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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (21016)	6/25/2003 2:54:44 PM
From: Sully-	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

WASHINGTON, June 25 (Reuters) - Following is the full text of the Federal Open Market Committee's interest rate policy statement issued on Wednesday at the close of its June 24-25 meeting: "The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower its target for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 1 percent. In a related action, the Board of Governors approved a 25 basis point reduction in the discount rate to 2 percent. The Committee continues to believe that an accommodative stance of monetary policy, coupled with still robust underlying growth in productivity, is providing important ongoing support to economic activity. Recent signs point to a firming in spending, markedly improved financial conditions, and labor and product markets that are stabilizing. The economy, nonetheless, has yet to exhibit sustainable growth. With inflationary expectations subdued, the Committee judged that a slightly more expansive monetary policy would add further support for an economy which it expects to improve over time. The Committee perceives that the upside and downside risks to the attainment of sustainable growth for the next few quarters are roughly equal. In contrast, the probability, though minor, of an unwelcome substantial fall in inflation exceeds that of a pickup in inflation from its already low level. On balance, the Committee believes that the latter concern is likely to predominate for the foreseeable future. Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were Alan Greenspan, Chairman; Ben S. Bernanke; Susan S. Bies; J. Alfred Broaddus, Jr.; Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.; Edward M. Gramlich; Jack Guynn; Donald L. Kohn; Michael H. Moskow; Mark W. Olson; and Jamie B. Stewart, Jr. Voting against the action was Robert T. Parry. President Parry preferred a 50 basis point reduction in the target for the federal funds rate. In taking the discount rate action, the Federal Reserve Board approved the requests submitted by the Boards of Directors of the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston, New York, St. Louis, Kansas City, and San Francisco." Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (21016)	6/25/2003 4:06:48 PM
From: Softechie	Respond to of 89467

What Da Idiot will do to improve economy? More tax cuts?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (21016)	6/25/2003 4:16:29 PM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Stat Man...here's something for your pipe a George Cole post...(from Z's Thread) Record number of buying climaxes By Mark Hulbert, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 12:01 AM ET Jun 25, 2003 ANNANDALE, Va. (CBS.MW) -- What are buying climaxes? I'll give you a clue: They're not good, and there were a record number of them last week. A buying climax, according to Michael Burke, editor of Investors Intelligence, occurs when a stock makes a new 52-week high and then closes down for the week. "Buying climaxes are often the first sign that a hot stock is running out of steam and therefore provide not only a useful warning signal for a coming change in trend but very often signal the top itself. Buying Climaxes are a sign of distribution." That's what makes the stock market so precarious at current levels, in Burke's opinion. According to his calculations, in the week ending Friday, June 20, there were 325 buying climaxes, which is "well above anything previously seen." The previous record came in May 2002, when 223 buying climaxes were recorded in a single week. That came just prior to the Dow Industrials ($INDU) plummeting from above 10,000 to its July low below 7,500. Prior to May 2002, the previous record was 150 buying climaxes. That number was recorded in late May 2001, which turned out to be very close to the stock market's high for that year. Though Burke does not base his market-timing judgment on just one indicator, even one with as good a record as this one, the others on which he relies are also flashing strong sell signals. For example, Burke also places great weight on what corporate insiders are doing. And right now, they are "heavy to the sell side." According to Vickers Weekly Insider Report, in fact, during the latest week for which data are available, corporate insiders sold 6.45 shares of their firms' stock for every 1 that they bought. That's more than double the historical norm of around 2.5 sales for every purchase. Burke also places a lot of weight on his index of bearish sentiment among investment newsletter editors. Right now, he is showing the fewest number of bears in 16 years, which -- from his contrarian point of view -- is a bad sign. (The Hulbert Financial Digest's index of newsletter sentiment, though calculated differently than Burke's, nevertheless paints a very similar picture. See my June 20 column.) As a result of these and other indicators, Burke thinks risk is abnormally high, He has been selling the stocks and funds he previously owned, building up cash, and even initiating a number of short sales.