March 10, 2011, 8:30 a.m. EST U.S. applications for jobless benefits jump 26,000 WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - New applications for state jobless benefits jumped by 26,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 397,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected first-time claims to rise to a seasonally adjusted 378,000 from last week's upwardly revised level of 371,000. Over the past four weeks claims have averaged 392,500, putting them near a three-year low. The four-week average is considered more accurate barometer of employment trends because it lessens week-to-week volatility in the data. Meanwhile, the number of workers who continue to receive state compensation decreased by 20,000 to a seasonally adjusted 3.77 million in the week of Feb. 26. Some 4.3 million people received extended federal benefits in the week ended Feb. 19, down more than 200,000 from the week before. Altogether, 8.77 million people received some kind of state or federal benefit in the week of Feb. 19, down 463,351 from the prior week
March 10, 2011, 8:30 a.m. EST U.S. trade gap widens sharply in Jan. WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. trade deficit widened by 15.1% in January to $46.3 billion, the Commerce Department said Thursday. The deficit is the largest since June 2010 and came despite a record level of exports. The trade deficit was well above the consensus forecast of Wall Street economists of a deficit of $41.5 billion. Imports rose 5.2% in January, the biggest gain since March 1993, easily outpacing a 2.7% gain in exports. The U.S. trade deficit with China widened to $23.2 billion in compared with $18.3 billion in the same month last year. The trade deficit had added an impressive 3.4 percentage points to growth in the fourth quarter. But the wider deficit in January suggests trade will be a drag on first quarter growth
I like the idea of not overtrading. But again, it's not just a matter of holding things longer. You need to be on the right side of a longer trade to begin with. If you hold a losing position longer that obviously doesn't work. Or if you're just guessing market direction, and hoping it goes your way, that's not so good either.
Missed that bounce out of a retouch of the low. Really flew out of there didn't it? Having internet issues again. Booooo. ADD Guess my internet's okay now. Now that I missed that bounce. Oh, well. Onward and upward.
Crude Oil Trades Near One-Week Low in New York on European Debt Concern http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...y-in-new-york-to-trade-near-104-a-barrel.html Oil traded near its lowest in a week as concern that Europeâs debt problems may crimp fuel demand countered worries over attacks on Libyan crude-refining and exporting facilities. U.S. futures dropped as much as 2 percent after Moodyâs Investors Service cut Spainâs credit rating to Aa2, saying the cost of shoring up the Spanish banking industry will eclipse government estimates. Prices rose 0.7 percent earlier in the day, after fighting in Libya shut the nationâs biggest oil refinery. OPEC members are discussing the market situation, and Saudi Arabia, the groupâs biggest producer, has boosted output, Kuwaitâs oil minister said today. âOil hasnât risen more because of the downgrading of Spain and the decline of the euro today against the dollar,â said Gerrit Zambo, a trader at Bayerische Landesbank in Munich. âOil is still moving in relation to the dollar,â he said. A stronger dollar decreases the appeal of oil and other commodities as alternative investments. U.S. crude for April delivery traded at $102.80 a barrel, down $1.58, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:48 p.m. London time. Yesterday, the contract dropped 64 cents to $104.38, the lowest since March 3. It traded as low as $101.54 on March 4.
Oil futures slump on strong dollar http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/10/us-markets-oil-idUSTRE71192R20110310?pageNumber=1 (Reuters) - Crude oil futures slumped on Thursday as the dollar index strengthened on fresh euro zone credit woes, while the focus remained on Libya, where the escalating violence triggered fears that the country's oil infrastructure could suffer long-lasting damage. Both Brent and U.S. light crude benchmarks fell by more than $2 earlier in the session. By 1340 GMT, Brent futures for April pared back some losses, down $1.40 to $114.54 a barrel. U.S. crude futures recouped some of the losses by the same time, down $1.47 to $102.91. "Concerns about the eurozone debt crisis have come back to the surface after the downgrade of Spain," Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said. "But I wouldn't expect it to continue, it could be a short- term blip, as the general direction is upwards because of the continued supply risk in Libya and tomorrow's day of rage in Saudi Arabia." A fall in the euro on the back of Moody's downgrade of Spain's sovereign debt pushed the dollar index .DXY higher. A stronger greenback typically renders dollar-denominated commodities such as oil and gold more expensive. The focus remained on Libya, where tanks fired on rebel positions around the oil port of Ras Lanuf and warplanes hit another oil hub further east on Thursday as Muammar Gaddafi carried counter-attacks deeper into the insurgent heartland. "What we are looking at is possible damages to the oil installations. Up to now we still had the residually optimistic scenario, but if oil installations are being damaged, there is a completely different situation. We may have to restructure everything in the medium term to adapt to a substitute to Libyan oil," Christophe Barret from CA CIB said. "It means Libya could remain out of the picture for a long time." An official from the East Libya oil company AGOCO told Reuters the company was making arrangements to market oil directly to foreign buyers, instead of through its state-owned parent. The oil port of Brega ran out of crude oil stocks, forcing crude tankers to cancel shipments or travel to Saudi Arabia, a source told Reuters. Libya turned away an oil tanker hired by Chinese oil trading firm Unipec to lift 2.0 million barrels of Es Sider crude, a trading source said Thursday. "The large explosions and enormous columns of smoke from storage tanks and other facilities in Ras Lanuf, close to the Es Sider terminal, are perhaps more than merely symbolic," Barclays Capital oil analysts headed by Paul Horsnell said. "They represent a final fading of any residual realistic hope that the outage of Libyan oil could prove to be anything other than prolonged." PRESSURE MOUNTS ON LIBYA International pressure continues to mount after Russia said it would ban all weapons sales to Libya, while Germany ordered a freeze on bank accounts held by the Libyan central bank and the Libyan Investment Authority.
a day late and $ 3000 dollars short... uco just hit my break even price! but I am out as of the high of the day yesterday!!!!! I am not happy but being upset will only hinder moving forward. I am still glad i got out since it was entirerly possible that oil could have spiked 10- 15 bucks.