The Dow and S&P 500 fell on Monday as a stronger dollar dragged down the price of oil and energy stocks.
Halliburton and Sunoco were two of the weakest performers. "The market has risen in the last several months, based on the idea of the reflation trade," says Chip Hanlon, referring to bets on rising prices of hard assets as the economy recovers.
But if the dollar gets stronger are all bets are off? How should you navigate the September swings?
Strategy Session with the Fast Money traders
I think the dollar will probably have a two or three day rally, muses Tim Seymour, but I thought stocks like Freeport McMoRan which should have performed poorly with a stronger dollar did reasonably well. That’s bullish.
When oil gave up the ghost I thought the market would give up the ghost too, adds Guy Adami. But that didn’t really happen. I also thought Monday was an impressive day.
Plus, the dollar has moved so much lower recently that for it to move a little higher doesn’t really concern me, adds Karen Finerman. I’m keeping my eye on employment. If it improves then I think the market can go higher.
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GOLD COMES BACK DOWN TO EARTH
Gold prices fell to a near one-week low on Monday, briefly dropping below $1,000 an ounce, as a dollar rally and record speculative positioning in the New York gold futures market prompted profit taking.
Prices hit their weakest level since September 15 at $995.50, far from the 18-month high struck last week at $1,023.85. However, gold has still gained around 14 percent this year.
Analysts said concern was growing on the extent of speculative positioning, or short-term buying to profit from any upward moves in prices, as that left gold vulnerable to sharp corrections if currency fundamentals moved against it.
What’s the trade?
Whatever you do, stay away from miners such as Newmont, counsels Guy Adami. Valuations are ridiculous.
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BANK OF AMERICA CRASHES DEADLINE
Bank of America failed to meet a Monday midday deadline to hand over further details about its acquisition of Merrill Lynch to a congressional investigative committee, a panel spokeswoman said.
Bank of America "did not comply with the deadline," said the spokeswoman for U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns.
The committee is investigating details surrounding Bank of America's purchase of Merrill Lynch, including the disclosure of pre-merger losses at the investment bank, what funding commitments the U.S. government made prior to the deal and what legal basis the bank may have had for backing out of the deal.
Towns has already accused Bank of America of meeting his requests for information with volumes of unhelpful documents, including an invitation to attend an East Asian investment conference, written in Chinese.
In a Sept. 18 letter to Bank of America Chief Executive Ken Lewis, Towns said the bank has produced documents "clearly irrelevant" to an Aug. 6 request by the committee for all records from Sept. 1, 2008 through Jan. 16, 2009, Bank of America said Monday it was working with Towns
> Click here for complete coverage of BofA’s Failure To Meet Congress’ Deadline
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Trader disclosure: On Sept. 21st, 2009, the following stocks and commodities mentioned or intended to be mentioned on CNBC’s Fast Money were owned by the Fast Money traders; Seymour Owns (AA), (AAPL), (BAC), (EEM), (FITB), (INTC), (RIMM), (RIG), (SBUX); Seymour's Firm is Short (PBR); Adami Owns (AGU), (BTU), (C), (GS), (INTC), (MSFT), (NUE); Finerman Owns (RIG); Finerman's Firm Owns (BAC) Preferred Shares, Finerman Owns (BAC) Preferred Shares And Owns (BAC); Finerman's Firm Owns (WFC) Preferred Shares And Is Short (WFC); Finerman Owns (WFC) Preferred Shares; Finerman's Firm Owns (MSFT), (NOK), (PBR), (WMT), (RIG), (TGT), (PLCE), (HPQ); Finerman's Firm Is Short (IJR), (MDY), (SPY), (IWM), (USO); Terranova Owns (FCX) Puts; Terranova Owns (CAT) Puts; Terranova Is Short (WFC); Terranova Is Short (AA); Terranova Is Short (WYNN); Terranova Is Short (JWN)
For Craig Berger:
FBRCM Acts As A Market Maker In (INTC) Securities
For Jon Najarian
J. Najarian Owns (DAL)
J. Najarian Owns (CAL)
For Toni Sacconahi
Bernstein Owns (DELL)
Bernstein currently makes a market in (DELL)
(DELL) Has Been A Client of Bernstein in Past 12 Months
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