THIS WEEK’S ISSUE:
• In-Play: The Battle for Wachovia (WB)
• Market Commentary: S&P 500 ($SPX), NASDAQ ($COMP)
• Update: Russell 2000 Small-cap Index ($RUT)
• Update: NYSE/NASDAQ/AMEX New-Highs/New-Lows Index, CBOE Volatility Index (VIX)
• Currencies: U.S. Dollar Index ($USD), Euro Index ($XEU)
• Commodities: Crude Oil ($WTIC), Gold ($GOLD)

Each week we scan over 7200 stocks and summarize their technical characteristics. This post reviews the past week's status against the current market and economic backdrop. Put briefly: things aren't looking too good. See which S&P 500 sectors are still showing strength and which have given up the ghost. Where do we go from here?

Few factors are more critical in determining the potential success of a company than the quality of a firm's management. During economic and financial times like these, a quality management team can make the difference between success and failure. Certainly a company's dividend practice provides insight into management's anticipated view of future business prospects.

The passage of the bailout package would likely not spark a surge in stock prices. In fact, it is less the equity markets that are causing the symptoms rippling through the economy and more the credit markets.

The dollar amount of dividend cuts in the third quarter of 2008 total $22.5 billion. These cuts come from 138 of the approximately 7,000 companies that report dividend information to S&P. Two-thirds of the cuts came from the financial sector.

I was asked to analyze the SPY. The ETF made a new low today and it won't be the last one, that's for sure. You really have to look at 5 and 10-year charts to see where the SPY really is and how much further down the ETF possibly has to go. THe sPY has some support at this current 110 level, butI doubt it will hold for long.

There are times to act on investing opportunities, and there are times to sit back and reflect while minimizing market exposure. If you've been around the market for any amount of time, I think you'll agree that this falls into the latter category. With the House of Representatives set to vote on a revised financial bailout, the markets are in complete limbo.

The Palin pop was good for 313 points this morning it did not last. It was a quickie but not a goodie.

These are crazy times and the hyperbole is getting more and more ridiculous with each passing day. Epitaphs for the U.S. economy are being written in foreign capitals on a daily basis. However, ten years from now, I would be willing to bet that the U.S. will still be the dominant economic power on earth and that the same folks who are chortling at us now will still be green with envy.

I don't have a link to the article as this was e-mailed to me in plain text, but thought I would pass it along to all of you out there.

Commentary by Ann Woolner
Oct. 3 (Bloomberg) -- It is one thing to re-pitch the Wall Street bailout bill to encourage finger-in-the-wind elected lawmakers to enact it.

Regardless of whether a new bailout bill passes, Americans will be taxed heavily in the course of the ongoing “rescue.” Federal Chairmen Ben Bernanke all but guarantees it...

Just came across this article on ClusterStock and thought it was very insightful. Henry Blodget has a 14 point list on how the proposed bailout will play out. I think there is a lot of truth in this article, a must read for everyone.

What most people just don’t get, says Chuck Butler is that the bailout “constitutes the single greatest case of ignoring the free market in modern history.” And there is actually little justification for it.

The US economy shrank in the third quarter, says Bloomberg, and “a further contraction is likely in the next two quarters…which would make the recession the longest since 1981-82.”

Today marked one of the worst collapses in financial history as the Dow lost 778 points or almost 7% as the House failed to pass a bill for 750 billion dollars to help the credit markets. The Nasdaq had it even worse losing over 9% or 199 points! Brutal, absolutely brutal!