Markets June 24

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The Baltic Dry Index fell for a third consecutive session, losing 72 points to close at 9,139, which moves it closer to its 200day SMA of 9084.51. The Capesize fell 252 points in its last trading session to 12,860, and is the worst performer from a week ago, with a 7.4% loss. Just in the past three sessions, the index lost 1,302 points. The Panamax, the benchmark index, continues to move in the opposite direction of the other dry bulk indices, with four consecutive sessions of gains and is the only index in positive territory with a 5.8% gain over the past week. In the last trading session, the index gained 108 points to close at 8,904. The Supramax fell for a second session, losing 75 points to 6,128, while the Handysize continues to consistently post losses, although more modestly. The Handysize fell 24 points in the last trading session to 2,759 and is the second worst performer from the prior week with a 7.1% loss.

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The major averages opened lower as this morning's top corporate headlines reflected the impact of rising crude oil prices on energy dependent companies: UPS (UPS) significantly lowered its Q2 EPS guidance due to an "unprecedented" increase in the cost of fuel.

UAL Corp (UAUA) intends to let go 950 pilots and reduce its fleet by 100 aircraft to cope with surging oil prices; and Dow Chemical (DOW) is raising prices for a second time, by as much as 25%, in an effort to offset the continuing "relentless" rise in the cost of energy and hydrocarbon feedstocks.

Separately, August crude oil ($136.80 +0.06) dipped into the red following the open of pit trading at 9:00ET, losing its early morning gains (high of $138.75).

Despite the sell-off, the major averages trended lower over the first half hour of today's session. The Dow and S&P hit their session lows when consumer confidence in June slipped 13% to its lowest level since 1992, after consumers were bombarded with reports of spiking food and energy costs and rising unemployment. The June reading for Consumer Confidence came in well below expectations (50.4 vs the 56.0 consensus).

While there was no specific catalyst for the turnaround, the Dow reversed after probing, but not breaking below its 52-week closing low of 11,740. One standout in the financial sector is Wachovia (WB), whose shares are up 6% at midday after the Charlotte Observer reported a bank spokeswoman confirmed it had hired Goldman Sachs to perform "analytics on our loan portfolio to evaluate various alternatives."

The major averages are currently extending their session highs at midday. Dow is currently +29 to 11,871 Nasdaq almost flat to 2,386 S&P +5 to 1,323.