Morning Market Report

Stocks are relatively quiet this morning. All three indices are down just slightly but we're still early in the morning. The ten year U.S. Treasury bond finally made its move yesterday. It lost nearly ten basis and it's now trading at 3.73%. For months, the ten year created a range that bounced between 3.3-.36%. Then, in December, it broke through the floor and then recently it broke through the ceiling. Where it will trade going forward is anyone's guess. The yield spread between the two and ten year continues to challenge all time records at 2.81%. The signs of intermediate term inflation, at least as measured by this spread, are still screaming. The three month t bill has settled, for now, at .041% yield.

Crude oil has dropped below $80 a barrel at least for now. It's at $79.47 a barrel and has lost $1.32 a barrel this morning. Gold, meanwhile, is up slightly to $1132. It's lost about $20 an ounce from highs late last week, however.

It's a mostly sour day both in Europe and in the Far East. The Hang Seng in China was down big 2.59%, the NIKKEI in Japan was down 1.32%, and the Straits Time Index in Singapore was down .95%. In Europe, the FTSE in London is down .75%, the DAX in Germany is up .01%, and the Spanish Index is down .34%.

Meanwhile, the Dollar is mixed this morning. It's off by .15% against the Euro, by .62% against th British Pound, but it's better by .27% against the Japanese Yen.