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A very happy end-of-the-month to all! Metals --still at the flat base we've had for 1-1/2 months and this morning's futures are looking up; stocks finished mixed (NASDAQ up in lower volume, S&P flat, DOW down in higher volume) while the view today is bearish --all ahead of another big report day:

Challenger Job Cuts
Initial Claims
Continuing Claims
Employment Cost Index
Chicago PMI
Natural Gas Inventories

My stack'o'stuff:

Associated Press World stocks drift after US Fed stays course Global stock markets were uninspired by an upbeat report on the U.S. economy, with most drifting lower Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would make further cuts to its monetary stimulus.
No deal: Argentina in default as talks fail CNNMoney - 17 hours ago Argentina has defaulted for the second time in 13 years after officials failed to come to an agreement with the country's bondholders.
Samsung earns $6.1 billion last quarter but shares plunge: Here's why Fox Business - an hour ago SEOUL, South Korea - Samsung earned $6.1 billion last quarter but investors were dissatisfied, sending its share price down 4 percent.
Behind the Fed's promise about short-term rates CBS News - an hour ago Can promises about the future have an effect today? That's the theory behind the Federal Reserve's statement following Wednesday's monetary policy meeting.
Eurozone Inflation Continues Its Slide New York Times - 31 minutes ago FRANKFURT - Inflation in the eurozone fell in July to its lowest level since 2009, according to an official estimate released Thursday.
Probe exposes flaws behind HealthCare.gov rollout
Why McDonald's CEO Supports A Higher Min. Wage - Dompe & Smith, IBD
Cut World's Highest Tax Rate to Curb Inversions - Laffer/Moore, Investor's
Clashes With Russia Point to Globalization's End - Mark Leonard, Reuters

Samsung stock was going up last year while Apple was going down from its “darling of Wall Street” heights of 800 or so.

Amusing to see South Korea hi-tech having greater world penetration and visibly than Japans. The Japanese look at S Koreans as racial inferiors. Used to be the prevalent thinking in Nippon

Japan population 120 million
Korea population 45 million or so and they are beating Japan. I’ll bet they have a much better birth rate than Japans
So is Taiwan (beating Japan) in consumer electronics with only 25 million people. A leader in laptop/Tablet/smartfone tech. They do lots of Apples design and engineering