US markets closed marginally lower Wednesday, capping a four-day rally, as some lackluster economic data kept investors from taking big positions.  Investors appeared to be cautious ahead of the government’s monthly report on job losses and the unemployment report, which comes out on Friday.  Yesterday’s pullback reversed Wall Street’s recent run, which has been spurred by better-than-expected corporate earnings and hopes that the worst of the economic crisis has passed.   

The Dow Jones industrial average declined 39 points, or 0.4%, the Standard & Poor's 500 lost 3 points, or 0.3%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite retreated 18 points, or 0.9% after disappointing data on private payrolls and the services sector dented some optimism.  However, the Commerce Department reported an unexpected 0.4% rise in orders for manufactured goods in June.  On the NYSE, volume was a moderate 1.53 billion as decliners outpaced advancing shares by 8 to 7

Treasuries fell,

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Found a couple of things I wanted to pass along. (Both from Bloomberg)br /br /br /1) a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20603037amp;sid=a.pZggcuVEp8"Chinese Stocks to Recover From Plunge, Fisher Says/a.br /br /blockquoteChinese a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=SHCOMP%3AIND" onmouseover="return escape( popwQuoteShort( this, 'SHCOMP:IND' ))"stocks/a will recover from their steepest drop since November and end the year higher as speculation that the government will limit bank loans is unfounded, billionaire investor a href="http://search.bloomberg.com/search?q=Kenneth+Fisheramp;site=wnewsamp;client=wnewsamp;proxystylesheet=wnewsamp;output=xml_no_dtdamp;ie=UTF-8amp;oe=UTF-8amp;filter=pamp;getfields=wnnisamp;sort=date:D:S:d1" onmouseover="return escape( popwSearchNews( this ))"Kenneth Fisher/a said. pThe nation’s economy is “gangbusters compared to the rest of the world, why would they try to kick that?” said Fisher, who has about $900 million invested in Chinese shares among the $28 billion he manages as chief executive officer of Fisher Investments Inc. in Woodside, California. “They have zero incentive” to curb lending, he said. /p/blockquotepbr //ppZero incentive? How about the incentive to avert a massive ...

This post is a guest contribution by Rebecca Wilder*, author of the of the News N Economics blog.

Glimmers of hope are starting to emerge in the hard data. Exports in Asia are forming a more decided bottom; but since the trough is -20% to -30% off over the year, the recovery may be a long haul (or it may not). By some measures, home values in the UK and the US are showing signs of stabilization, as the annual pace of decline slows. German business sentiment continues its ascent, moving past its 1993 low! In contrast, inflation maintains its steady descent; Japan is hard hit.

Overall, the global economy is finding its footing on the path toward stabilization.

Exports in Asia: looking a little better, but still WAY down over the year!

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In the currency market, the dollar fell against the euro. Late Wednesday, the euro was trading at $1.3001 vs. $1.2957 on Tuesday.

Sterling took a beating, falling 1.2% versus the dollar, from $1.4671 to $1.4489, as the Office for National Statistics reported that unemployment claims rose less than expected in March but still hit a 12-year high. Overall, the British unemployment rate surged from 6.1 to 6.7%.

At the same time, the Office for National Statistics reported that government borrowing in March rose more than expected, putting the total for the recently completed fiscal year at £90 billion, or 6.2% of gross domestic product. That’s up from £34.6 billion in the previous fiscal year, and far above the government’s November forecast for a rise to £78 billion.

Domestically, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said its home prices index rose for the second straight month in February, though it still slipped 6.5% annually.

And

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Highlights include Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM).Freddie Mac Loses $23.9 Billion in 4Q08, Asks Treasury for $30.8 BillionYesterday, after market close, Freddie Mac (FRE) reported its 4Q08 and FY08 financial results. During the quarter, the company had a net loss (available to the common shareholders) of $23.9 billion or $7.37 per diluted share.The huge increase in loss was driven primarily by net mark-to-market declines on the company's derivative portfolio, guarantee assets and trading securities. Increased credit-related expenses, security impairments and additional valuation allowance against its deferred tax assets were also the major contributors to the increased loss.For the full year, net loss came in at $50.1 billion or $34.60 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $3.1 billion or $5.37 per diluted share in 2007.As a result of the massive loss, the ...

Despite all of the ballyhoo in Washington about this administrationrsquo;s commitment to alternative energy, clean technology and energy efficiency, and the clear writing on the wall that hundreds of billions will be invested in the next few years into developing this emerging energy sector, stocks continued to take a beating this week. Here is the performance of our indices: middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Biofuels group ndash; down 21% on the week and 30% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Energy management group ndash; down 8% on the week and 11% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Energy storage group ndash; down 5% on the week and 13% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Geothermal group ndash; down 9% on the week, and 1% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Upstream solar group ndash; down 1% on the week and 20% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Midstream solar group ndash; down 11% on the week and 31% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Downstream solar ndash; down 4% on the week and 8% year-to-date middot;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Solar equipment group ndash; down 11% on the week ...

Ghost of stimulus past warns… government spending “does not work”…Obama champions bill, nevertheless… Lew Rockwell provides voice of opposition…Geithner unveils TALF, TARP 2.0, whatever you want to call it… another $1 trillion-plus on the line…Time to go back to school, right? Maybe not…. MBA recruiting at record low….Not all market sectors in the drink, one high-end market still showing signs of life…

“We have tried spending money,” begins our mystery politician today. “We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. I say after eight years of this administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started…

“And an enormous debt to boot!”

The mystery man? Henry Morgenthau Jr., Treasury secretary to then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Morgenthau uttered these words in May 1939 before the House Ways and

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Merry Christmas-Eve-Eve! Or A href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FestivusSTRONGHappy Festivus/STRONG/A, if you're so inclined. Let the Airing of Grievances begin!br brHere's my chart for today -- a monthly chart of gold. Note how the recent uptrend has been tested but hasn't broken (yet anyway). In fact, RSI, a measure of momentum, is now giving a buy signal.brimg style=WIDTH: 490px alt= src=http://local.content.compendiumblog.com/uploads/user/7e88b461-578b-47f3-88ec-038e212ad053/aa0ff38d-9bb9-44a5-bba5-8be30d8f6977/gold.png _width=75 _height=75brI think gold could enter the New Year in a very positive position. Still, watch the euro-us dollar relationship that I posted about yesterday. That is probably the real key to what happens with gold.brbrHere is the other news and analysis I'm reading ...br br A href=http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=enart=14054STRONGU.S. debt approaches insolvency; Chinese currency reserves at risk/STRONG/A According to new figures published by Bloomberg in recent days, the American government has employed a total of 8.549 trillion dollars to stop the financial crisis. This means a total of about 24-25.4 trillion dollars of direct or indirect public debt ...

In the most pronounced effort yet to aid ailing homeowners, the government and the mortgage industry are working together to expedite the process of restructuring the terms of hundreds of thousands of defaulted mortgages now held by government loan agents Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two companies, now operated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, intend to implement the new plan on December 15th. At this time, officials are unable to provide the exact number of how many will qualify for the program.

Let us hear your thoughts below:

For the week, the Dow gained 1.8% (down 13.9% y-t-d) and the S&P500 increased 0.8% (down 14.8%). The Utilities rose 2.6% (down 14.8%), and the Morgan Stanley Consumer index gained 2.2% (down 5.1%). The Transports jumped 3.8% (up 11%), and the Morgan Stanley Cyclical index advanced 3.3% (down 13.2%). The small cap Russell 2000 added 0.2% (down 5.1%), and the S&P400 Mid-Caps increased 0.4% (down 8.1%). The NASDAQ100 was about unchanged (down 15.2%), while the Morgan Stanley High Tech index slipped 0.4% (down 15.6%). The Semiconductors lost 2.9% (down 21.2%). The Street.com Internet Index declined 0.3% (down 11%), while the NASDAQ Telecommunications index gained 1.7% (down 10.2%). The Biotechs gained 1.0% (up 3%). The financial stocks were mixed. With Lehman collapsing, the Broker/Dealers sank 11.6% (down 35.9%). Meanwhile, the Banks gained 3.2% (down 19.9%). With Bullion sinking $37, the ...