Market Reflections 9/14/2009

President Obama used the anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse to say the need for government involvement in the markets is waning. Boosted by building reports of possible mergers, the S&P rallied 0.6 percent to 1,049 and showed no reaction to a brewing trade dispute after the U.S. placed tariffs on Chinese-made tires. The dollar was little changed but at least didn't weaken further with the dollar index up 0.1 percent at 76.70. Most commodities were little changed with gold holding at $1,000 and oil ending at $69.00. Natural gas was an exception, jumping 15% off deep lows on short-covering ahead of winter and on upbeat comments from Goldman Sachs.