Singapore Stocks May Extend Losses

[Watchman]

Singapore Stocks May Extend Losses
Wednesday June 09, 2010 19:06:00 EDT

<--- http://es.quote.com/news/story.action?id=RTT006091906001938http://es.quote.com/news/story.action?id=RTT006091906001938

(RTTNews) - The Singapore stock market lost less than a point on Wednesday - but that was enough to extend its losing streak to three sessions, costing it nearly 60 points or 2.2 percent in the process. The Straits Times Index finished just above the 2,745-point plateau, and now analysts are tipping further weakness at the opening of trade on Thursday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is mildly negative, due mainly to a decline in commodity prices including oil, gold and natural gas - although telecoms and properties may provide a bit of support. The European markets finished sharply higher, while the U.S. bourses ended slightly lower - and the Asian markets are predicted to follow the latter lead.

The STI finished flat on Wednesday, inching lower on weakness from the financials and properties.

For the day, the index eased 0.81 points or 0.03 percent to finish at 2,745.80. Volume was 880 million shares worth 980 billion Singapore dollars.

Among the decliners, DBS Group Holdings and CapitaLand both lost 0.6 percent.

The lead from Wall Street is bearish as stocks gave up substantial gains and sank by moderate margins on Wednesday, with the downturn partly in reaction to comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The major averages all closed firmly in the red, extending their recent streak of volatility.

The weakness that emerged in the latter part of the trading day was attributed in part to comments from Merkel, who called for the withdrawal of stimulus in favor of austerity measures, prompting concerns about the recovery in the already debt-embattled euro-zone.

The news eclipsed reports of strong export statistics out of China and relatively upbeat economic commentary issued by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Initial strength in the markets came after Reuters cited sources as saying that Chinese exports surged up by about 50 percent in May compared to the same month a year ago. The report on Chinese trade, due on Thursday, had been expected to show a 32 percent increase in exports.

However, cracks in the rally began to show after the Fed's Beige Book revealed that economic activity continued to improve in all twelve Fed districts, although only at a modest pace.

The markets also looked to remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, as he discussed prospects for economic growth and taming the impact of future crises before the House Budget Committee. During his testimony, the Fed Chief said that the recovering economy appears to be on track to continue to expand in the coming years.

On the corporate front, BP saw another sell-off today even after slowing the sizable leak from its well in the Gulf of Mexico. The move came amid rumblings by some market analysts that the firm may file for bankruptcy at some point during the summer.

The major averages moved off their worst levels of the day going into the close but still ended the day firmly negative. The Dow fell 40.73 points or 0.4 percent to 9,899.25, the NASDAQ slid 11.72 points or 0.5 percent to 2,158.85 and the S&P 500 dropped 6.31 points or 0.6 percent to 1,055.69.

 

[War Criminal]

singapore stock market blindly follow dow/dow futures, along with the rest of the world.

dow keep going down, now below 9900, how does STI stay afloat?

 

[UseYourBrain]

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticke...html?tickers=^DJI,^GSPC,^IXIC,SPY,TLT,UUP,GLD

REMEMBER: In 1930, They Didn't Know It Was "The Great Depression" Yet
Posted Jun 08, 2010 11:24am EDT by Henry Blodget
Related: ^DJI, ^GSPC, ^IXIC, SPY, TLT, UUP, GLD
From The Business Insider:

In the past year, we've written a lot about the similarity between the rally of early 1930 and the one we had through April of this year.

The early 1930 rally came after the market had fallen nearly 50% in the fall of 1929. The spring 1930 rally took the market up nearly 50% again, to a level that was only about 20% below the previous peak.

That rally, of course, was also the biggest sucker's rally in history. After the market peaked in April 1930, it crashed again, eventually ending up down 89% from the 1929 high and more than 80% from the 1930 high. The market did not reach the 1930 high again for another quarter of a century.

The rally that recently ended in April 2010 came after a crash that was actually slightly more severe than the 1929 crash (53% versus 48%). It took the market up nearly 80% from the low! The recent rally also lasted longer than the 1930 rally did--a year, as opposed to 6 months.

The 2009-2010 rally that ended in April, of course, may actually be the start of a great new bull market, one that will shake off the current "correction" and roar back to the market's old highs. On the other hand, it may yet also be another version of what happened in 1930--the start of another bear market that will take the market down for years (or even, gulp, to a new low).

Importantly, we won't know for sure what today's market is until we look at it with the genius of 20/20 hindsight. As Peter Schiff pointed out yesterday, even as late as 1931, they didn't know they were in a "Great Depression" yet. On the contrary, the promise from the White House was that "prosperity is just around the corner."

Don't believe it? Check out this excellent compilation of New York Times clippings from early 1930 put together by Dan Alpert of Westwood Capital. There is nary a hint that anyone had any idea about the disastrous decade that was to come.

Is the current pullback just a "correction" and a "buying opportunity"? Or, as in the spring of 1930, is it the start of the REAL market crash? You be the judge. Meanwhile, here's what things looked like in the spring of 1930...