Stocks Off Lows After Spain's Stress Tests

     The data for Friday has been up and down. There was disappointment in Chicago PMI which has kept stocks depressed. However, consumer sentiment for September, though lower than the preliminary reading, was the best in 4 months. Then the stress tests gave investors some hope:

     "Results of the Span's bank stress tests showed that the financial system's capital shortfall is around 60 billion euros in a stressed scenario, while capital shortfall for all nationalized banks is 49 billion euros."

     http://www.cnbc.com/id/49210305

     So Draghii's "anything necessary" continues to keep hopes rising.

     "Stocks eased off their worst levels Friday as results of Spain's bank stress tests were mostly in line with expectations, but a weaker-than-expected Chicago PMI report kept a lid on gains."

     "Despite the weak session, major averages are poised to log strong gains for the quarter, with the Dow up nearly 4 percent and the S&P and Nasdaq up more than 5 percent each. (Read More: What Happened to the ‘Worst Month of the Year?’)"

     So we've done very well for a September.

      "The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final reading on consumer sentiment rose to 78.3 from 74.3 in August, the highest level since May."

 

      "Still, it was shy of economists' forecasts for 79, according to a Reuters poll, and gave up some of the advance seen in September's preliminary reading when the index climbed to 79.2."

     We also saw consumer expectations rise sharply-according to Gallup it seems that the Democratic convention had a big hand in this, particularly in exciting the Democrat base.

     "Consumer expectations improved strongly, rising to 73.5 from 65.1, also the highest since May. More consumers expected the unemployment rate to fall than to rise, while twice as many survey respondents expected economic growth than those that anticipated a downturn."

     What bodes as well as anything is the continued rise in the stock market. To the extent that it's a forward indicator, good times are ahead. No doubt, part of why Romney didn't give us any policy detail about his 12 million new jobs he promised is that the next four years will likely be better than the last four no matter what.

      Then with QEInfinity the market has perhaps a bottomless capacity to believe.