Morning Breath June 26

Good morning. Happy Tuesday.

The Asian/Pacific markets closed mostly down, but there were no 1% losers. Europe is currently trading mixed. Belgium (down 1.8%) is the only 1% mover. Futures here in the States point towards a flat open for the cash market.
The dollar is up slightly. Oil and copper are down. Gold and silver are down.
Moody’s downgraded at least 12 Spanish banks to junk status.
Spain’s short term borrowing costs nearly tripled with it sold short-term debt today.
News Corp is considering splitting in two…one company would hold its publishing entities, the other entertainment.
From bottom to top, the S&P rallied almost 100 points this month, but thanks to two stiff down days, half those gains are gone. It’s a reason why we need to be ahead of the curve taking profits and not of the attitude you can sit back with a loose stop. The downtrend had been neutralized, and several indicators had turned up, but with the uncertainty in Europe lingering, a prudent management strategy would have had you taking partial profits along the way and using stops to protect remaining shares. You never know what the market will do, so you gotta play the odds and not worry about leaving money on the table.
The election in Greece cleared things up for about 5 minutes. There’s still lots of uncertainty. Will the EU allow Greece to renegotiate the terms of its bailout? Will Greece reconsider leaving the EU and creating their own currency if they don’t get the terms they want? Lots of question, not many answers. Throw in the lack of good looking charts right now, and I remain in a defensive posture. More after the open.www.leavittbrothers.com