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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.

Best Month in a Year
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One great way to make binary options work to your advantage is to trade based on monthly and quarterly earnings reports. Options can be predicted to rise or fall shortly before these news releases. If you do the research you can capitalize on these movements in the market. But more on this strategy at a later posting. Now let’s concentrate on our monthly report.
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Stocks did better this month than they have in an entire year. Sixteen of the thirty DOW stocks ended higher at the end of July, including Home Depot (up 1.6% at $28.51) and Boeing (up 1.4% at $68.14). Intel (down 1.7% to $34.46) and Merck (down 1.7% to $34.46) ended lower than expected.

Stock Market Summary

News Events of the Month-

Technology News-

Economic News-

Currencies-
The dollar rose against the British pound and Euro but fell against the yen.

Savings and Consumer Spending-
Consumer sentiment for July rose to 67.8 and not the expected 66.5.

Commodity Market
Oil, gold, and copper all rose in price.
Gold- $13.30 to $1,181.70 per ounce.
Copper- up 2.15 cents to $3.3115 a pound, up 12% for July.
Oil- closed at $78.95, up 4.39% from last month.

Employment
Increased to 9.6% from 9.5% for last month for the US market.
Private employers added 90,000 jobs to the payroll, an improvement since June.

Sales and Manufacturing
Manufacturing activity slowed to its lowest level since December. Reports of Midwest manufacturing rose to 62.3 this month from 59.1 for last month.

Oil Prices

Among the different developments likely to influence oil prices for both the short and long-term future are:

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.

Oil from a BP underwater oil rig has been gushing into the Gulf after an explosion and fire April 22. After many failed attempts at controlling the leak, BP finally managed to contain the oil by placing a cap on the well and direct oil out of the water into the surface for use. Oil however, continues to leak into the Louisiana coast and the Florida Gulf.

Past estimates of oil leaks of 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day (504,000 to 798,000) have now been raised to 20,000 to 40,000 barrels a day (840,000 to 1,680,000 gallons) before the leak was contained by BP.
The London-based oil company has broken the record for the worst oil spill in US history. Oil from an Exxon Valdez tanker off the coast of Alaska’s Prince William Sound spilled over 10 million gallons into the ocean. This was previously the worst oil spill in US history.

Oil spill cleanup has cost BP thus far $1.4 billion on cleanup.

Investment analysts recommend buying BP stock, using an old investment strategy of buying cheap stock during a crisis, waiting out the storm and selling when the price goes up. Stock prices have dropped to almost half of what they were before the oil spill, although intraday trading prices fluctuate enough for the binary options trader to predict the hourly movement of the stock.

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.