Whoa! What a day!!

Sorry, folks, for taking so long to write to all of you. It's been one of those days--from conversations with the press to writing articles about the crippling U.S. Dollar--it's just been a whirlwind of a day. Speaking of the U.S. Dollar, here's an article I wrote that my friends at Taipan Publishing distributed this morning:

Level of Comfort? U.S. Dollar Still Weak Following Fed "Leveling Out" Statement

Take a look when you get a shot. Evidently, my friend at the Financial Times is pitching it for publication tomorrow. If it shows, you'll know about it here first!

Also--don't forget to see yours truly tomorrow evening on the FOX Business Network's Neil Cavuto show. I'm scheduled to appear live from 6:30-7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Hope you can tune in!!

On the market action--well, this market isn't doing much at all. We started the morning strong with S&P futures popping over 10 prior to the dismal retail sales data, but the market hasn't budged much. With a few minutes to the close, we're just limping along to an almost flat session.

The retail data was highly disappointing, though, especially with the CARS program expecting to lift retail sales much higher than what was reported. Retail sales surprisingly fell 0.1%--well below the Wall Street consensus of +0.8%. The only positive I could see is the lift in restaurant sales, which is a bullish indicator showing people are actually going out to eat--albeit, mostly at an Applebee's. But it's a start!!

Give it time, folks. Retail sales were down in July, but the market fallout could have been significant today. And, if this figure disappointed with this kind of margin some 6 months ago, the market would've sold-off well into the triple-digits. The fact that the bulls are keeping the bears on a chain following a garbage report is a testament to the notion that this market is about to really take off.

Don't forget, it's back-to-school time and parents will be spending some coin this month. Just here in South Texas, I see retailers packed, so I'm forecasting some solid figures for August.

More later,

Todd M. Schoenberger, Managing Director
LandColt Trading, Inc.