WASHINGTON - July 8 2009 - Energy expert T. Boone Pickens today declared "Energy Independence Day" on the one year anniversary of the launch of the Pickens Plan. This declaration clearly affirms the ongoing American commitment to ending our addiction to foreign oil.

NEW Unemployment figures Show We’re Still Lingering in Depression.

This week began with shrieks of joy. First, a federal court came down on Bernie Madoff like a brick on a bald head. Madoff, convicted of lying to investors, drew a sentence that only a sea turtle or a swamp oak could complete. Then, like children playing in the sea, investors were teased by one wave of good news… and tickled by the next.

Bloomberg reported that “Wall Street’s largest bond-trading firms say the worst may be over for investors… ” Then, General Electric’s CEO, Jeffrey Immelt and famous investor George Soros both said that the crisis is “behind us” and that growth will begin again next year. Finally, analyst John Dorfman opined that the stock market would be a safe place for their money at least through the end of the year.

And now comes the big American holiday – July 4th. Investors

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The euro recovered against the dollar today, Friday, as traders picked up the single European currency following its fall the previous session, when weak U.S. jobs data helped lift the dollar across the board.

Some traders booked profits on the euro’s slide on Thursday, while analysts said currency movements were aggravated due to thin volumes as U.S. markets were closed for the Independence Day holiday.

On Thursday, data showed U.S. employers cut a greater-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, leading to heightened risk aversion on the back of pessimism about the recovery of the U.S. economy.

The bleak data pressured the euro and currencies perceived to be higher risk such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars, but the single European currency found its footing on Friday after selling subsided.

This kept the euro hovering at the $1.40 level, as some market players judged the sell-off in the euro — which knocked it from a

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Gold rose today, Friday, steadying above $931 per ounce as the dollar lost ground versus the euro, with deeper concerns over the U.S. economic outlook also underpinning the metal.

Spot gold stood at $931.70 by 1510 GMT, up from $928.65 late in New York. Earlier it rose to $933.90.

After a week of tracking a volatile dollar, gold is on course for a 0.6 percent fall on the week — retreating further from a four-month high near $990 hit in early June.

The precious metal found support above $931 after falling on Thursday, when weaker-than-expected U.S. non-farm payroll data sent investors piling into the relative safety of the dollar.

The U.S. currency  lost some ground against a basket of six currencies but remained broadly positive on Friday, with U.S. financial markets closed ahead of Independence Day.

Dollar moves have proved influential of late in determining immediate interest for bullion from foreign investors.

But the bleak jobs data

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US stocks started the holiday-shortened trading week on a positive note as energy, technology and industrial shares pulled equity markets higher.  Although stocks seesawed in early trading, a gain in oil prices buoyed sentiments on the Street and investors raced to put money in the stock market. 

The Down Jones industrial average advanced 91 points or 1.1% and the S&P 500 increased 0.9%.  NASDAQ edged up 0.3%.  Volume on the NYSE was light with only 1.07 billion shares exchanging hands and advancing issues outpacing declining stocks by a three-to-two margin.  The measure of market volatility, the CBOE Vix, retreated 2.2% to 25.35%, its lowest level since mid-September.  Treasury prices jumped, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note declining to 3.48%.  Crude prices jumped to more than $71 per barrel on higher demand expectations and reports that Nigerian militants partly shut down an offshore oil facility.    

Trading

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Capitol Hill is moving faster than ever. We will get a Cap-and-Trade vote on Friday. The market has already cast its vote, making now a great time to make some smart investments. The Obama administration must be getting some schooling from Dealin’ Dave’s Used Car Sales.

Can’t you hear Nancy Pelosi saying to some farm-belt democrat, “What’s it going to take to get you into this climate bill tonight?”

One of the easiest “outs” for a potential car buyer is to say, “I like it, but let me go home and talk to my wife.”

It is no different with shoddy legislation. “I like it,” say our fence-sitting lawmakers, “but let me go home and talk to my constituents.”

Knowing if a customer leaves the lot, he may never come back, House leaders are working overtime to ensure the latest nefarious piece of legislation to come off of Capitol Hill gets a vote before

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TODAY: Russia back firm but cautious stance on North Korea; Russia-NATO council meeting on level of ambassadors; Russia-Georgia discuss border reopening; Kremlin seeks extradition of Yukos' Spanish head; Putin tries his hand at journalismVitaly Churkin, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations, has said that Russia will back a 'strong resolution' on North Korea.  According to other sources, Russia believes that a blockade should not be imposed, 'in any case it is counterproductive to raise the question of the DPRK's international isolation. The path to dialogue should not be disrupted, and the problem can be solved only in political and diplomatic ways'.  An article in the Moscow Times explains why Russia has the most to lose from North Korea's nuclear ambitions.  'One of ...

 

The weekend before Memorial Day will mark the unofficial beginning of summer. The markets have historically been relatively flat going into the “summer doldrums.” However, the DOW has been up ~50% of the time in the weeks that follow the holiday while the S&P and NASDAQ have been up ~60% of the time. Let’s break it down even further.

 

Dow Jones Industrial Avg

Tues after Memorial Day - Avg loss of -.01%, Best of +4.69% in 1962, Worst of -5.75% in 1932 1 Week after Memorial Day - Avg gain of +.41%, Best of +10.76% in 1970, Worst of -7.60% in 1932 1 Month after Memorial Day - Avg gain of +.39%, Best of +22.94% in 1938, Worst of -18.95% in 1930

S&P 500

Tues after Memorial Day - Avg loss of -.01%, ...

First-quarter earnings season is just about over. Next week, we will get numbers from more retailers, including Target (TGT) and Lowe's (LOW), as well as tech giant Hewlett-Packard (HPQ). After those reports, there will not be a great deal of earnings news until after Independence Day.

This seasonal void will cause the number of earnings estimate revisions to drop, removing a catalyst for the markets. As I said in the latest Zacks Elite video, there have been approximately 15,000 revisions made during the past 4 weeks. That total will likely be cut in half. Furthermore, as the number of estimate revisions fall, the proportion of negative to positive revisions will increase.

In the absence of earnings data, what is there to move the markets? General Motors (GM) is facing a looming deadline and bankruptcy looks likely. I'm not so concerned about whether the company will

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A Huge currency rally… The games people play now…RBA leaves rates unchanged…Brazilian real is the daily winner! And Now… Today’s Pfennig!

Good day… Hola! And a Terrific Tuesday to you! Well, today is Cinco De Mayo… It’s a fun day so go have some fun! I few years ago, I talked about Cinco De Mayo, and some guy took exception to it, and called me a really nasty name… So, I won’t get all flowery about the day, except to say, go have some fun!

Of course, to me, the saying “go have some fun” is a staple of my being! Especially these days! I realize that I need to have “more fun”, but work, and all that gets in the way, darn it! HA!

OK, enough of that! Well! You should have seen that currency rally yesterday! WOW! The Big Dog, euro, traded all the way to 1.34 and change, saw profit

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