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Market Report – October 31, 2011

In the Rear View Mirror:US markets were basically flat on Friday, but are headed toward an outstanding October…Euro leaders reached a deal last Thursday to help solve the debt crisis and the market responded positively to the news.The Dow briefly gained more than 400 points leading the largest global rally since August. The hope was that the measures to be taken would lead to global economic stability. The NASDAQ moved into positive territory, as did the S&P500. The dollar remained low and some commodity prices softened while the main indices rallied.
The Markets @ 10/28/2011
Index Close Weekly % Change YTD Change YTD%
DJIA 12231.11 422.32 3.58% 653.6 5.65%
NASDAQ 2737.15 99.69 3.78% 84.28 3.18%
S&P 500 1258.09 19.84 1.60% 0.45 0.04%
NYSE Comp 7803.94 372.84 5.02% -160.08 -2.01%
NYSE Amex 2337.53 118.37 5.33% 129.15 5.85%
RUS 2000 761 48.58 6.82% -22.65 -2.89%
VANG INTL 14.86 0.93 6.68% -0.9 -5.71%
USX CHINA 5237.41 493.02 10.39% -850.46 -13.97%
Market ReportAll the major indices we follow flashed green for the week.

The Dow closed on Friday at 12,231.11, up 422.32 or 3.58% for the week and 5.65% YTD. The NASDAQ moved into positive territory for the year, up 3.18%; closing at 2737.15.

The S&P 500 inched and we mean inched into the plus column for 2011, up 0.04% YTD, closing Friday at 1258.09. The NYSE moved up 372.84 or 5.02% for the week, but was still off 2.01% for the year…closing at 7803.94.

The big mover for the week was the USX China Index…up 493.02 or 10.39%, closing Friday at 5237.41. However, the China sector has been under so much pressure this year that the index is still off 13.97% YTD.

The Amex, Russell 2000 and Vanguard International were up for the week 5.33%, 6.82% and 6.68% respectively…but all three were still showing negative numbers for the year.

Economic & Financial Comments

The U.S. government announced that income increased 0.1%, somewhat lower than anticipated. Personal spending corresponded with expectations, increasing by 0.6%. Third quarter employment cost data released on Friday showed an increase of 0.3% for civilian worker compensation which was lower than analysts had expected. Americans dug deeper into their pockets to push the economy forward amid weaker wage gains.

The U.S. dollar increased in strength against the euro, but fell against the British pound and the Japanese yen. Oil futures for December delivery fell to $93.32 a barrel. Gold was down to $1,747.20 an ounce for December delivery…but silver, copper and platinum all moved higher.

The Bottom Line

There’s no bottom line this week…we’re cutting our report short because the seventh game of the World Series is getting ready to start. Go Rangers!

Research and Editorial Staff
MicroCap MarkePlace