A tentative agreement on Friday between the Long Shoremen’s union and management could finally end the stalemate at 29 West Coast ports. The 13,000 member union must vote on it but hopefully we can finally see consumer goods being delivered to retailers. I am not sure about the ships carrying perishable agricultural products. In other news dominating the air waves, ISIS continues with its atrocious behavior. The administration is still calling them "armed insurgents." Now for some actual information...
 

Interest Rates

The 30 year treasury bond closed Friday at 144 11/32nds, up 1/32nds as Federal Reserve officials prefer leaving rates at zero for a "longer time." The minutes of the January meeting released on Wednesday suggested that most officials are in "no hurry" to raise rates. They must see something that is "invisible" to investors as the U.S. equity markets continue higher. We continue on the sidelines in bonds.
 

Stock Indices

The Dow Jones Industrials closed at 6 18,140.44, up 154.67 points to a record high and up 0.7% for the week. The news that the Eurozone ministers are in agreement for a four month extension of Greece’s bailout prompted the rally in equities. In my opinion they are just postponing the "inevitable" and I do not expect any improvement in the financial condition of Greece. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed at 2,110.30, up 12.85 points and for the week gained 0.6%. The tech heavy Nasdaq closed at 4,952 up 31.27 points and for the week gained 4.6%.

In my opinion, based on review of the Greek situation and the people rejecting the austerity program that is a necessity, that the U.S. markets are overbought based on corporate earnings, the damage caused by the longshoremen’s strike to the economy and the fragile U.S. labor situation, we are in for a major correction. Once again I suggest strongly that investors with large equity positions implement risk-hedging strategies which I can offer them.