Articles and posts to add for your weekend reading interest

Keeping an eye on credit markets, where maybe things have improved, some sectors more than others - Credit Market Recap and Chart of the Day: Thoughts on Corporate Spreads The Pragmatic Capitalist.

Then again if you enjoy being scared (or you may consider it realism): The Big Wipeout, at FinancialArmageddon.com.

And another update by cycles expert Tim Wood, posting Warning II! Counter-Trend Moves Continue to Spark False Hopes (June 19, 2009 at FinancialSense.com) - his introductory comments include: 'As I listen to the mainstream commentators, the public and even my local news, it is obvious that optimism remains high. William Peter Hamilton, the great Dow theorist who followed in the footsteps of Charles H. Dow, warned against allowing “the wish to father the thought.” I have listened and closely studied the words of many of the reporters and interviewees on the news and there is little doubt that their optimism is allowing “the wish to father the thought.”' He's included commentary referencing the housing market, and some reminders about Kondratieff winter as well.

Carl Swenlin has provided some chart and technical analysis on the S&P 500, in Breakdown and Snapback (also at FinancialSense.com, 6/19/09). In addition to some discussion about the position of this rally within the larger bear market, he also addresses the differences between the simple moving average (SMA) and the exponential moving average (EMA). This is timely since the SPX rose above its 200 day SMA but not really above its 200 day EMA, as he shows.

And Robert Prechter has surfaced again with 10 Things You Should and Should Not Do During Deflation (at FinancialSense.com, 6/19/09). Whatever you might think about the market's next move - whether it rolls down to new lows, or just another down and up to complete the bear market rally first - this list of answers is good to know (including his comment about corporate bonds, which runs contrary to what many others have been saying).

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**UPDATE - adding: Power Writes History: The four primary causes of the financial crisis.
Courtesy of Mr Practical of Minyanville; looking not only at the Fed's actions previously, but in context of whether to grant more powers to the Fed now.