Last week, negative developments far outpaced those considered to be positive. And, stock prices dropped as a result. Here is a succinct summation of last week’s events:

Positives:

1) Three very successful Treasury auctions with longer term maturities in particular drawing buyers, reflecting no concern of not getting interest payments
2) Initial Claims fall to just above 400k, lowest since April
3) Headline PPI and CPI moderate on decline in energy prices
4) China’s Q2 GDP, Industrial Production and Retail Sales all surprise to upside- points toward a soft landing

Negatives:

1) June Retail Sales mediocre
2) Core PPI and CPI surprise to upside, makes monetary policy that much more difficult
3) Trade Deficit jumps to highest since Oct ’08, trims Q2 GDP by up to .4%
4) Refi’s fall to 10 week low, low interest rates losing its influence
5) Bernanke whips market around with QE3 talk followed by ‘not now’
6) Univ of Mich confidence drops sharply to lowest since Mar ’09
7) IP less than expected, continued drag from auto’s
8) NFIB small biz index falls to lowest since Sept ’10
9) Debt of Italy, Spain, Greece, Ireland and Portugal continue lower with yields jumping and CDS much wider, Greece moving closer to being forced into a default (would actually be good long term)
10) China CPI rises 6.4% y/o/y, most since June ’08.