SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - End of Quarter And First Half 0f 2012

Quite a rally today based on the TARP like nature of the new bank bailout in Europe wherein the money is given directly to the banks and not their national sovereigns. Additionally there are signs that Europe may move to a Federal Reserve type structure.

Or it could just have been an excuse to run the market higher to make the end of quarter numbers look good.

US Consumer Spending and Confidence Fall to Lows of the Year

See you next week.

The US Supreme Court Upholds the Affordable Healthcare Act

Net Asset Value Premiums of Certain Precious Metal Trusts and Funds

European Leaders Agree to $120 Billion Pact To Promote Growth and Paint Tape To Quarter End

Do you think some word of this leaked out to the markets? Aren't some of those fellows Goldman alums? lol

The financiers and politicians do like to make a 'splash' especially when they have nothing real to say. And it does provide a nice excuse for the end of quarter stock market charade.

To put the amount in context, the Spanish banks alone need that entire amount to remain solvent.

So far it looks like nothing of great significance and the stock futures are lackluster in their reception. It is more of a 'stimulus plan' and a collection of things already on the table.

Kicking the can...

The equity futures are not impressed.

Dow Jones newswire

European Union leaders meeting Thursday were set to commit to a growth pact worth 120 billion euros ($149.8 billion), including a boost in the capital of the European Investment Bank of EUR10 billion, as well as finalizing a plan to strengthen the euro zone by year-end, according to a draft of their conclusions.

"It is crucial to boost the financing of the economy. EUR120 billion (equivalent to around 1% of EU [general Net Income]) are being mobilised for fast-acting growth measures," the draft said.

The agreement of a growth pact would represent a political victory for French President Francois Hollande who pushed the issue during his election campaign. He argued the growth pact was needed to offset a fiscal compact agreed in January which ratcheted up further austerity policies in Europe.

Still, despite the big headline numbers, the pact seems to provide little new real money and relies on ideas that have been circulating for some time about how to better deploy the EIB and EU budget funds. Many EU officials have said they don't expect the policies to produce a significant change in the economic outlook.

The draft also said that European Council President Herman Van Rompuy would be asked to report back in October and finalize by year-end his report, released Tuesday, on ideas for deepening integration within the euro zone.

Mr. Van Rompuy prepared the report with European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Luxembourg prime minister and head of the euro-zone finance ministers Jean Claude Juncker.

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Sitting on the Metals and Painting the Tape Into the Close

Stocks were weak after the morning GDP report which was flat but a nice increase in the chain deflator from 1.7% to 2.0%.

They took a dive as the US Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Healthcare Act, contrary to expectations. Robert Reich called this one and I think his reasoning is substantially correct. There were a few more political angles in that one that he allowed, but it was good enough to trade.

The stocks rallied in late afternoon, driven by algo buying centered in the SP futures. It looked like a tape painting exercise for the end of the second quarter as I had cautioned. They have struck a level and will seek to hold it into Friday's close.

The wiseguys sat on the metals to lessen the damage to their results from their naked short positions while they drove up prices on stocks in their portfolios. 

Gee Jesse do you really think they would do that? says the man wearing the 'kick me' sign on his back.

Are you kidding me?  After the revelations we have had the past ten years, including the long term and cavalier fixing of LIBOR, one of the cornerstones of the western financial system?   How many shots do you wish to give these jokers at destroying the real economy?

Most traders' empathy, outlook, and interests end around their belly buttons. and their attention spans and planning horizons are shorter than that.  Sociopaths are considered insufficiently ruthless for the more sophisticated firms, who ripen them over time into utterly self absorbed narcissim, if not borderline psychosis.

This is why I always laugh when 'serious people' in the media and the Congress turn to traders and speculators for public policy advice when it comes to financial regulation.  Why not ask a grifter or a loan shark what they think? 

Tomorrow's trade will probably be choppy and with a light volume, as the adults leave early for a long weekend at the beaches. There is late breaking news that the European leaders have agreed to some bailout package of 120 Billion euros, but details are scarce.

See you Sunday evening. Go Italy!