Democratic Underground - Comforting Blather

as the markets are comforted that houses are still being built, just blind to the fact that they are not being bought :eyes:

Stocks finished relatively unchanged as ongoing interest rate concerns, a lack of volume, and negative market breadth conspired to pare early gains.

During a day that offered little in the way of market-moving news and a session without Fed speak to worry about, investors found some early comfort in stronger than expected housing data. Before the opening bell, the Commerce Dept. reported a 5.0% rise in May housing starts, which followed three months of declines and offered investors some assurance that the economy remains solid despite higher mortgage rates. Nevertheless, since the increase in starts, which was due entirely to a bounce from an aberrantly sharp 6.7% drop in April, didn't change the outlook for a slowing housing market or Fed policy, the momentum enjoyed midday faded throughout the session and closed the major averages in mixed fashion.

The absence of stronger leadership from the more influential of the economic sectors dictated much of the day's action. Energy paced the way lower again, as Drillers and Oil and Gas Equipment were among the day's worst performing SnP industry groups. Consumer Discretionary turned in the next poorest performance. Apollo Group (APOL 51.91 -2.91) led the sector lower after it reported a 6% in drop in Q3 earnings while Home Depot (HD 36.42 -0.44), which became the latest and among the largest companies so far admitting to problems with past stock-option grants, came close to hitting a 52-week low.

Of the four sectors trading higher, Consumer Staples was the only sector posting a noticeable gain, following a strong earnings report from Kroger (KR 20.47 +1.01) and an analyst upgrade on Costco (COST 54.88 +1.33). However, the leadership of the Consumer Staples sector, known more for its defensive characteristics, merely added to the lack of conviction on the part of buyers to recover much of Monday's broad-based decline.BTK -0.9% DJ30 +32.73 DJTA +0.4% DJUA +0.5% DOT -0.1% NASDAQ -3.36 NQ100 -0.04% R2K -0.5% SOX -0.7% SP400 -0.4% SP500 -0.02 XOI -0.1% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1691/1338/1.60 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1812/1433/1.49 bln

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