The markets opened flat today, only to collapse lower quickly. Within the first few minutes of trading, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) dropped from its opening price of $291.77 to $275.00. This massive drop seems to have been perpetuated by a rumor that the COO of Apple was leaving to join Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ). The stock has since bounced back, only lower by $2.05 at $289.11. This started a little panic in the tech sector that sent many stocks lower. These same stocks are all now positive.
In addition, 10:00am ET saw some key economic data that was much weaker than Wall Street expected. Consumer Confidence was released, coming in at 48.5 after the market expected 51.5. The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index was also released, coming in poorly. The seasonally adjusted composite index of manufacturing activity dropped to -2 in September from +13 in August. Shipments collapsed fifteen points to -4, new orders lost 10 points to 0, and the jobs index fell fifteen points to -3. Overall, this was a very poor number.
While the market dropped sharply on all this negative data, it has since recovered to go positive. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY) hit a low at $113.18 only to recover and go positive slightly at $114.59 now. This recovery is on the shady side as rumors are flooding the market of Federal Reserve intervention or Plunge Protection Team manipulation. The key leading stocks have taken off, the very stocks manipulators would have to buy up aggressively to prop a market up.
Gareth Soloway
Chief Market Strategist
www.InTheMoneyStocks.com
