S&P 500 and Dow: correction is over

The S&P 500 closed Friday above resistance at 1340, confirming the bullish divergence on 21-day Twiggs Money Flow (hat tip johnb). Expect retracement to test the new support level, followed by a rally to the March/April high of 1420. Wait for breakout on the Nasdaq 100 to confirm the Dow and S&P 500 signals.

S&P 500 Index

Dow Jones Industrial Average broke medium-term resistance at 12600/12700, indicating a rally to 13300. Expect retracement to first test the new support level. A bounce off the zero line by 13-week Twiggs Money Flow indicates medium-term buying pressure — and a likely rally — but the long-term bearish divergence remains and suggests strong resistance at 13300.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

Nasdaq 100 has penetrated its descending trendline, signaling a bottom, but has yet to break resistance at 2580 — which would signal an advance to 2800 and confirm the Dow/S&P signals. Bullish divergence on 21-day Twiggs Money Flow indicates medium-term buying pressure.

Nasdaq 100 Index

Canada: TSX 60

The TSX 60 continues to test primary support at 640. Positive sentiment on US markets and from Greek election results is likely to fuel a rally. Breakout above 670 would confirm. Breach of the descending trendline would warn that a bottom is forming. Recovery of 63-day Twiggs Momentum above zero would complete a large bullish divergence, suggesting a primary up-trend. Respect of zero, however, would indicate continuation of the down-trend.

TSX 60 Index

Asia-Pacific stocks surge on Greek election results

ASX 200 Index is testing resistance at 4120 after Greek voters narrowly favored the New Democracy party in Sunday’s election — meaning that Greece is likely to remain in the euro-zone. Bullish divergence on 21-day Twiggs Money Flow indicates medium term buying pressure — following breach of the descending trendline suggested that the correction was over. Follow-through above 4150 would strengthen the signal, offering a target of the May high at 4450.

ASX 200 Index

Dow Jones South Korea Index respected support at 402. Breakout above 420 would confirm that the down-trend is over. Recovery of 63-day Twiggs Momentum above zero would strengthen the signal.

Dow Jones South Korea Index

Dow Jones Japan Index is testing the descending trendline and short-term resistance at 49. 63-Day Twiggs Momentum still reflects a primary down-trend, but breach of the descending trendline would warn that a bottom is forming.

Dow Jones Japan Index

Dow Jones Hong Kong Index is testing medium-term resistance at 388. Breach of the descending trendline warns that a bottom is forming. Upward breakout would indicate a rally to 440. Recovery of 63-day Twiggs Momentum above zero would strengthen the signal.

Dow Jones Hong Kong Index

Greece’s Election Results: Déjà vu All Over Again? | TIME.com

Joanna Kakissis: The conservative New Democracy (ND) party eked out a victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, edging out the leftist Syriza party, which is strongly opposed to the austerity measures imposed as part of the country’s bailout. The margin was less than three percentage points….New Democracy failed to win an outright parliamentary majority and must join forced with at least one party to govern…. Greek media are speculating that the conservatives might join force with their traditional rival, the Socialist PASOK party, which came in a distant third on Sunday.

via Greece’s Election Results: Déjà vu All Over Again? | World | TIME.com.

Regulators Weigh Easing of Global Bank Rules – WSJ.com

Following months of intense industry pressure, regulators say they now plan to make it easier for banks to comply with a key provision of new international banking rules that will require lenders to maintain sufficiently deep pools of safe, liquid assets—like cash and government bonds—that can survive market meltdowns and other crises…..Among the planned changes, one would allow a wider variety of assets—such as gold and equities—to count toward banks’ liquidity buffers, according to people involved in the talks.

….Some experts warn that loosening the rules could lead banks to rely on assets that later become unsafe. “The widening of the definition [of eligible assets] can spell trouble, because we may discover illiquidity precisely when the liquidity is needed,” said Anat Admati, a professor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

via Regulators Weigh Easing of Global Bank Rules – WSJ.com.

The future of natural gas – an interview with Raymond Learsy – On Line Opinion

Raymond Learsy: Let me show you this. It is from a study that MIT made ….. it goes into a great deal of detail that natural gas will result in demand reduction and displacement of coal-fired power by a gas-fired generation. And because of its more limited CO2 emissions further de-carbonization of the energy sector will be required and natural gas provides a cost effective bridge to such a low carbon future. In other words, natural gas, the way it’s structured, it’s enormous availability (we are finding more and more of it since these articles have been written), and it’s extraordinary low cost, present a very real danger to other forms of hydrocarbons…..At $2.50 an MMBtu, the amount of energy that is delivered by that quotient of natural gas, the price of oil would have to be around fifteen dollars a barrel.

via The future of natural gas – an interview with Raymond Learsy – On Line Opinion – 13/6/2012.

Greek “final exit polls” suggest a New Democracy/Pasok coalition | The Big Picture

Greek “final exit polls” please remember these are Greek “final exit polls” suggest that New Democracy and Syriza and Pasok will have 159 seats in the 300 seat Parliament. The important point is to win, as the party with the most votes gets an additional 50 seats in Parliament. Its still pretty close but it looks from the “final exit polls” that there will be a sigh of relief in equity markets tomorrow.

via Greek “final exit polls” suggest a New Democracy/Pasok coalition | The Big Picture.

Guess Who's Buying All the Bonds? (It's Not the Fed) – CNBC

The demand among average investors has swelled so much, in fact, that they bought more Treasurys in the first quarter than foreigners and the Fed combined.

Households picked up about $170 billion in the low-yielding government debt during the quarter, while foreigners increased their holdings by $110 billion.

via Guess Who’s Buying All the Bonds? (It’s Not the Fed) – US Business News – CNBC.

Comment:~ Jim Bianco points out: “If mom and pop were really the end buyers we would expect to see similarly booming numbers from the mutual fund industry. However….mutual fund purchases are a somewhat insignificant portion of domestic buying. Our guess is the domestic buyer is a leveraged carry trader, a mutual fund, a brokerage subsidiary or other group that does not have its own category so it gets ‘dumped’ into the default category of households.”

[Hat tip to Barry Ritholz]

The Institute For Fiscal Studies – Biggest one-year fall in middle incomes since 1981

“The fall in median income in 2010–11 of 3.1% was the largest
one-year fall since 1981 and returned it to the level last seen in
2004–05,” says Jonathan Cribb, a Research Economist at the IFS. “This was driven largely by a decline in real earnings as the
impact of the late 2000s recession on incomes finally started to become clear. Inequality also fell as those on benefits had their
incomes relatively better protected. Looking ahead, our forecasts
suggest that median incomes will have fallen further in 2011–12
and median incomes will be no higher in 2015–16 than they
were in 2002–03.”

via The Institute For Fiscal Studies – Biggest one-year fall in middle incomes since 1981.

U.K. Aims to Mute Impact of Crisis – WSJ.com

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Bank of England Gov. Mervyn King announced plans to flood banks with cheap funds in a dual attempt to jump-start lending to British households and businesses and to fend off potential financial problems at big U.K. lenders. The programs resemble some of the emergency measures enacted by central banks in Europe and the U.S. during peak crisis periods in recent years.

via U.K. Aims to Mute Impact of Crisis – WSJ.com.