Another Euro crisis week looms ahead as investors await ECB’s three-year cash operation to play out.

Another Euro crisis week looms ahead as investors await ECB’s three-year cash operation to play out.

Obama corporate tax reduction is a step in the right direction but not enough to spur an avalanche of tax receipts. The drop is from 35% to 28%. He should let Republicans talk him down to 20% and say that when re-elected with a Democrat congress he will raise it back to 28%. That would trigger the avalanche of corporate tax receipts to take profits at 20%. Then it would reduce the deficit and he would finally look like he has gotten some sense and he would get re-elected. That is what Americans want, Presidents with some sense.

Toll Brothers reports first-quarter loss as homebuilder’s revenue declines. Pulte followed and reported loses. Housing sales declined just when seasonal effects would increase jobs.

Rising oil prices are stalling the American economy the Fed warns. That is due to Obama shutting down American production and refusing to allow Canadian oil to flow into America.

US Home ownership went from 64% before liar loans down to 62% home ownership with the “Obama Liar Loan World Depression”.


World markets
Spain’s economy will fall 1% into a recession in 2012 and additional austerity measures may even worsen that slump, the European Commission said. The 17-nation euro economy will contract 0.3 percent, the commission said, abandoning a November forecast of 0.5 percent growth. The downgrade was mainly due to projected contractions of 1.3 percent in Italy and the slide in Spain.

Emerging-market stocks headed for the biggest decline in a week as reports of slowing economic growth and as technology stocks dropped on forecast profit declines.

Pretending Greece will not default will not work, says Fitch. Fitch downgraded the Greek credit rating to C and warned that reducing the country's public debt via an exchange with private creditor’s haircuts, a key part of the EU bailout package, would still 'constitute a default.' Forcing bankrupted creditors to smile does not constitute a viable economic system. It is a “Big Communist Lie”. Real economies do not have to lie.

A Purchasing Managers Index report showed services and manufacturing expansion in the euro area unexpectedly contracted in February. The EU economy contracted 0.3% the previous month.

Sweden’s central bank cut interest rates for a second- straight meeting on Feb. 16 after exports, accounting for about half of the nation’s output, fell 6 percent in December. Norway’s foreign trade slid 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter. The Swedish krona is about 25 percent too expensive, and the Norwegian krone more than 40 percent based on an Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development measure of the relative costs of goods and services.

Oil rose to the highest level in more than nine months after euro-area finance ministers agreed on a second bailout for Greece, reducing concern that the debt crisis may slow the economy and oil consumption.

“The danger of Greece falling into economic depression and having to default and exit the common currency zone remains substantial,” said Christian Schulz, an economist at Berenberg Bank in London.

Asian markets (especially China) have still failed to break out some on the third and fourth times at resistance levels. China’s stocks could fall 50% from here if Obama’s announced world wide “Great Depression” spreads there too.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=000001.SS&t=2y&l=on&z=l&q=l&p=e200%2Ce100&a=&c=

Germany broke through the resistance levels: Choose 2 or 5 years
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=%5EGDAXI+Interactive#chart2:symbol=^gdaxi;range=2y;indicator=ema(200,100)+volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on

The Swiss may be hitting a limit now with a head and shoulder sell signal. Choose 2 or 5 years http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=%5ESSMI+Interactive#chart1:symbol=^ssmi;range=2y;indicator=ema(200,100)+volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined

Emerging markets show strength. Brazil broke through
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=^BVSP+Interactive#chart1:symbol=^bvsp;range=2y;indicator=ema(100,200)+volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined


American Economy

DELL earnings slid and net income that fell 18% to $764 million, compared with last year’s earnings of $927 million. HP followed with equally bad news.

Home Depot reported profits up 20% but primarily because it was so extremely low last year. Home Depot and Lowes stores are pretty empty of customers these past months after the sales generated by the bad weather last fall.
MBA Mortgage Index 02/18 -4.5% down sharply from -1.0%
Existing Home Sales Jan 4.57M down from 4.61M Housing slumps again due to Obama supporters wanting to stay in their “Liar Houses” free of charge.

Yesterday
3392K 3426K 3515K 3437K 3554K
Initial Claims 02/18 351K same as last wk 351K
Feb 23 8:30 AM Continuing Claims 02/11 3392K down from 3426K slower decline
Feb 23 10:00 AM FHFA Housing Price Index Dec 0.7% down from 1.0% Not good for housing
Feb 23 11:00 AM Crude Inventories 02/18 1.633M up from -0.171M Inventories increasing gain

This Week
Feb 24 9:55 AM Michigan Sentiment - Final Feb
Feb 24 10:00 AM New Home Sales Jan

Market outlook February 24, 2012
The Dow is the investment of crisis. It is the only one near 2008 highs. Investors incorrectly assume it is “safe”. The net gains have been small and inconsistent and only 0.6%, higher than it was when February began. It seems to be creeping like on the edge of a cliff.

Head and shoulders sell signals are forming in S&P and NYSE. DOW rails do not confirm the DOW industrial’s rise. Market nears a precipice of negative economic data.

Stock market volume is decreasing at a rate of 10% per year under Obama policy concerns. Americans are gradually going broke under Obama. Can America afford another 9 months of Obama?

Market at 2008 level and still looks ready to plunge. Stock volume is incredibly thin making it easy to manipulate the market… until the funds pull the plug again.

The VIX shows complacency. A sharp computer sell-off could end the current rally any moment now and trigger huge stop-losses.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=%5EVIX&t=2y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=

Bulk shipments are flat lining again and bulk shippers continue to face high losses in the months ahead.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=BDIY:IND

Stock market update:
Asian Stock markets were mixed last night. China up 1.2%, Hong Kong up 0.1%, India down –0.9%, and Japan up 0.5%.

European markets are mixed today in a range - 0.5 % to +1.4% with Greece an outlier half way through their day.

American market futures are up about 0.15% in after hour trading at 9 AM EST.