Monday

Today was a sluggish day in the markets. The markets were slightly down until near the close of the day. This was caused by some good and some bad things in the economy. Verizon is talking about cutting approximately 8000 more jobs. Also, the SEC is taking steps against broker-dealers to curb short-selling. Lending is still tight at banks because they are still refraining from taking risks. Overall, the total amount of loans shrank by 2.8% in the second quarter. President Obama spoke out about seeking broader ties with China and developing "mutual interests." Fortunately, new home sales are up 11% in June from the previous month. As you can see, it is just a plethora of things going on today in our markets! DJIA +15.27 S&P 500 +2.92 NASDAQ +1.93