow Chemical (DOW). Joint venture is brewing, but LBO is looking unlikely. DOW shares down 1-1/2%, April 45 Dow calls are down 32% on the bad rumors yesterday.

Prepaid Legal (PPD)... down 6%, downgraded by MUSA. Got to as high as $61. As noted yesterday, this wouldn't be the first time the stock has had a spectacular run only to collapse. How low will it go is the question. It's trading at $49 today.

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