YTD - 0% .. :)

The selling pressure that started early in the session continued through out the day,ending the session with dow down 245 points. This weakness came as investors sold off their gains in response to the weak economic data.

Morning started with weak ADP employment data (private sector). the data showed that non-farm private employment fell by 693,000 jobs following a revised decrease of 476,000 jobs in November. Economists had been expecting the report to show a somewhat more modest decrease of about 450,000 jobs.

On corporate front, INTC announced a downward revision to their revenue guidance. It now expects fourth-quarter revenue to be about $8.2 billion, down 20 percent sequentially. Earlier, the company expected fourth quarter revenue to be $9 billion, plus or minus $300 million. The fact that INTC revised their guidance twice in two months weighed heavily on tech stocks and the stock market in general.

EIA inventory data contributed to the weakness in oil and gas sector. Crude oil lost about $5.95 and ended at 42.63 after the report showed that crude oil inventories increased by 6.7 million barrels last week. The increase was much larger than the expected build of around 1 million barrels.

Bad news came from the metals sector as well. AA said Tuesday evening that it is cutting 13,500 jobs, or about 13 percent of its global workforce, in an attempt to curtail costs in the face of the global economic downturn.

Tomorrow jobless claims data and Consumer Credit data should be out. Friday is the actual test for market as the much anticipated Employment Situation data is out. Well, in light of ADP employment data, these reports are not going to be any different but worse. So hang on for yet another wild ride.

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Oppenheimer’s Meredith Whitney has a note out today. "We now believe that, at a minimum, capital ratios will be meaningfully lower in the fourth quarter versus post TARP pro forma levels. Aside from the greater than $40 billion in writedowns and provisions we expect for the group of bank stocks under our coverage, and earnings pressure related to chronic negative operating leverage, we also expect capital strains to become apparent from ratings change pressures. Accordingly, we maintain our cautious stance on our group." The effect of those Q4 downgrades, estimates Whitney, will be to more or less drain all TARP money pumped into the system so far. Well, its a speculation to buy into financials in near future.

Here’s some bad news for all those governments around the world looking to raise large amounts of cash to pay for their stimulus programmes. Today, the first Eurozone bond auction (German bond) of the year has failed to attract enough bids to reach the money the govt wanted to raise. Well, even the most developded economies' governements are not spared from the credit crunch. This bodes as a even worse news for countries that are planning to raise large amounts of debt to pay for their stimulus packages. I guess, treasuries would continue to be the safest haven to park the money, and the dollar would remain strong. Well, though this is completely in contrary to my ydays trade recommendation, I am still confortable long in TBT and PST. But, gold would face selling pressure in short term, may be for the next 2-3 weeks.

ISRG preannounced and well, the ernings were not good. This long time overvalued stock had to come down, and it fell back to the 2007 beginging levels. Tomorrow this would put pressure on the health care technology firms. (JnJ, Medtronic MDT comes to my mind)..

Lenovo Group, China's largest and the world's fourth largest personal computer manufacturer, will cut 2,500 positions equivalent to 11 percent of its total workforce.
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Song: Apocalyptica - I don't care.
Mood: Wildly confused..