MARKET: Oh Yeah, the World is a Mess

The day was defined by flight to safety, as the downing of a commercial passenger jet over the Donetsk region of Ukraine, which is held by Russian separatists, scared the heck out of everyone. After all, what might the West do if Russian guns were used to do the deed? We can imagine quite the list of scenarios. Then, just before the close of trading, Israel invaded Gaza, and so stocks sold off into the close with some pace. You can find all the tumultuous headline news here.

U.S. Markets

Market ETF	07/17
Vanguard S&P 500 (NYSE: VOO)	-1.2%
iShares Dow Jones (NYSE: IYY)	-1.2%
Fidelity NASDAQ  ETF (Nasdaq: ONEQ)	-1.8%
ProShares Ultra Gold (NYSE: UGL)	+3.2%
ProShares Ultra Real Estate (NYSE: URE)	-1.2%
ProShares Ultra Oil (NYSE: UCO)	+2.7%
WisdomTree US$  Bullish (NYSE: USDU)	+0.0%
iShares 20+ Yr. Treasury (NYSE: TLT)	+1.3%

U.S. stocks were down but by less than a point until Gaza happened, as a range of possibilities remain and a slew of questions are yet unanswered in Ukraine. The worst case scenario seems to be that Russian separatists accidentally or ignorantly shot down the passenger jet against the will and/or knowledge of Russia. It’s bad enough that the gun would have been Russian, but it’s the man who does the killing, not the gun that matters. It is clear that the Ukrainian separatists had the capability to do the damage, given that they had shot down several aircraft over the past week. However, other possibilities should not be ruled out yet, as terrorists have much to gain by pitting the U.S. and Russia against one another. So, consider that possibility as well, however slight it may be.

International Markets

EUROPE	%	ASIA/PACIFIC	%
iShares Europe (NYSE: IEV)	-1.1%	Japan Equity (NYSE: JEQ)	+0.3%
WisdomTree UK (Nasdaq: DXPS)	-0.7%	China Fund (NYSE: CHN)	-0.7%
Societe Generale ADR (OTC: SCGLY)	-0.8%	Asia Tigers (NYSE: GRR)	-0.3%
WisdomTree Germany (Nasdaq: DXGE)	-1.5%	Korea Equity (NYSE: KEF)	0.0%
National Bank Greece (NYSE: NBG)	-3.1%	India Fund (NYSE: IFN)	-0.5%

International markets sold off as news broke about the plane downing.

Economic Data

THURSDAY’S ECONOMIC REPORT SCHEDULE
Economic Data Point	Prior	Expected	Actual
THURSDAY
Weekly Jobless Claims	305K	310K	302K
EIA Natural Gas Report	93 bcf		+107 bcf
Housing Starts	0.985  M	1.026 M	0.893 M
-Permits	0.991 M	1.038 M	0.963 M
Philly Fed Index	17.8	16.9	23.9
Bloomberg Consumer Comfort	37.6		37.5
St. Louis Fed Bullard Speaks

Economic data took a back seat today, but housing starts and permits were soft and worth noting. The Philly Fed Index showed strong regional manufacturing activity, but that housing data point has to take center stage. It was below expectations and the prior month, and is a disappointing signal about the American consumer.

Commodity Markets

United States Oil (NYSE: USO)	+1.4%
iPath SP Crude Oil (NYSE: OIL)	+1.7%
U.S. Natural Gas (NYSE: UNG)	-4.1%
U.S. Gasoline (NYSE: UGA)	+0.0%
SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD)	+1.3%
Market Vectors Gold Miners (NYSE: GDX)	+2.3%
iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV)	+1.8%
iPath DJ UBS Industrial Metals (NYSE: JJM)	+0.5%
Teucrium Corn ETF (NYSE: CORN)	-0.0%
Teucrium Wheat Fund (NYSE: WEAT)	+1.5%
Teucrium Soybean Fund (NYSE: SOYB)	-0.3%
iPath DJ-UBS Cocoa (NYSE: NIB)	-0.2%
iPath DJ-UBS Sugar (NYSE: SGG)	-0.7%
ICE Orange Juice Conc.	-0.1%
CME Lumber	-2.1%
CME Live Cattle	+1.5%

Demand for U.S. Treasuries picked up and yields dropped. The flight to safety led money to gold and silver as well, and the prices of energy and regionally important commodities (in Russia/Ukraine) like wheat took flight.

Stock Activity

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) report at the close of trading today. SodaStream (Nasdaq: SODA) dropped 3.2%, due to its headquarters in Airport City, Israel.

EPS REPORTS
Company	Ticker
THURSDAY
Google	Nasdaq: GOOG
Google	Nasdaq: GOOGL
Morgan Stanley	NYSE: MS
Advanced Micro Devices	NYSE: AMD
Alliance Data Systems	NYSE: ADS
American National Bankshares	Nasdaq: AMNB
American River Bankshares	Nasdaq: AMRB
Associated Banc-Corp	Nasdaq: ASBC
Athenahealth	Nasdaq: ATHN
AutoNation	NYSE: AN
B&G Foods	NYSE: BGS
Baker Hughes	NYSE: BHI
BancFirst	Nasdaq: BANF
Baxter Int’l	NYSE: BAX
Blackstone	NYSE: BX
Capital One Financial	NYSE: COF
Celanese	NYSE: CE
Cepheid	Nasdaq: CPHD
CoBiz Financial	Nasdaq: COBZ
Cypress Semiconductor	NYSE: CY
Cytec Industries	NYSE: CYT
Danaher	NYSE: DHR
Dover	NYSE: DOV
Eastgroup Properties	NYSE: EGP
Electronics for Imaging	Nasdaq: EFII
Fairchild Semiconductor Int’l	NYSE: FCS
Fifth Third Bancorp	Nasdaq: FITB
First Cash Financial	Nasdaq: FCFS
Glimcher Realty Trust	NYSE: GRT
Home BancShares	Nasdaq: HOMB
Home Loan Servicing	Nasdaq: HLSS
Hub Group	Nasdaq: HUBG
Independent Bank	Nasdaq: INDB
Insteel Industries	Nasdaq: IIIN
IBM	NYSE: IBM
M&T Bank	NYSE: MTB
Mattel	NYSE: MAT
Matthews Int’l	Nasdaq: MATW
Navient	Nasdaq: NAVI
Neogenomics	NYSE: NEO
NetScout Systems	Nasdaq: NTCT
Orbital Sciences	NYSE: ORB
People’s United Financial	Nasdaq: PBCT
Philip Morris Int’l	NYSE: PM
Pool Corp.	Nasdaq: POOL
PPG Industries	NYSE: PPG
Premiere Global Services	NYSE: PGI
PrivateBancorp	Nasdaq: PVTB
Republic Bancorp	Nasdaq: RBCAA
Resources Connection	Nasdaq: RECN
Sandy Spring Bancorp	Nasdaq: SASR
SAP AG	NYSE: SAP
Schlumberger NV	NYSE: SLB
Seagate Technology	NYSE: STX
Sherwin-Williams	NYSE: SHW
Simmons First National	Nasdaq: SFNC
Skyworks Solutions	Nasdaq: SWKS
Snap-On	NYSE: SNA
Sonoco	NYSE: SON
Stryker	NYSE: SYK
Syntel	Nasdaq: SYNT
Travelzoo	Nasdaq: TZOO
Ultratech	Nasdaq: UTEK
United Security Bancshares	Nasdaq: UBFO
UnitedHealth Group	NYSE: UNH
Valmont Industries	NYSE: VMI
W.W. Grainger	NYSE: GWW
Watsco	NYSE: WSO
Webster Financial	NYSE: WBS
Western Alliance Bancorporation	NYSE: WAL
WNS	NYSE: WNS

TODAY’S MOST ACTIVE STOCKS
BIGGEST GAINERS	% Gain
USEC (NYSE: USU)	+21%
BioLife Solutions (Nasdaq: BLFS)	+20%
Neogenomics (NYSE: NEO)	+19%
UBIC (Nasdaq: UBIC)	+17%
Supertel Hospitality (Nasdaq: SPPRP)	+16%
GeoMet (Nasdaq: GMETP)	+14%
Dresser-Rand (NYSE: DRC)	+13%
Silver Standard (Nasdaq: SSRI)	+11%
Timmins Gold (NYSE: TGD)	+10%
Colony Bankcorp (Nasdaq: CBAN)	+10%
BIGGEST LOSERS	% Drop
EPIRUS Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: EPRS)	-12%
SanDisk (Nasdaq: SNDK)	-14%
Uranerz Energy (NYSE: URZ)	-13%
Eleven Biotherapeutics (Nasdaq: EBIO)	-12%
First Financial Bancorp (Nasdaq: FFBCW)	-11%
Qiwi (Nasdaq: QIWI)	-10%
BIND Therapeutics (Nasdaq: BIND)	-11%
Aldeyra Therapeutics (Nasdaq: ALDX)	-10%
Assembly Biosciences (Nasdaq: ASMB)	-10%
LookSmart (Nasdaq: LOOK)	-9%

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.