WizzWatch Market Newsletter 09.15.08 – 09.19.08

For the week that was, all major indices finished the week on a positive note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 all ended the week slightly higher, consumer staples and utilities were the best performers. There were also concerns in the financial markets due to the problems at (LEH) Lehman Brothers as well as the federal government takeover of mortgage giants (FRE) Freddie Mac, and (FNM) Federal National Mortgage a.k.a Fannie Mae. American International Group (AIG) had its worst week in 3 decades after losing half of its value ending the week down 45.66 percent to end the week trading at $12.14 per share. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley will report earnings in the coming week.

Freddie Mac ended the week down 90.98 percent, Fannie Mae 89.49 percent and Lehman Brothers down 77.49 percent. The 158 year old Lehman Brothers market cap fell from 11billion dollars last week to 2.5 billion by the close of trading on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the week below its 10 week moving average trading at 11,421.99 up 201.03 or 1.79 percent on 5.4 billion trading volume higher than the average weekly. The Nasdaq Composite Index it also edged slightly higher ending the week trading at 2,261.27 up 5.39 or 0.024 percent on higher than average volume at 11.6 billion. The Standard and Poors 500 Index ended the week at 1,251.70 below its 5 and 10 week moving averages up 9.39 or 0.76 percent on 27.2 billion trading volume.

As for the price of oil we are continuing to see a decline. The Oil Index broke through the $110.00 downside support area pulling back to a low of 100.08 per barrel but ended the week slightly higher. The Oil Index is currently below both its 5, and 10 week moving averages. From this point there is a possibility that oil can pullback as low as $80 per barrel depending on the impact of Hurricane Ike in the Gulf of Mexico. If the oil rigs are seriously impacted by Hurricane Ike there will be a spike in oil prices, but if not we will continue to see a decline. At the NYMEX oil ended the week trading at $101.25 dollars per barrel that’s a $47 dollar decline from its all time high made in July at $147.90.

On the gold front prices are continuing to head lower. The price of gold has been moving to the downside for the past 8 weeks and is continuing to slide lower. The Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index ended the week trading down $2.54 or -1.96 percent, the AMEX Gold Bugs Index also ended the week down $10.70 or 3.55 percent and the Gold Index ended the week trading below its 5 and 10 week moving averages at $764.50 down 38.30 or 4.77 percent. As for now the index is currently 269 points away from its all time price high at 1033.90 set in March.



By: Marlin Rolle
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