A lousy start to the day, the result of plummeting consumer confidence, was rescued by reported apparent interest at the Federal Reserve to stimulate the economy. The Dow closed up fractionally, as the market was enthused by some FOMC board member interest in new economic stimulus. Gold was up $49 or 2.8% through late afternoon trade, to $1838, as nascent economic hope seems sure to deteriorate toward reality. WTE Crude oil futures were up 1.6%, to $88.70. The Dollar Index was up fractionally to $73.98. Find our full business review below.
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Tuesday’s major news driver was an abysmal bit of data from the Conference Board. Consumer Confidence dropped into oblivion, as it marked lows not seen since the darkest days of the financial crisis. The Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 44.5 in August, down from 59.2 in July. Economists were looking for a reading of 52.5 this month. It was deflating, since it followed Monday’s strong consumer spending data, where Personal Outlays were measured higher by 0.8% in July.
The latest same-store sales data produced by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) showed sales rose 0.1% in the week ending August 27. The prior week’s report showed sales fell by 1.0% week-to-week. Sales improved by 3.0% year-to-year through each of the last two weeks, but on a real basis, taking inflation into account, we’re looking at a pathetic state of consumer activity nonetheless. Redbook reported the year-to-year sales pace at 4.0% this week, better than the 3.6% seen last week. We are entering the height of back-to-school shopping season, so this latest consumer data is especially disheartening, however, actual spending does not always reflect the consumer mood.
The S&P Case Shiller Home Price Index showed another month of home price strengthening. Measuring the month of June this time, S&P Case Shiller reports its 10-City Index rose 1.1% on an unadjusted basis. Seasonally adjusted, prices were flat month-to-month. On a year-to-year basis, home prices fell 3.9% in June. However, because this data is so old, it fails to reflect the reality we’re seeing in other data points, where prices are marking gains against year-to-year comparable periods.
It was just a week ago that the FHFA offered another month of home price rise on a month-to-month basis (+0.9%). As the bar has lowered, home prices have found stable ground, but with the economy on the skids, uncertainty holds for housing.
State Street (NYSE: STT) reported a sharp drop-off in investor confidence in August. The bank’s metric, its Investor Confidence Index, fell 12.9 points to a mark of 89.6, the result of our nation’s fiscal fumbling and the negligent downgrade of our sovereign credit by Standard & Poor’s. As a result, the North American index dropped 13.9 points, as the European measure fell 4.6 and Asia slipped fractionally.
The Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) issued the minutes of its August 9 meeting.
The EPS schedule highlighted reports from 1-800-Flowers.com (Nasdaq: FLWS), Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), China Finance Online (Nasdaq: JRJC), Concurrent Computer (Nasdaq: CCUR), Daegis (Nasdaq: DAEG), Dollar General (NYSE: DG), DryShips (Nasdaq: DRYS), DSW (NYSE: DSW), Edap TMS (Nasdaq: EDAP), Gordman’s Stores (Nasdaq: GMAN), Jeffersonville Bancorp (Nasdaq: JFBC), Lantronix (Nasdaq: LTRX), Noah Education (NYSE: NED), Overland Storage (Nasdaq: OVRL), Pittsburgh and West Virginia Rail (AMEX: PW), PVH Corp. (NYSE: PVH), Rada Electronic Industries (Nasdaq: RADA), First Marblehead (NYSE: FMD), Unilife (Nasdaq: UNIS), Vera Bradley (Nasdaq: VRA) and more.
The Day’s Most Active Stocks Included:
| WINNERS | LOSERS |
| CoreLogic (Nasdaq: CLGX) | NuPathe (Nasdaq: PATH) |
| Seanergy Maritime (Nasdaq: SHIP) | Atlantic Coast Federal (Nasdaq: ACFC) |
| Sinovac Biotech (Nasdaq: SVA) | National Bank of Greece (NYSE: NBG) |
| Primo Water (Nasdaq: PRMW) | B+H Ocean Carriers (AMEX: BHO) |
| BTU Int’l (Nasdaq: BTUI) | NTS Realty (AMEX: NLP) |
| Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW) | CNinsure (Nasdaq: CISG) |
| Corinthian Colleges (Nasdaq: COCO) | Central European Distribution (Nasdaq: CEDC) |
| New Energy Systems (Nasdaq: NEWN) | Carolina Trust (Nasdaq: CART) |
| Novavax (Nasdaq: NVAX) | Granite City Food & Brew (Nasdaq: GCFB) |
| Richmont Mines (AMEX: RIC) | Peoples Education Holdings (Nasdaq: PEDH) |
| Imperial Sugar (Nasdaq: IPSU) | DAQQ New Energy (NYSE: DQ) |
| FelCor Lodging (NYSE: FCH) | China Auto Logistics (Nasdaq: CALI) |
| Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) | Gulf Resources (Nasdaq: GURE) |
| Frontline (NYSE: FRO) | Lizhan Environmental (Nasdaq: LZEN) |
| The KEYW Holding (Nasdaq: KEYW) | Donegal Group (Nasdaq: DGICB) |
| Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH) | Media General (NYSE: MEG) |
| SatCon Technology (Nasdaq: SATC) | MoSys (Nasdaq: MOSY) |
| Excel Maritime (NYSE: EXM) | Retractable Technologies (AMEX: RVP) |
| BioLineRx (Nasdaq: BLRX) | T3 Motion (Nasdaq: TTTM) |
| Global Geophysical (NYSE: GGS) | Sterling Financial (Nasdaq: STSA) |
| GMX Resources (Nasdaq: GMXR) | Trunkbow Int’l (Nasdaq: TBOW) |
| Sequans Communications (Nasdaq: SQNS) | VASCO Data Security (Nasdaq: VDSI) |
| Delcath Systems (Nasdaq: DCTH) | EMCORE (Nasdaq: EMKR) |
| SMF Energy (Nasdaq: FUEL) | Vision Sciences (Nasdaq: VSCI) |
| Celsion (Nasdaq: CLSN) | Stratus Properties (Nasdaq: STRS) |
| QuinStreet (Nasdaq: QNST) | Life Partners (Nasdaq: LPHI) |
| Dehaier Medical (Nasdaq: DHRM) | Penson Worldwide (Nasdaq: PNSN) |
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