Financials; Not a ton of real money buying on this pullback.; Sentiment remains extremely negative Senate's vote and tomorrow's $XLF

• ·Financials: Following last night's successful House vote on financial reform, the sector underperforms following disappointing Jobless Claims, ISM and Pending Home Sales data. Banks (especially the large caps) are weak in early trading.
• Volumes are heavy on the sell-off and increased dramatically following the 10am economic reports. Likewise, flows remain very active. The 10am number brought out real money sellers and led fast money to press shorts aggressively. Once we held the 1006 technical level, shorts to come in and cover.
• Haven't seen a ton of real money buying on this pullback. We're seeing some institutional support within life insurers and defensively positioned banks, but nowhere else.
• Sentiment remains extremely negative heading into the Senate's vote and tomorrow's June Employement report. As estimates continue to come down for Q2 earnings, it is unclear what positive catalyst (other than valuation arguments) is going to lift the group between now and Q2 report.

Financials Update at the Close $GS $XLF

· The financials were some of the best performing stocks in the whole market this week, although nearly all the gains came on Fri following the completion of financial regulatory form. Early Fri morning (5:30amET), the House/Senate reconciliation conference committees reached a compromise agreement on the last big outstanding issue (Lincoln’s derivatives amendment) and passed the bill (w/o any Republican support). The measure will now head to the full Senate and House for a vote next week (the process is expected to start Tues) w/Obama on track to sign the legislation by Jul 4 (meeting his months-long deadline). The finished product will impose new restrictions and costs on the industry, although the final bill was not as bad as some feared (esp. on “Volcker” and “Lincoln”); the initial St takeaway on the legislation can be summed up by the following Bloomberg headline (“banks dodged a bullet as Congress dilutes US trading rules in overhaul”). While investors are relieved for now, a lot of the buying occurring Fri was either short-covering or quicker trader-types “renting” exposure via the XLF; not a lot of people were rushing to make purchases in “single stocks”. Some are looking back to the health care 

Obama Administration Tells Senate Democrats: No Bailout Fund in Regulatory Reform Bill $GS $JPM

SEE UPDATE BELOW:

The Obama administration told Senate Democrats Friday to drop a proposed $50 billion fund designed to finance the liquidation of a big financial institution facing collapse, a victory for Senate Republicans who opposed government-supervised and government-funded corporate bailouts.

"The fund was not in our original proposal we announced almost a year ago and we don't feel it is an essential part of final legislation," a senior administration source told Fox. "The President will only sign a bill if it passes the test of putting an end to bailouts."

President Obama also issued a veto threat on regulatory reform, saying he will reject legislation that "does not bring the derivatives market under control in some sort of regulatory framework."

The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, offered mute praise for the administration's formal dismissal of a so-called bailout fund.

"I appreciate the Obama administration's recognition of the need to substantively improve this bill," McConnell said from Louisville. "And I hope we can work with them to close the remaining bailout loopholes that put American taxpayers on the hook for financial institutions that become 'too big to fail.'"

The administration has never been a fan of the bailout reserve fund, a mechanism in both the House-passed bill and legislation passed out of the Senate Banking Committee.