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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Smiling Bob who wrote (266224)	8/4/2010 7:42:43 AM
From: Giordano Bruno	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

You don't want to know how CNBC spun this great news. money.cnn.com

To: Smiling Bob who wrote (266224)	8/4/2010 8:29:17 AM
From: DebtBomb	Respond to of 306849

Europe stocks sag on doubts over economic strength By Blaise Robinson PARIS, Aug 4 (Reuters) - European stocks fell on Wednesday as disappointing U.S. and European macroeconomic data dented investor appetite for risk and spurred selling in the banking and mining sectors following a strong rally. French utility EDF (EDF.PA) bucked the trend, surging 4.6 percent on news the French government plans to increase electricity tariffs by more than the market had anticipated. At 1140 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top European shares was down 0.6 percent at 1,064.58 points. The benchmark index is still up around 10 percent since reaching a low point in early July. The Euro STOXX 50 .STOXX50E, the euro zone's blue-chip index, was down 0.4 percent at 2,807.10, but managed to stay above its 200-day moving average and the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement of the index's fall from an April high to a May low, a positive signal. The index pierced the two key resistance levels on Monday. "Right now the market is more driven by fluctuations in risk appetite than by corporate profits. We're in a sort of Japanese-style scenario: stocks are trading in a range, bouncing up and down along with risk appetite," Frederic Buzare, global head of equity management at Dexia Asset Management. The VDAX-NEW volatility index .V1XI, Europe's main barometer of investor anxiety, was up 1.7 percent on Wednesday, but stayed well within a recent range. The higher the volatility index, based on sell-and buy-options on Frankfurt's top-30 stocks <0#.GDAXI>, the lower is investors' appetite for risky assets such as equities. Banking stocks, which had jumped last month following reassuring stress test results, news of scaled-back plans for the sector's reform as well as following strong earnings figures from UBS (UBSN.VX), retreated on Wednesday. Credit Agricole was down 2.2 percent, Banco Santander (SAN.MC) down 1.5 percent and Banco Popolare (BAPO.MI) down 1.9 percent. "The sector had been in 'overbought' territory for a few days, it was ripe for some profit-taking. It just went too fast," a Paris-based trader said. UniCredit (CRDI.MI) dropped 2.6 percent after posting a 70 percent drop in second-quarter net profit, while Standard Chartered (STAN.L) dropped 5.6 percent despite forecast-beating earnings, as analysts said the beat was mainly due to lower bad debts and further upside was limited due to its premium rating already. Among the few banking stocks rising, Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) gained 0.9 percent and Lloyds (LLOY.L) surged 2.9 percent after posting forecast-beating quarterly results. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Graphic showing European banks earnings: here ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> Cyclical mining stocks fell, surrendering a small portion of their recent strong gains. Anglo American (AAL.L) was down 1.7 percent, BHP Billiton (BLT.L) down 1.3 percent and Xstrata (XTA.L) down 1.2 percent. Losses in Europe followed a retreat in Asian and U.S. stocks triggered by weaker-than-estimated U.S. data on consumer spending and housing that revived concerns over the health of the world's biggest economy. In Europe, data showed on Wednesday euro zone retail trade was flat in June after a rebound in May, signalling soft consumer spending. "There has been a widening divergence between equities and bonds in terms of what is priced in. Stocks have been doing pretty well over the past few weeks while the message sent by the bond market is more gloomy," Dexia AM's Buzare said. "This divergence can't go on eternally. Who's wrong and who's right? The answer could come in the early fall with further macro data, but I tend to think that this time the correction will be on the bond side. At the end of the day, deflation will be avoided." Around Europe, UK's FTSE 100 index .FTSE was down 1 percent, Germany's DAX index .GDAXI down 0.1 percent, and France's CAC 40 .FCHI down 0.4 percent. (Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Louise Heavens) reuters.com