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Indices rose Friday, with the S&P closing at 1,065, a 1.7% increase. The DIJA rose by 165 points or 1.7%, ending at 10,561. The Nasdaq Composite also rose by 1.7% that Friday.

Some of our most popular technology stocks, however, have announced important 3rd quarter reports. Intel estimated sales of $11 billion for the third quarter rather than its previous estimate of $11.2 to $12 billion in sales. HP and Dell are both vying over 3Par, a company offering customized storage solutions for mid to large-size companies.

The Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke vowed Friday to do all he can to prevent deflation in the US.
The dollar fell along with oil prices, which ended Tuesday at $72.39 a barrel. Gold ended at $1,233.40 an ounce. Wheat prices continue to rise after Russia declared a moratorium on wheat due to a drought.

The US unemployment rate remained at 9.5% this month, although the private sector added 71,000 jobs.

Home sales in the US sunk 27% in July, to their lowest level in 15 years.

World Markets
China reported a fall in growth in July for the first time in 16 months. This week China is expected to release its GDP growth for the 2nd quarter as well as balance of trade reports, which will give analysts information on future growth and investment or if the fall is a trend. India will also release growth figures. Analysts expect 8% growth to be announced. Analysts predict that India will catch up more to China in terms of growth rate this year.

The European Central Bank will unveil latest interest-rate decision on Thursday. It is likely to leave the rate unchanged, a confirmation that continue with relaxed lending policies until the end of the year.

Carrefour reported this week a net profit of Euro 82 million as it seeks to expand to markets in Brazil and China.
Vivendi, French media and telecom group also reported today a 6.6% rise in profit to 1.26 billion Euros for the first half of the year.

Currencies
The dollar fell to a 15-year low against the Yen. The euro fell to a 9-year low against the yen, and the British pound to 3-month low against the yen. The strength of the yen causes concern for exporters.

After the BP oil catastrophe, President Obama banned drilling in US waters deeper than 500 feet on May 30, opponents of the ban warned of a possible surge in oil prices.

Futhermore, his decision to delay drilling near Alaska until 2011 caused deep concern to oil companies already expected to open operations in that area, ConocoPhillips and Shell Oil Co. Opponents of the regulations warn of unemployment rising in the oil industry in particular and related industries as well as fewer jobs will be available than expected.

In addition to the ban additional regulations were proposed by government officials that include increasing standards and frequency of safety inspections of rigs and platforms operating in the Gulf of Mexico.
The question remains as to what these regulations will do to the price of oil and the price of stocks of oil companies over the long and short term.

North Korea announced Tuesday that it would sever ties with South Korea and no longer continue to adhere to the non-aggression pact with Seoul.

In response, the Asian markets fell – Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average by 3.1%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index by 3.5%, Taiwan’s Taiex by 3.2%, Thailand’s SET Index gave up 3.1%, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index by 2.7%. Other indices throughout the world also fell, including Australia’s S&P/ASX 200, India’s Sensex, and Indonesia’s JSX.

But by Wednesday many of these markets had recovered, at least for the short-term. Many market analysts explained the rise of world markets as a reaction of investors looking to buy investments cheaply due to the fall in stock prices.

It remains to be seen how the market will continue to react with the rising political tensions in Korea and the continued economic turmoil in Europe. These political tensions can be a good time to invest in binary options, especially in currencies like the Euro and yen.

Oil prices are recorded at a three-month low of $71.61 a barrel after the US Department of  Energy announced US stockpiles had risen by 1.9 million barrels, double the amount predicted earlier. Demand has not yet caught up with this sudden supply. Investors are speculating that fuel consumption will decrease in response to the European crisis.

It is also likely that this low is due to the ECB’s decision to buy foreign bonds, which artificially caused oil prices to rise last week from $75.11 to $76.80 a barrel.  Phil Flynn, a senior market analyst at PFG Best, likened this move to the equivalent of giving the market a shot of heroin , explaining that one the high wears off, the problem still remains.

The Euro also reached its lowest point ($1.28) against the dollar since 2008, causing prices of oil to fall. In intraday trading prices fell below $70 a barrel, prompting market analysts to predict that prices may continue to fall. If prices do fall below $70 a barrel, OPEC may cut production to keep prices steady.

We will soon start posting our own take of the commodities market.

But first, here is a nice report for today from FuturesMag.com. Use this to trade commodities on our site at Bull Options.