The DJIA and S&P 500 finished flat at 11842 and 1318.0 respectively, while the NASDAQ Composite sank -20.35 -0.85% to 2385.74. Inflation-beneficiary Toronto Exchange Composite gained +111 to 14691.82.

With inflation talk, the yields on US Treasuries, especially the short-end, lifted and bond prices fell back. The 30-year $USB dropped -0.15% to 113.28.

Yesterday, UAL was reported by CNBC as about to lay off 950 pilots beginning in September. UAUA dropped -14.94% and the US Airline index ($XAL) fell -7.0%. Two days of selling in this industry has dramatically lowered share prices from an already extremely low level.

There is some discussion that Toyota (TM) may retract its previous sales targets for 2008 because of economic and financial market considerations. The #2 automaker in December targeted 2.64 million vehicles in the US in 2008 and forecast a +5% rise in global sales to 9.85 million vehicles. At the time, they attributed strong sales to emerging markets such as China and Russia.

Yesterday, $GOLD plunged in a matter of a few moments, and then recovered slightly to close down -$16.50/oz at 887.20.

The $USD has lost -0.25% this morning (9:00am) to 73.63, which may help boost the precious metals. So far this morning, the spot prices for gold, palladium, platinum and silver are flat to down a bit at 886.52, 465, 2031, and 16.76, respectively.

The Euro futures are up +0.3% to 1.5500 and Crude Oil futures up +1.11/bbl to 137.85 for WTIC and to 1.3776 for Brent.

Asia-Pacific markets closed weak today except for Shanghai, which was up +1.54% to 2803. The other markets appear to be in a wait state, which will end tomorrow at 2:15pm ET after the FOMC announcement. Europe is weak.

The DJIA futures are down -42 to 11789, which is just above the 11700-11750 range that many technical analysts consider as a strong support base, and which I think will break this week.

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Comments & Outlook

It strikes me that this Israel-Iran confrontation is mostly about trying to keep the high oil prices elevated. A skeptic could even point to the oil lobby pressure on the US government to open up drilling in heretofore environmentally protected regions.

I am also suspicious of the Goldman Sachs pressure, which is playing into the Treasury Secretary’s hands. Of course the man, Mr. Moral Hazard himself was the previous head honcho at Goldman. I am so suspicious of this that I’m now waiting for John Thain at Merrill Lynch to push their analysts to make a similar report.

These are the reasons that people rise to positions of power. They and their friends make enormous wealth when they issue “analytical” reports that are favorable to their positions and to cause the enactment of favorable legislation. When we speak of bought-and-paid-for politicians and analysts, these are the people behind the moves.

Re Crystallex (KRY), there is hope yet. The company released the following statement this morning:

Crystallex has received the official minutes of the meeting held at the Permanent Committee for the Economic Development of the National Assembly at the public hearing held on June 4, 2008 to discuss the delay of the Las Cristinas project. At the meeting, representatives of the Ministry of Mines (“MIBAM”) confirmed support for Crystallex and its compliance with all procedural and administrative steps up to the denial of the permit by MinAmb. The resolution issued by the Committee states that the Las Cristinas project has been in development for a significant period of time with the support of different branches of the Government. The resolution further notes a lack of coordination between the various Government branches, which it suggests should be resolved in light of the macroeconomic policies and goals of Venezuela, as well as the social needs of the people and the pre-existing environmental damage.

Would someone please check the insider trading reports and see whether the managers of this company are showing their support by buying the stock at these ultra-low levels?

These news releases have zero impact on me unless I see that management is putting their own skin in the game.

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Links & Charts

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International Economics Review

US Economic Calendar.

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Knobias Cara100 Tables

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Cara 100 Daily RSI-7 Charts

At least one RSI value >70:

Ticker	Last	RSI-7M	RSI-7W	RSI-7D	Zone
SYT	63.99	92.42	66.26	52.75	Sell alert (trig. 3 days ago [on 2008-06-19 at $65.11, -1.72% chg], after a 1 day DZ)
ATVI	35.63	83.67	90.47	55.49	Sell alert (trig. 2 days ago [on 2008-06-20 at $35.85, -0.61% chg], after a 1 day DZ)
RIMM	143.06	82.89	69.90	59.87	Sell alert (trig. 2 days ago [on 2008-06-20 at $144.56, -1.04% chg], after a 2 day DZ)
GGB	23.81	81.00	67.01	37.20
ECA	91.66	79.86	64.30	50.79
EXC	90.92	79.78	73.57	64.32
TS	67.95	79.44	78.06	74.55	Distribution Zone (for 3 days)
WMT	56.64	79.36	53.35	34.56
TT	46.49	76.65	65.62	56.92
GG	41.84	73.25	56.80	66.27
NUE	76.88	72.79	56.95	52.27

At least one RSI value <30:

Ticker	Last	RSI-7M	RSI-7W	RSI-7D	Zone
SBUX	16.30	12.51	40.22	25.73
BC	11.40	14.62	19.78	19.53	Accumulation Zone (for 2 days)
UBS	20.60	15.35	20.78	21.44	Accumulation Zone (for 2 days)
CCL	34.40	19.03	31.71	33.05
WFMI	25.54	19.69	25.60	28.30	Accumulation Zone (for 1 days)
DB	89.19	20.45	15.85	13.82	Accumulation Zone (for 5 days)
BMY	19.70	21.24	25.89	31.44	Buy alert (trig. 1 days ago [on 2008-06-23 at $19.70, +0.00% chg], after a 1 day AZ)
JCP	37.35	21.70	36.73	39.60	Buy alert (trig. 3 days ago [on 2008-06-19 at $37.25, +0.27% chg], after a 1 day AZ)
GOL	12.79	22.02	30.90	39.42	Buy alert (trig. 5 days ago [on 2008-06-16 at $12.78, +0.08% chg], after a 4 day AZ)
KSS	41.97	22.24	39.11	35.75
BDK	58.18	23.49	23.76	33.34	Buy alert (trig. 3 days ago [on 2008-06-19 at $59.66, -2.48% chg], after a 2 day AZ)
ERJ	29.78	24.99	15.31	21.48	Accumulation Zone (for 15 days)
GE	27.40	26.62	18.04	13.97	Accumulation Zone (for 8 days)
GFI	11.09	27.05	23.08	30.75	Buy alert (trig. 2 days ago [on 2008-06-20 at $11.15, -0.54% chg], after a 2 day AZ)
WHR	65.04	27.43	22.75	34.87
IBN	33.12	28.43	29.70	30.40
SNDK	20.78	29.17	27.49	16.03	Accumulation Zone (for 2 days)
BBBY	28.09	30.09	36.31	29.44
KB	58.36	30.89	37.67	28.48
HDB	78.46	31.13	23.27	23.30
TGT	48.74	32.47	34.05	27.51
TM	97.85	33.49	37.35	28.75
AET	41.12	33.81	29.99	18.16
NOK	24.43	34.85	22.75	24.36
YHOO	21.45	36.65	24.85	8.53
DEO	74.21	37.06	24.27	37.10
CHA	55.82	39.20	23.20	24.61
PG	62.93	39.21	27.52	18.33
CSCO	24.55	39.31	41.22	27.47
KO	53.26	40.32	24.69	28.96
RY	45.60	40.86	35.10	20.01
DOW	37.62	42.03	34.63	26.61
HBC	79.04	43.38	36.63	21.37
MFC	36.13	45.27	39.99	28.88
CHL	68.47	46.38	29.12	39.50
TEF	79.34	47.41	30.01	26.37
LLTC	32.48	49.72	40.91	25.99
VCP	27.80	50.43	32.45	12.82
VIP	29.75	52.03	37.30	24.70
MBT	79.48	54.96	43.84	28.54

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International Equity Markets Review

Europe

Here is the latest session data for the bourses of Europe.

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Here is the latest session data for the London stock exchange FTSE.

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Here is the latest session data for the German DAX.

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Here is the latest session data for the French CAC 40.

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Here is the latest session data for the Milan Italy stock exchange MIBTEL.

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Here is the latest session data for the Swiss market index.

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Asia-Pacific

Here is the latest session data for the Asia-Pacific stock exchanges.

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Here is the latest chart for the Japanese Nikkei 225 index.

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Here is the latest chart for the Singapore index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Shanghai Composite index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Hong Kong Hang Seng index .

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Here is the latest chart for the India BSE 30 index .

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Here is the latest chart for the Australian All Ordinaries index .

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US Equity Markets Review

DJIA (interactive) chart

NASDAQ Composite (interactive) chart

Table 14: Dow 30 List

Sorted by 1-Week Price Performance

Symbol	Close	1Day Change	1Day %Change	1W %Change	2W %Change	4W %Change	YTD %Change	3M %Change	6M %Change	12M %Change
MRK	35.83	0.70	1.99%	2.34%	-3.14%	-7.51%	-37.55%	-17.37%	-39.43%	-26.20%
BA	75.59	-0.24	-0.32%	0.76%	2.22%	-7.23%	-12.73%	1.06%	-15.13%	-21.19%
UTX	68.82	0.02	0.03%	-0.09%	1.88%	-1.70%	-8.50%	-0.28%	-11.58%	-3.59%
XOM	87.70	2.79	3.29%	-0.33%	-1.54%	-3.31%	-6.21%	3.18%	-6.13%	6.28%
CVX	99.06	2.44	2.53%	-0.43%	-2.11%	-1.66%	5.99%	19.05%	5.34%	21.47%
VZ	35.91	0.53	1.50%	-0.91%	-5.35%	-3.16%	-16.89%	-0.58%	-18.98%	-13.74%
CAT	80.00	0.92	1.16%	-1.12%	-1.00%	-1.90%	13.27%	8.31%	10.00%	-1.11%
KO	53.26	-0.40	-0.75%	-1.70%	-4.65%	-9.16%	-12.82%	-12.75%	-15.55%	3.18%
INTC	22.36	-0.01	-0.04%	-2.19%	-1.76%	-4.49%	-11.79%	2.80%	-17.06%	-5.65%
PFE	17.38	0.05	0.29%	-2.19%	-3.55%	-11.10%	-24.14%	-15.59%	-25.22%	-31.52%
JNJ	64.29	0.23	0.36%	-2.35%	-2.04%	-0.97%	-2.46%	-1.67%	-5.50%	5.86%
IBM	123.46	0.72	0.59%	-2.56%	-1.91%	-0.60%	17.93%	4.34%	11.18%	18.21%
MMM	72.96	-0.06	-0.08%	-2.98%	-3.77%	-3.76%	-11.79%	-6.44%	-15.21%	-15.58%
MSFT	27.97	-0.26	-0.92%	-3.32%	0.94%	-0.29%	-20.58%	-4.15%	-22.43%	-5.15%
DD	45.47	-0.76	-1.64%	-3.52%	-1.60%	-4.51%	3.96%	0.04%	0.26%	-13.06%
DIS	32.39	0.45	1.41%	-3.74%	-2.38%	-2.53%	1.73%	1.54%	-1.67%	-5.13%
HPQ	45.51	-0.13	-0.28%	-4.35%	-4.45%	1.22%	-8.63%	-2.13%	-12.53%	0.73%
WMT	56.64	0.38	0.68%	-4.50%	-4.92%	1.60%	20.77%	6.41%	17.49%	18.42%
PG	62.93	-0.23	-0.36%	-4.51%	-4.75%	-3.59%	-12.97%	-9.28%	-15.05%	3.11%
MCD	57.01	-0.39	-0.68%	-4.89%	-3.88%	-1.25%	-1.88%	4.76%	-5.03%	13.07%
T	34.38	-0.05	-0.15%	-4.95%	-8.47%	-10.77%	-16.15%	-6.70%	-17.12%	-11.51%
AA	37.71	0.37	0.99%	-5.01%	-10.58%	-6.31%	4.37%	8.74%	3.74%	-5.73%
GE	27.40	0.02	0.07%	-5.42%	-8.85%	-9.96%	-25.46%	-26.91%	-26.23%	-28.35%
JPM	36.87	-0.99	-2.61%	-7.69%	-1.71%	-12.88%	-12.57%	-19.85%	-16.41%	-24.32%
AXP	40.88	-0.30	-0.73%	-8.50%	-7.32%	-10.06%	-19.91%	-11.09%	-21.31%	-33.84%
HD	25.06	-1.19	-4.53%	-8.87%	-5.58%	-6.39%	-4.02%	-10.69%	-6.00%	-36.33%
AIG	30.30	-1.80	-5.61%	-10.91%	-9.53%	-18.00%