-USA eilne järsk börsilangus on tänagi jätkumas. Nasdaqi futuurid on 4 punkti miinuses, S&P 500 1,7 punkti miinuses.
-USA töötu abiraha taotlejate arv kukkus nädalaga 18 000 võrra 338 000 taotlusele, ootused olid veidi nõrgemad. Märtsis loodi 308 000 uut töökohta, mis oli samuti ootamatult tugev näitaja ning tõotab intressimäärade tõusu lähiajal.
-Esimeses kvartalis kerkis USA majandus 4,2%, mis on kolmas kvartal kiiret tõusu järjest. Samas oodati siiski kasvunumbri küündimist 5 protsendini, seega oli uudis turule pettumuseks.
-Nokia (NOK) aktsia on taas löögi all: Credit Suisse alandas firma reitingu "underperform" peale rõhutades, et firma esimese kvartali nõrkus ei pruugi olla ajutine. Eelturul aktsia 3% miinuses. WSJ teatel on firma turuosa kukkunus alla 30 protsendi.
-Time Warner (TWX) esimese kvartali kasum kahekordistus, analüütikud on aktsia suhtes ome negatiivsust üle vaatamas, aktsia eelturul 4% plussis.
-Merill Lynch alandas Norteli (NT) soovitust neutraalse peale. Firma rõhutas, et suur ebakindlus ning SEC-i uurimise negatiivne mõju on aktsiale halvasti mõjumas. Aktsia eelturul veel 5% miinuses.
Rev Shark:
Sometimes the gutsiest thing you can do is to step aside. When the bubble burst in 2000, the biggest losses where incurred by those who were frozen into inaction. They convinced themselves that everything would be fine if they simply hung on to their positions and waited for the market to come back. They were scared to sell and lock in their losses. The easy thing to do was sit and do nothing.
The harder course of action was to have a game plan where you limited your losses and waited to rebuy when the market looked better. Action is always more difficult than inaction, especially when you also need good timing and plenty of patience.
Traditional Wall Street has brainwashed many individuals into thinking that the best course of action is to simply hold on to stocks for the long term. Like mutual funds, we are encouraged to stay nearly fully invested at all times. The argument is that if you aren't fully in the market at all times you will miss the good days. No mention is made of the benefits of missing the bad days. Wall Street doesn't like the idea of investors sitting in cash, even though it is quite often the best course of action.
So when the market is tough, have some intestinal fortitude. Sit down, look at your positions and plan a course of action. Don't bury your head in the sand and rely on hope to save you. Mr. Market has little respect for your hopes, needs and dreams. He helps those who help themselves. Your No. 1 goal should always be to protect your capital. Making gains is secondary. If you don't have money to invest, nothing else matters.
We have another ugly morning shaping up. The Chinese economic issues continue to weigh on cyclical and commodity stocks. Gold is being smacked once again. It is trading down over $7 to $379, and is at its lowest point in over six months. The dollar continues to strengthen, and the 10-year bond is hitting the psychologically important 4.5% level.
Overseas markets are a sea of red. Nokia (NOK:NYSE) is causing some pressure due to a price-cutting program, but overall there is some good individual company news from the likes of Time Warner (TWX:NYSE) and Royal Dutch/Shell (SC:NYSE).
The gloom is awfully thick this morning, and that may help produce a bounce at some point, especially if we open weak. Be careful, though, because the bigger trend is definitely turning down, and even if we do see a relief bounce, it is not likely to last for long.
We have the GDP number and weekly unemployment claims coming up, which should provide a jiggle or two. But this is a market that is worried and prepared to find reasons to keep on selling.
Gary B. Smith:
