Markets opened higher this morning, but almost immediately started weakening and chopping sideways. SPX closed at $2001, down $2. RUT lost $7 to close at $1172. RUT remains well off the highs from early July. RUT would have to gain 3% to get back to those highs. SPX has not only set new highs since early July; this index appears reluctant to give up any of those gains. Many analysts were predicting that SPX would bounce off the $2000 mark and decline, but so far, that hasn't been the case. The bulls remain in control of this market, but that doesn't mean it will accelerate higher. The reluctance of the small caps, as represented by the Russell index, to join the party is another signal of "risk off", but short of "sell and go home". Trading volume reinforces this conclusion; it has remained low throughout this summer. Trading in the S&P 500 stocks remained flat today at 1.7 billion shares while volume declined 4% on the NYSE and declined 1% on NASDAQ. The 50 dma of trading volume in the S&P 500 stocks has been steadily declining since early April.

The minutes from the last FOMC meeting, known as the Beige Book, were released this afternoon.The economy was  described in neutral to slightly positive terms. Terms like "modest", "moderate" and "mixed" were sprinkled throughout the report. The economy doesn't continue to sink, but we knew that. The Fed doesn't know what to do about an economy that just won't bounce back like it always had in past recessions. The St. Louis Fed issued a paper this week that reports the huge amounts of money that banks and consumers have stashed into reserves or savings accounts over the past several years. From my perspective, it is obvious why consumers are saving rather than spending - they are scared. Another 5000 people lost their jobs in Atlantic City this week. Business has been inundated with bureaucratic rules and taxes since the beginning of this recession. Listen carefully to the politicians; they like to blame business and the rich for all of this country's ills. And we are surprised Burger King left for Canada? Who do we think create jobs? Hint: it isn't poor or even middle class people.