Despite Big Apple Miss, Housing Numbers Markets Rally

       Just goes to show you never know with the markets. Apple which had been the market leader for so long, gut clobbered today after missing expectations.

       "On the economic front, new home sales dropped 8.4 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted 350,000-unite annual rate, according to the Commerce Department. The percent decline was the biggest in more than a year. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast sales at a 370,000-unit rate."

        "Apple [AAPL 578.00 -22.92 (-3.81%) ] came off its lows but was still down more than 3 percent after the iPhone maker missed quarterly results by a wide margin and handed in current-quarter guidance that disappointed analysts. In addition, at least six brokerages cut their price targets on the firm. Apple's weak results will likely weigh on the tech sector. (Read More: Trading Apple's Miss)"

        http://www.cnbc.com/id/48317274

        Treasury Secretary warned Congress about the risks for the U.S. economy:

         "Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned Congress that Europe's ongoing sovereign debt crisis and the looming budget crisis in Washington could weaken the U.S. economy. Geithner also added that regulators must enforce stricter oversight of the financial system to help stabilize the economy."

         There was some good news with Catipillar blowing out earnings-they are often seen as a good proxy for how the overall economy is doing:

         "Among other earnings, Caterpillar [CAT 82.64 1.21 (+1.49%) ] topped Wall Street's profit expectations and boosted its 2012 earnings forecast. Shares toggled in and out of negative territory in choppy trading following comments from the company's conference call that full-year sales will be lower than expected from Buycrus and worries over a weak underground coal market."

          Ford also beat expectations. The real problem remains Europe. Despite the downgrade in outlook for Germany by Moody's the Germans remain sanguine even going so far as reasoning that even if their rating goes down it will be higher than the rest of the euro.

         Talk about the wrong way to look at it. While Moody's makes clear that Greece leaving the Euro would be very bad for the market, most of the German people think it would be a good thing. If only believing so made it so!