While the prior weekend brought a lot of posturing from Washington DC on the debt ceiling debate and fear mongering that the market could plummet globally Monday morning traders took all the news in stride.  The worries certainly did not go ignored as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost a half a percent of its value to close at $1337.43.  While some technology shares showed strength Monday and Apple shares hit $400 during the trading day, it was not enough to offset shares like HCA Holdings that reported a 22% decline in profits which led the shares down 19.19% Monday.  Another Moody’s Investor Service downgrade of debt in Greece to further junk status hit other European banks namely the Italian banks. Intesa Sanpaulo lost 8.3% of its value and Unicredit fell 7.1%.  

Tuesday brought continued concerns over a plan to raise the debt ceiling in the US as the President and Speaker of the House had dueling TV …

While the global markets stumbled out of the gate on Monday they quickly picked up momentum on the backs of strong earnings reports led by the technology sector.  The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index fell 10.70 points and the NASDAQ lost 24.69 points on Monday on concerns surrounding the European bank stress tests before a strong snap back on Tuesday with markets cheering earnings and a possible debt deal in Washington.  Gold was the big winner with a record close of 1602.10 for July delivery adding $12.30.  After losing 95 points Monday the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 202.26 points Tuesday with the help of a strong technology rally for the largest one day gain in 2011.  International Business Machines reported stronger than expected earnings on Monday after the market closed to boost the stock $9.93 on Tuesday or 5.7% to $185.21. Coca Cola and Harley Davidson also had strong earnings reports …

The week started with a sharp downward move for the markets as European debt issues continued to weigh on markets globally coupled with domestic US squabbling about US debt issues.  Italy was the culprit Monday to start the week with fears surrounding the debt in Europe’s third largest economy.  European shares also opened the week concerned with the results of the stress test on the European banks due out later in the week. The euro fell sharply Monday with the Italian news and US markets sold off with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 151.44 points or 1.2% to close Monday at 12505.76.  Nervous sentiment was also carried over from Fridays US jobs report which was much lower than expected.  A flight to safety ensued with gold and US Treasuries gaining strong ground.  As a result, the yield on the ten-year Treasury fell below 3% and the July gold contract closed at …

After a week of market “fireworks” going into the fourth of July holiday, the markets reversed course.  Primary drivers of the nervousness were more contagion in Europe with the Moody’s downgrade of Portugal’s debt rating to junk status, global economic slowdown and US employment figures. 

Markets started the week Tuesday without direction and ended down slightly after trading in a narrow range throughout the day.  The best performing sectors Tuesday included technology, consumer discretionary and energy with crude oil adding $2 to end at $97 a barrel.  Precious metals opened the week on a strong note with gold gaining over $15 on ounce to $1515 and silver adding 4% to a little over $35.50.  Financials were the worst performers Tuesday.  By Wednesday stocks again moved lower in the morning but were able to turn in the afternoon with a gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 56.52 points.  There was …