Could This Be What The Market Needs?

August 9, 2002
Paul Letourneau

To cut or not to cut
is what the Fed will be
pondering in the next FOMC meeting scheduled for next Tuesday August 13. Many
traders were thinking a Fed cut may be what the market needs, and for the last
four sessions of trade, that sentiment seemed to help the markets.

In today’s
trade, the markets were mixed and traded in non-eventful ranges. The Sept. S&P 500 futures
(
SPU2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) did however manage to squeeze out a positive
gain, its fourth winning session in a row this week. The S&Ps closed at 908 up
2.9. The Nasdaq 100 futures for Sept.
(
NDU2 |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) did not fare as well.
The NDU2 was positive just before the close, but ended to lose some of the gains
of the day and closed lower at 939, an 11-point or 1.16% loss.

Grain and soybean futures dipped slightly lower
Friday in early dealings on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) as investors took
a cautious approach before the weekend. The approach of two key government
reports on Monday — on crop production and supply and demand — weighed on the
market. Then a rally kicked in and the grains rebounded to end positive.
Soybeans retreated in quiet trading.

Drought is spreading so quickly over the Midwest farm belt that grain analysts
expect the Agriculture Department on Monday to slash its month-old estimate of
the corn crop by about 8%, or as much as 800 million bushels, and to forecast
very tight soybean supplies. Some investors were staying on the sidelines
because of a mixed weather picture in the Midwest for the next few days.

Could This Be What The Market Needs?

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

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