Market Review: Nasdaq Leads the Market Down, Down, Down...
Friday, the Nasdaq sell-of, which began following Wednesday’s negative earnings reports, intensified. A loss of 179.23 for the day brought the index to its knees: 3663. For the week the index was down 431 – or 10.5%.
Bad news in techs got the Bear all fired up on the Dow, too. Despite minor gains on Thursday, the DJIA fell Friday 74.96 to 10,511.17. For the week, the Dow was down 222.39… a 2% loss from Monday’s opening.
Decliners beat advancers 2-to-1 on the NYSE. And even more soundly on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 fell 29.73… to 1419.89. The Russell 2000 was down 11.39 to 490.20, as were exchanges all around the world.
Before Friday’s session, the Commerce Department released Q2 GDP figures. The economy grew, they say, by 5.2% as "a surge in investment by American businesses offset a slowdown in consumer spending." (Reuter’s) But, according to Dr. Kurt Richebacher, the latest revolution in economics "neo-American-style capitalism with rigorous microeconmics as its foundation" skews the GDP and leads to illusion of growth and productivity increases. (See: Instant Gratification is Trumps…below.)
Even more curious, inflation numbers released with the report – favored by Fed officials – showed prices rose more slowly Q2 than in the first quarter: an annual rate of just 2.3%, down from 3.5%. Leading some analysts to speculate, despite growth in the GDP, the Fed will not increase rates when it meets again next month.
PRICES THIS MORNING: mixed.
Gold: $277.60, down $.90
Silver: $5.00, down $.05
Crude Oil: $28.20, up $.16
Natural Gas: $3.84, up $.0002 (no typo)
CRB Index: 219.59, up .54
Morgan Dollar Index: $109.54, up .89
September Yen: $0.009208, down 0.000035
Euro: $.9229, down .0026
British Pound: $1.5062, down .0084
Addison Wiggin
July 29, 2000
MARKET COMMENT: Take Profits in Natural Gas
"Although natural gas is up slightly fort the week, it appears that the top is in for awhile. Prices have slid dramatically since the August contract hit $4.615 per MMBtu on June 26. This is an excellent time to take profits on natural gas-related investments."
Dan Ferris
HOT PICK OF THE WEEK: Bond Play in Argentina
A Safe, Simple Way To Make 183% In Argentina
by Steve Sjuggerud
Almost every other government in the world has the temptation of cheating-printing money to finance their wishes, desires and crises. Not Argentina. Here’s how to profit from their fixed rate exchange system.
HEADLINES, INSIGHTS and NEWS:
The Coming U.S. Corporate Profit Squeeeze
by Marc Faber
The recent spate of corporate profit disappointments and the poor performance of so many equities belies a period of very disappointing profits – dead ahead.
Instant Gratification Is Trumps
by Dr. Kurt Richebacher
In the true new U.S. paradigm, mergers, acquisitions, restructuring, and downsizing substitute for organic growth. Result? The illusion of economic growth and productivity increases.
Beer’s Hot Again … Healthy, Too
by Lynn Carpenter
The Dutch say drinking a glass of beer a day wards off heart attacks and improves your health. These days it’s good for your portfolio, too.
"Belchfire 8" Gas Guzzlers and the American Public
by Raymond F. Devoe, Jr.
A year ago, the decline in crude oil prices from over $30 a barrel to under $10 was the equivalent of a $60 billion tax cut for consumers… alas, this is an election year.
Is the U.S. Running Out of Electricity?
by Dan Ferris
A potential shortage in electricity presents a huge opportunity for investors to profit, one with far-reaching implications, and at least half a dozen excellent investment angles.
Mick and Lucy’s Oasis in the Jungle
by Kathleen Peddicord
Belize recently enacted the most attractive "retiree" legislation in the world: Show a monthly income of as little as $1,000 and you could retire next week…live better than you ever have – even pay no taxes.
And in case you missed it…
THIS WEEK IN THE THE DAILY RECKONING…
By Bill Bonner
07/28/00 AN AIR OF FIN DE BUBBLE
"…the fin de siecle attitude lasted for many years… throughout the "Gay `90s" and into the next century…until that August day 85 years ago. Then, it was all over. The can-do spirit of progress, based on faith in bourgeois ideals and machine-age engineering disappeared, perhaps forever…"
07/27/00 ROLLING THE DICE… AND THE PROOF OF GOD
"…the hope of heaven is the hope that people will get what’s coming to them. Maybe the market will go up…maybe it will go down. But I see a lot more to lose than to gain… even if it were a 60% probability that the market would go up rather than down, as we saw in the example of the gambling Ph.Ds, you would be crazy to put all your money in stocks. But that is exactly what people are being urged to do…"
07/26/00 TIGHT COLLARS AND TIGHT MARGINS, REPRISE
"…nature abhors a vacuum. Americans today are enjoying some of the loosest margins in history. They fear almost no enemy…human or bacterial. They see no danger and no purpose to be served by self-restriction. No tight collars, in other words. No tight budgets either. No matter how nice things are today, they believe, they will only get better…"
07/25/00 THE SUMMER OF LOVE, PART II
"…what evil lurks within the Internet, or the human genome, or any of the other breakthroughs Wall Street now celebrates? When will the dollar crash and bring down the whole structure of modern finance? Will the Nasdaq collapse and bankrupt millions of American families? No one knows. But the events that will determine our future have already happened…"
"…Europe did not always lag America in productivity. Nor was the dollar always high…German productivity growth surpassed US productivity growth from 1977 to 1995… The dollar index topped out on May 17th. This may turn out to be a good time to sell the dollar. And buy euros…’
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