Stocks Fall on Negative Economic & Earnings Data
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Market Commentary:
Stocks got smacked on Thursday as the dollar and shorter-term Treasuries rose after a series of negative economic data was released. Volume totals were higher on both exchanges compared to the prior session which suggested that large institutions were aggressively selling stocks. Decliners trumped advancers by well over a 2-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq exchange. There were 9 high-ranked companies from the CANSLIM.net Leaders List that made a new 52-week high and appeared on the CANSLIM.net BreakOuts Page, lower than the 10 issues that appeared on the prior session. New 52-week highs still outnumbered new 52-week lows on the NYSE and on the Nasdaq exchange.
Obama’s State Of The Union & Bernanke Reconfirmed:
The major averages negatively reversed, effectively ended their latest rally attempt and reset the day count after a slew of weaker than expected economic and earnings data was released. Stocks reacted poorly to Obama’s first State of the Union address largely due to his plan to increase taxes on the upper class and his plan to end proprietary trading and hedge-fund investments at large banks. Some highlights from his speech were: “the worst of the storm has passed, we face a deficit of trust, and I’m not interested in punishing banks.”
Over the past ten days, investors were concerned that Congress would not reconfirm Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke for a second term. However, those concerns were allayed four minutes before the closing bell when CNBC reported that Bernanke received enough votes for a second term.