bigdog
Retired many years ago
- Joined
- 19 July 2006
- Posts
- 8,124
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- 5,474
NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
It was an erratic week on Wall Street, with the Dow soaring 936 points on Monday, slipping moderately Tuesday, sinking 733 points Wednesday, and then rallying 401 Thursday. The volatility is not providing investors with much relief, but it is a welcome change from last week's relentless plunge, during which the Dow logged its worst week ever and Wall Street lost about $2.4 trillion in shareholder wealth.
Wall Street ended a tumultuous two-week run relatively quietly Friday, finishing another back-and-forth session mixed as investors were cheered by signs of easing in the credit markets and managed to absorb lackluster economic news with equanimity.
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -127.04 points -1.41% on Friday October 17
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,852.22 -127.04 -1.41%
Nasdaq 1,711.29 -6.42 -0.37%
S&P 500 940.55 -5.88 -0.62%
30-yr Bond 4.3120% +0.0850
NYSE Volume 6,608,425,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,782,773,750
[B]Europe[/B]
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,063.01 +201.62 +5.22%
DAX 4,781.33 +158.52 +3.43%
CAC 40 3,329.92 +148.92 +4.68%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,693.82 +235.37 +2.78%
Hang Seng 14,554.21 -676.31 -4.44%
Straits Times 1,878.51 -72.69 -3.73%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081017/wall_street.html
Stocks end back-and-forth session mixed
Friday October 17, 4:58 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Stocks end mixed as credit markets show signs of easing; options expiration adds to volatility
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street ended a tumultuous two-week run relatively quietly Friday, finishing another back-and-forth session mixed as investors were cheered by signs of easing in the credit markets and managed to absorb lackluster economic news with equanimity.
The expiration of options contracts helped tug the market in different directions throughout the session. Still, the Dow Jones industrial average traded within a narrower range than it had in much of the past two weeks. The Dow ended down 127 but big rallies on Monday and Thursday gave all the major indexes gains of well over 3 percent for the week -- but just a partial recovery from the devastating double digit drops of the previous week.
"The stock market has finally realized one thing -- that the governments around the world have thrown in a lot of money and they're using all the tools that they possibly can" to restore order to the credit markets, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners Inc., a New York brokerage house. "I'm sure we'll still have a strong bear grip to the market but I do believe the market was way oversold. I do believe we've made a bottom."
He said economic data are likely to remain bleak but that market has already taken into account much of the economy's problems.
"Everything is ugly. It's going to stay this way for a while," he said.
The market spent the first half of the session vacillating, moving between gains and losses after the government said new home construction dropped by more than expected last month to the lowest pace since early 1991. But investors' mood seemed to pick up later in the session as lending rates for bank-to-bank loans eased, indicating some bank fears about not being repaid by borrowers is easing. Demand for safe-haven investments like Treasury bills also decreased. The final hour of trading again proved pivotal as in much of October; stocks fluctuated as investors squared away positions for the week.
Given the magnitude of most of the recent sessions in October, the indexes' moderate declines Friday seemed barely noteworthy. And advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.74 billion shares.
The loosening of credit markets appeared to draw most of investors' attention. The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, for three-month dollar loans fell to 4.41 percent from 4.50 percent on Thursday, the fifth consecutive day of declines.
"I think we're beginning to get a slightly better feeling in the credit market," said Cardillo, pointing to the move in Libor.
It was an erratic week on Wall Street, with the Dow soaring 936 points on Monday, slipping moderately Tuesday, sinking 733 points Wednesday, and then rallying 401 Thursday. The volatility is not providing investors with much relief, but it is a welcome change from last week's relentless plunge, during which the Dow logged its worst week ever and Wall Street lost about $2.4 trillion in shareholder wealth.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 127.04, or 1.41 percent, Friday to 8,852.22, after falling 261 points in the early going and rising 302 points -- a 563-point range.
Broader stock indicators showed more modest declines. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5.88, or 0.62 percent, to 940.55, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 6.42, or 0.37 percent, to 1,711.29.
The credit markets have been gradually improving after moves by governments around the world, particularly plans to buy stakes in private banks to boost their lending. Demand remains high for Treasury bills, regarded as the safest assets around, an indication that there is uncertainty lingering in the markets.
The three-month Treasury bill Friday yielded 0.81 percent, up from 0.47 percent on Thursday. That indicates a let-up in demand, though the yield has not surpassed 1 percent in more than a week.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
David Dietze, president at Point View Financial Services Inc. in Summit, N.J., contends that much of the market's whipsaw moves in the past month have come as hedge funds and mutual funds were forced to sell positions because some shareholders were cashing out.
"These hedge funds are getting hit by redemptions, their credit lines are being pulled and they are having to sell furiously," he said. "Selling begets selling, which begets selling, which begets more selling."
While Dietze sees risks for the economy, he questions whether the rapidity of the stock market's retreat signals the pullback was overdone.
"We have a credit crunch which is morphing into a general recession and certainly a lot of the economic data points down but still, to come in this week and see the markets down 20 percent -- basically a bear market within a bear market just this month -- you wonder if there isn't just this massive overreaction," he said.
A rise in oil prices helped energy companies, some of which had weighed on the market earlier in the week as oil showed steep declines. Light, sweet crude rose $2 to settle at $71.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Thursday, it sank to a 14-month low on worries about a deep global recession obliterating fuel demand.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. rose $2.12, or 11.6 percent, to $20.47, while XTO Energy Inc. rose $2.08, or 7 percent, to $31.68.
Health stocks generally rose. UnitedHeatlh Group Inc. advanced $1.76, or 7.8 percent, to $24.39, while Schering Plough Corp. rose 71 cents, or 5.1 percent, to $14.76.
Late Thursday, Google Inc. posted a 26 percent increase in third-quarter profit. Google rose $19.52, or 5.5 percent, to $372.54; early Thursday, the Internet company's stock had fallen to a three-year low.
Economic readings that appeared to trouble the market early in the session seemed to lose their importance as investors looked to improvement in the credit markets.
The Commerce Department reported that housing starts fell more than 6 percent in September to an annual rate of 817,000 units. The figure is lower than the 880,000 units forecast by Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR. Building permits also sank.
The report was yet another piece of evidence that the nation is struggling with a weak economy that, if the financial crisis is not solved, could weaken. President Bush on Friday said in a speech that the credit market -- where many companies find funding for their operations -- will take a while to thaw, but that Americans should be confident that it will.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 10.14, or 1.89 percent, to 526.43.
Markets overseas were mostly higher Friday. In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 4.44 percent to its lowest level in almost three years, but Japan's Nikkei average rose 2.78 percent after a 11.4 percent loss Thursday. In Europe, Britain's FTSE index rose 5.22 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 3.43 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 4.68 percent.
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
It was an erratic week on Wall Street, with the Dow soaring 936 points on Monday, slipping moderately Tuesday, sinking 733 points Wednesday, and then rallying 401 Thursday. The volatility is not providing investors with much relief, but it is a welcome change from last week's relentless plunge, during which the Dow logged its worst week ever and Wall Street lost about $2.4 trillion in shareholder wealth.
Wall Street ended a tumultuous two-week run relatively quietly Friday, finishing another back-and-forth session mixed as investors were cheered by signs of easing in the credit markets and managed to absorb lackluster economic news with equanimity.
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -127.04 points -1.41% on Friday October 17
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,852.22 -127.04 -1.41%
Nasdaq 1,711.29 -6.42 -0.37%
S&P 500 940.55 -5.88 -0.62%
30-yr Bond 4.3120% +0.0850
NYSE Volume 6,608,425,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,782,773,750
[B]Europe[/B]
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,063.01 +201.62 +5.22%
DAX 4,781.33 +158.52 +3.43%
CAC 40 3,329.92 +148.92 +4.68%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,693.82 +235.37 +2.78%
Hang Seng 14,554.21 -676.31 -4.44%
Straits Times 1,878.51 -72.69 -3.73%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081017/wall_street.html
Stocks end back-and-forth session mixed
Friday October 17, 4:58 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Stocks end mixed as credit markets show signs of easing; options expiration adds to volatility
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street ended a tumultuous two-week run relatively quietly Friday, finishing another back-and-forth session mixed as investors were cheered by signs of easing in the credit markets and managed to absorb lackluster economic news with equanimity.
The expiration of options contracts helped tug the market in different directions throughout the session. Still, the Dow Jones industrial average traded within a narrower range than it had in much of the past two weeks. The Dow ended down 127 but big rallies on Monday and Thursday gave all the major indexes gains of well over 3 percent for the week -- but just a partial recovery from the devastating double digit drops of the previous week.
"The stock market has finally realized one thing -- that the governments around the world have thrown in a lot of money and they're using all the tools that they possibly can" to restore order to the credit markets, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners Inc., a New York brokerage house. "I'm sure we'll still have a strong bear grip to the market but I do believe the market was way oversold. I do believe we've made a bottom."
He said economic data are likely to remain bleak but that market has already taken into account much of the economy's problems.
"Everything is ugly. It's going to stay this way for a while," he said.
The market spent the first half of the session vacillating, moving between gains and losses after the government said new home construction dropped by more than expected last month to the lowest pace since early 1991. But investors' mood seemed to pick up later in the session as lending rates for bank-to-bank loans eased, indicating some bank fears about not being repaid by borrowers is easing. Demand for safe-haven investments like Treasury bills also decreased. The final hour of trading again proved pivotal as in much of October; stocks fluctuated as investors squared away positions for the week.
Given the magnitude of most of the recent sessions in October, the indexes' moderate declines Friday seemed barely noteworthy. And advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.74 billion shares.
The loosening of credit markets appeared to draw most of investors' attention. The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, for three-month dollar loans fell to 4.41 percent from 4.50 percent on Thursday, the fifth consecutive day of declines.
"I think we're beginning to get a slightly better feeling in the credit market," said Cardillo, pointing to the move in Libor.
It was an erratic week on Wall Street, with the Dow soaring 936 points on Monday, slipping moderately Tuesday, sinking 733 points Wednesday, and then rallying 401 Thursday. The volatility is not providing investors with much relief, but it is a welcome change from last week's relentless plunge, during which the Dow logged its worst week ever and Wall Street lost about $2.4 trillion in shareholder wealth.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 127.04, or 1.41 percent, Friday to 8,852.22, after falling 261 points in the early going and rising 302 points -- a 563-point range.
Broader stock indicators showed more modest declines. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5.88, or 0.62 percent, to 940.55, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 6.42, or 0.37 percent, to 1,711.29.
The credit markets have been gradually improving after moves by governments around the world, particularly plans to buy stakes in private banks to boost their lending. Demand remains high for Treasury bills, regarded as the safest assets around, an indication that there is uncertainty lingering in the markets.
The three-month Treasury bill Friday yielded 0.81 percent, up from 0.47 percent on Thursday. That indicates a let-up in demand, though the yield has not surpassed 1 percent in more than a week.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
David Dietze, president at Point View Financial Services Inc. in Summit, N.J., contends that much of the market's whipsaw moves in the past month have come as hedge funds and mutual funds were forced to sell positions because some shareholders were cashing out.
"These hedge funds are getting hit by redemptions, their credit lines are being pulled and they are having to sell furiously," he said. "Selling begets selling, which begets selling, which begets more selling."
While Dietze sees risks for the economy, he questions whether the rapidity of the stock market's retreat signals the pullback was overdone.
"We have a credit crunch which is morphing into a general recession and certainly a lot of the economic data points down but still, to come in this week and see the markets down 20 percent -- basically a bear market within a bear market just this month -- you wonder if there isn't just this massive overreaction," he said.
A rise in oil prices helped energy companies, some of which had weighed on the market earlier in the week as oil showed steep declines. Light, sweet crude rose $2 to settle at $71.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Thursday, it sank to a 14-month low on worries about a deep global recession obliterating fuel demand.
Chesapeake Energy Corp. rose $2.12, or 11.6 percent, to $20.47, while XTO Energy Inc. rose $2.08, or 7 percent, to $31.68.
Health stocks generally rose. UnitedHeatlh Group Inc. advanced $1.76, or 7.8 percent, to $24.39, while Schering Plough Corp. rose 71 cents, or 5.1 percent, to $14.76.
Late Thursday, Google Inc. posted a 26 percent increase in third-quarter profit. Google rose $19.52, or 5.5 percent, to $372.54; early Thursday, the Internet company's stock had fallen to a three-year low.
Economic readings that appeared to trouble the market early in the session seemed to lose their importance as investors looked to improvement in the credit markets.
The Commerce Department reported that housing starts fell more than 6 percent in September to an annual rate of 817,000 units. The figure is lower than the 880,000 units forecast by Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR. Building permits also sank.
The report was yet another piece of evidence that the nation is struggling with a weak economy that, if the financial crisis is not solved, could weaken. President Bush on Friday said in a speech that the credit market -- where many companies find funding for their operations -- will take a while to thaw, but that Americans should be confident that it will.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 10.14, or 1.89 percent, to 526.43.
Markets overseas were mostly higher Friday. In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 4.44 percent to its lowest level in almost three years, but Japan's Nikkei average rose 2.78 percent after a 11.4 percent loss Thursday. In Europe, Britain's FTSE index rose 5.22 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 3.43 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 4.68 percent.
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If news was so "cheery" and the market finished "quietly", how come it plummeted 400pts from the high to finish well in the red during the final 2 hours of trading?
If I was cynical (sic) I'd say it was an attempt by this media report to dampen the ol' fear factor again....
bigdog
Retired many years ago
- Joined
- 19 July 2006
- Posts
- 8,124
- Reactions
- 5,474
YSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street pulled back Tuesday as investors worried that companies' forecasts for the fourth quarter and beyond are signaling little easing of the weakness gripping the economy. After logging sharp gains the previous session, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 2.5 percent, while the Nasdaq composite index lost more than 4 percent following a weak showing by technology names.
Some retreat was to be expected after the Dow shot up 413 points on Monday. But investors poring over a mix of companies' third-quarter reports found enough unsettling outlooks, including forecasts from DuPont Co., Texas Instruments Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc.
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -231.77 points -2.50% on Tuesday October 21
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,033.66 -231.77 -2.50%
Nasdaq 1,696.68 -73.35 -4.14%
S&P 500 955.05 -30.35 -3.08%
30-yr Bond 4.1940% -0.0900
NYSE Volume 5,132,578,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,181,498,250
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,229.73 -52.94 -1.24%
DAX 4,784.41 -50.60 -1.05%
CAC 40 3,475.40 +26.89 +0.78%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 9,306.25 +300.66 +3.34%
Hang Seng 15,041.17 -281.84 -1.84%
Straits Times 1,920.79 -18.43 -0.95%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081021/wall_street.html
Stocks end lower amid mixed earnings reports
Tuesday October 21, 4:46 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Wall Street declines as investors worry over earnings outlooks; credit markets ease
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street pulled back Tuesday as investors worried that companies' forecasts for the fourth quarter and beyond are signaling little easing of the weakness gripping the economy. After logging sharp gains the previous session, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 2.5 percent, while the Nasdaq composite index lost more than 4 percent following a weak showing by technology names.
Some retreat was to be expected after the Dow shot up 413 points on Monday. But investors poring over a mix of companies' third-quarter reports found enough unsettling outlooks, including forecasts from DuPont Co., Texas Instruments Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc.
Still, investor anxiety appears to have lessened considerably compared with the previous two weeks when fears about a dearth of available credit and the health of the economy battered stocks across the globe.
Strains in the credit markets eased further in response to a sweeping series of bailout measures by world governments, including a joint U.S. and European plan to buy stakes in private banks to boost to their lending. Demand for Treasury bills, regarded as the safest assets around, lessened further Tuesday in a sign that credit markets are gradually returning to a healthy state.
But analysts have warned that the market will see a stretch of volatile sessions as Wall Street recovers from this month's huge drop. Although investors have been expecting third-quarter earnings, and even fourth-quarter forecasts, to reflect the damage from the financial system's problems, the reality of companies' reports have been unnerving.
"It's just this back-and-filling stuff. It's driven by earnings, yes, but also emotion," said Harry Clark, chief executive of Clark Capital Management in Philadelphia. "It's going to be this tug-of-war for a couple weeks at least."
The technology-focused Nasdaq saw steeper declines than the other major indexes after server and software company Sun Microsystems warned it would post a loss for its fiscal first quarter and book a write-down. Texas Instruments shares fell to their lowest level in more than five years after the chip maker turned in disappointing earnings and issued a lackluster forecast amid slowing orders.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 231.77, or 2.50 percent, to 9,033.66.
Broader indexes also declined. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 30.35, or 3.08 percent, to 955.05. The Nasdaq composite index shed 73.35, or 4.14 percent, to 1,696.68.
Declining issues outpaced advancers by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a light 1.16 billion shares compared with 1.23 billion traded Monday.
Kim Caughey, equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, said the absence of the steepest late-session selloffs in the past few days and the lighter trading volumes are signs that some order is returning to the market. At its worst during the past month, investors simply sold whatever they could and the crush of those cashing out weighed on the market. Much of that selling came in the final hour of trading, creating wild swings and massive pullbacks.
"There were a huge amount of redemptions both on the hedge fund side and the mutual fund side that were driving that in the darkest of days," she said, noting that investors now have more time to evaluate stocks on merit. "It's a more or less a normal reaction to company-specific news."
On Monday, markets spiked on more signs of a reviving credit market and support from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for further steps to aid the economy, including an additional stimulus package.
"There is light at the end of the tunnel that this credit crisis is coming to an end," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners. "But, until we see the credit markets turn to full normalcy, the stock market is going to be stop and go."
On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve took more steps to break through a credit clog that has hobbled lending and threatens to plunge the country into a deeper slowdown. The central bank announced it will start buying commercial paper -- a crucial short-term funding mechanism many companies rely on for day-to-day operations -- from money market mutual funds.
The three-month Treasury bill yielded 1.06 percent, down from 1.12 percent late Monday. The levels are a notable improvement from the 0.20 percent seen last Wednesday, when investors were willing to take the slimmest of returns in exchange for a safe place to keep their money.
Longer-term Treasurys rose. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.73 percent from 3.87 percent late Monday.
Meanwhile, bank-to-bank lending rates continued their retreat, another indication that credit is getting easier to obtain. The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, dropped to the lowest levels in more than a month Tuesday. The rate on three-month loans in dollars shed 0.23 percentage points to 3.83 percent, falling for the seventh straight day.
Besides being an indicator of the credit market's health, Libor is used to set rates for consumer loans including mortgages and credit cards.
The dollar was higher against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
In corporate news, Kirk Kerkorian's investment firm said it sold 7.3 million of its shares in Ford Motor Co. and plans further sales. He owns a 6.1 percent stake of the company, whose shares fell 16 cents, or 6.9 percent, to $2.17.
Texas Instruments fell $1.13, or 6.3 percent, to $16.85, trading as low as $15.85, the lowest level since March 2003. Meanwhile, Sun dropped $1.01, or 17.5 percent, to $4.77.
Among blue chips, DuPont fell $2.89, or 8 percent, to $33.28, while Pfizer Inc. ended unchanged at $17.34 after the drug maker's results narrowly topped projections for the third quarter.
Caterpillar Inc. fell $2.07, or 5.1 percent, to $38.83 after reporting that its third-quarter profit fell 6 percent. The world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment said higher raw material costs offset record global sales. The company, which noted "recessionary conditions" in North America, forecast flat sales for 2009.
Light, sweet crude fell $3.36 to settle at $70.89 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 16.19, or 2.96 percent, to 530.65.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 3.34 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.24 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.05 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.78 percent.
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street pulled back Tuesday as investors worried that companies' forecasts for the fourth quarter and beyond are signaling little easing of the weakness gripping the economy. After logging sharp gains the previous session, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 2.5 percent, while the Nasdaq composite index lost more than 4 percent following a weak showing by technology names.
Some retreat was to be expected after the Dow shot up 413 points on Monday. But investors poring over a mix of companies' third-quarter reports found enough unsettling outlooks, including forecasts from DuPont Co., Texas Instruments Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc.
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -231.77 points -2.50% on Tuesday October 21
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,033.66 -231.77 -2.50%
Nasdaq 1,696.68 -73.35 -4.14%
S&P 500 955.05 -30.35 -3.08%
30-yr Bond 4.1940% -0.0900
NYSE Volume 5,132,578,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,181,498,250
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,229.73 -52.94 -1.24%
DAX 4,784.41 -50.60 -1.05%
CAC 40 3,475.40 +26.89 +0.78%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 9,306.25 +300.66 +3.34%
Hang Seng 15,041.17 -281.84 -1.84%
Straits Times 1,920.79 -18.43 -0.95%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081021/wall_street.html
Stocks end lower amid mixed earnings reports
Tuesday October 21, 4:46 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Wall Street declines as investors worry over earnings outlooks; credit markets ease
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street pulled back Tuesday as investors worried that companies' forecasts for the fourth quarter and beyond are signaling little easing of the weakness gripping the economy. After logging sharp gains the previous session, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 2.5 percent, while the Nasdaq composite index lost more than 4 percent following a weak showing by technology names.
Some retreat was to be expected after the Dow shot up 413 points on Monday. But investors poring over a mix of companies' third-quarter reports found enough unsettling outlooks, including forecasts from DuPont Co., Texas Instruments Inc. and Sun Microsystems Inc.
Still, investor anxiety appears to have lessened considerably compared with the previous two weeks when fears about a dearth of available credit and the health of the economy battered stocks across the globe.
Strains in the credit markets eased further in response to a sweeping series of bailout measures by world governments, including a joint U.S. and European plan to buy stakes in private banks to boost to their lending. Demand for Treasury bills, regarded as the safest assets around, lessened further Tuesday in a sign that credit markets are gradually returning to a healthy state.
But analysts have warned that the market will see a stretch of volatile sessions as Wall Street recovers from this month's huge drop. Although investors have been expecting third-quarter earnings, and even fourth-quarter forecasts, to reflect the damage from the financial system's problems, the reality of companies' reports have been unnerving.
"It's just this back-and-filling stuff. It's driven by earnings, yes, but also emotion," said Harry Clark, chief executive of Clark Capital Management in Philadelphia. "It's going to be this tug-of-war for a couple weeks at least."
The technology-focused Nasdaq saw steeper declines than the other major indexes after server and software company Sun Microsystems warned it would post a loss for its fiscal first quarter and book a write-down. Texas Instruments shares fell to their lowest level in more than five years after the chip maker turned in disappointing earnings and issued a lackluster forecast amid slowing orders.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 231.77, or 2.50 percent, to 9,033.66.
Broader indexes also declined. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 30.35, or 3.08 percent, to 955.05. The Nasdaq composite index shed 73.35, or 4.14 percent, to 1,696.68.
Declining issues outpaced advancers by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a light 1.16 billion shares compared with 1.23 billion traded Monday.
Kim Caughey, equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group, said the absence of the steepest late-session selloffs in the past few days and the lighter trading volumes are signs that some order is returning to the market. At its worst during the past month, investors simply sold whatever they could and the crush of those cashing out weighed on the market. Much of that selling came in the final hour of trading, creating wild swings and massive pullbacks.
"There were a huge amount of redemptions both on the hedge fund side and the mutual fund side that were driving that in the darkest of days," she said, noting that investors now have more time to evaluate stocks on merit. "It's a more or less a normal reaction to company-specific news."
On Monday, markets spiked on more signs of a reviving credit market and support from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for further steps to aid the economy, including an additional stimulus package.
"There is light at the end of the tunnel that this credit crisis is coming to an end," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners. "But, until we see the credit markets turn to full normalcy, the stock market is going to be stop and go."
On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve took more steps to break through a credit clog that has hobbled lending and threatens to plunge the country into a deeper slowdown. The central bank announced it will start buying commercial paper -- a crucial short-term funding mechanism many companies rely on for day-to-day operations -- from money market mutual funds.
The three-month Treasury bill yielded 1.06 percent, down from 1.12 percent late Monday. The levels are a notable improvement from the 0.20 percent seen last Wednesday, when investors were willing to take the slimmest of returns in exchange for a safe place to keep their money.
Longer-term Treasurys rose. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.73 percent from 3.87 percent late Monday.
Meanwhile, bank-to-bank lending rates continued their retreat, another indication that credit is getting easier to obtain. The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, dropped to the lowest levels in more than a month Tuesday. The rate on three-month loans in dollars shed 0.23 percentage points to 3.83 percent, falling for the seventh straight day.
Besides being an indicator of the credit market's health, Libor is used to set rates for consumer loans including mortgages and credit cards.
The dollar was higher against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
In corporate news, Kirk Kerkorian's investment firm said it sold 7.3 million of its shares in Ford Motor Co. and plans further sales. He owns a 6.1 percent stake of the company, whose shares fell 16 cents, or 6.9 percent, to $2.17.
Texas Instruments fell $1.13, or 6.3 percent, to $16.85, trading as low as $15.85, the lowest level since March 2003. Meanwhile, Sun dropped $1.01, or 17.5 percent, to $4.77.
Among blue chips, DuPont fell $2.89, or 8 percent, to $33.28, while Pfizer Inc. ended unchanged at $17.34 after the drug maker's results narrowly topped projections for the third quarter.
Caterpillar Inc. fell $2.07, or 5.1 percent, to $38.83 after reporting that its third-quarter profit fell 6 percent. The world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment said higher raw material costs offset record global sales. The company, which noted "recessionary conditions" in North America, forecast flat sales for 2009.
Light, sweet crude fell $3.36 to settle at $70.89 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 16.19, or 2.96 percent, to 530.65.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 3.34 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.24 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.05 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.78 percent.
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bigdog
Retired many years ago
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NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street tumbled again Wednesday as investors worried that the global economy is poised to weaken even as parts of the credit market slowly show signs of recovery. The major indexes fell more than 4 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which finished off its lows with a loss of 515 points.
Corporate profit forecasts, a jump in the dollar and falling oil prices signaled investors are fearful that an economic slowdown will sweep the globe even if lending begins to approach more normal levels.
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -514.45 ponts-5.69% on Wednesday October 22
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,519.21 -514.45 -5.69%
Nasdaq 1,615.75 -80.93 -4.77%
S&P 500 896.78 -58.27 -6.10%
30-yr Bond 4.0880% -0.1060
NYSE Volume 6,260,657,500
Nasdaq Volume 2,623,335,500
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,040.89 -188.84 -4.46%
DAX 4,571.07 -213.34 -4.46%
CAC 40 3,298.18 -177.22 -5.10%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,674.69 -631.56 -6.79%
Hang Seng 14,266.60 -774.57 -5.15%
Straits Times 1,821.13 -99.66 -5.19%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081022/wall_street.html
AP
Dow skids more than 500 on profit forecast worries
Wednesday October 22, 5:20 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Dow tumbles more than 500 as unease shifts from credit to health of corporate earnings
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street tumbled again Wednesday as investors worried that the global economy is poised to weaken even as parts of the credit market slowly show signs of recovery. The major indexes fell more than 4 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which finished off its lows with a loss of 515 points.
Corporate profit forecasts, a jump in the dollar and falling oil prices signaled investors are fearful that an economic slowdown will sweep the globe even if lending begins to approach more normal levels.
The dollar hit multiyear highs against several other major currencies, weighing on commodity prices. That hurt raw materials and energy companies, while giving a boost to airlines. Technology shares fared better than the broader market following quarterly reports from Apple Inc. and Yahoo Inc.
While reduced strains in global credit markets have eased some investors' nervousness about the economy, market anxiety remains as hundreds of companies this week report third-quarter results and issue somewhat murky forecasts that are stirring unease about the economic bumps that may lay ahead.
Wachovia Corp., which is being bought by Wells Fargo & Co., reported that it swung to a huge loss in the third quarter while the drugmaker Merck & Co. said its quarterly profit fell 28 percent and that it would cut more than 10 percent of its work force.
John Thornton, co-portfolio manager at Stephens Investment Management Group LLC in Houston, said investors' fear has shifted from the immediate concerns about tightness in credit and the resulting difficulty in borrowing to the broader economy as companies come out with their quarterly numbers.
"Even if it weren't for the credit crisis we'd probably be looking toward a pretty tough recession anyway," he said. "The third-quarter earnings are kind of uninspiring but third quarter hasn't been the real concern of people. I think the concern is the depth and duration of the downturn and the effect it's going to have on earnings."
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 514.45, or 5.69 percent, to 8,519.21, after being down as much as 698 points in the final half hour of trading. Still, the Dow finished above its Oct. 10 closing low of 8,451. The Dow fell 231 points Tuesday after jumping 413 points Monday.
Broader stock indicators also fell Wednesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 58.27, or 6.10 percent, to 896.78, its lowest close since it finished at 892 on April 21, 2003.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 80.93, or 4.77 percent, to 1,615.75.
Light trading volume and the Dow's snapback -- a rebound in the final 20 minutes that left the blue chips 183 points above the session's low -- indicated that the trading was more orderly than it had been two weeks ago when waves of selling pounded the major indexes.
"I'm not as concerned about a pullback in the market when you have light volume," said Dave Hinnenkamp, chief executive KDV Wealth Management in Minneapolis.
Meanwhile, credit markets showed improvement after virtually freezing up in the past month. Bank-to-bank lending rates fell sharply overnight, indicating that credit is becoming easier to obtain. The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, on three-month loans in dollars fell to 3.54 percent from 3.83 percent, dropping for an eighth straight day.
Demand for Treasury bills, regarded as the safest assets around, grew slightly compared to the previous day as economic worries led investors to shun risky assets in favor of government bonds.
The three-month Treasury bill yielded 1.00 percent, down from 1.07 percent late Tuesday. The levels are a notable improvement from the 0.20 percent seen last Wednesday, when investors were willing to take the slimmest of returns in exchange for a safe place to keep their money.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.60 percent from 3.74 percent late Tuesday. The dollar was sharply higher against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
"We're making slow progress and confidence is returning but we're still not there yet," said Christopher Cordaro, chief investment officer at RegentAtlantic Capital LLC in Chatham, N.J.
He said the latest batch of quarterly results, which cover results through Sept. 30, don't reflect the full brunt of the credit freeze-up felt this month and the nervousness among some consumers following the stock market's swoon.
While he expects corporate results will continue to worsen, he also said the markets remain "in panic mode" and investors are perhaps being overly dour in their assessment of how the economy will perform in the next few years.
"When you look at the fundamentals of equities around the world, stocks are selling for very cheap prices," he said. "Behaviorally people project today's current bad news much further out into the future than they should."
Worries about the global economy helped the dollar. The greenback rose against currencies like the British pound and the euro as investors worried about sluggishness in overseas economies. The strong dollar helped drive down the price of oil, as did a government report that U.S. fuel supplies rose last week. Light, sweet crude fell $5.43 to $66.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling as low as $66.20.
Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. fell $1.63, or 13.4 percent, to $10.52 as commodities lost ground, making it the steepest decliner among the 30 stocks that make up the Dow industrials. Miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. fell $5.82, or 17.8 percent, to $26.92.
Energy issues fell as oil slid to its lowest level in 16 months. Exxon Mobil Corp. fell $6.93, or 9.7 percent, to $64.57, while Chevron Corp. fell $5.06, or 7.6 percent, to $61.74.
The decline in oil helped airlines. JetBlue Airways Corp. rose 2 cents, or 0.40 percent, to $5.01, and United Airlines parent UAL Corp. rose 85 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $14.65.
In corporate news, AT&T Inc. said its third-quarter earnings rose 5.5 percent but missed analyst expectations in part because of strong sales of iPhones, which the carrier subsidizes. The stock fell $1.95, or 7.6 percent, to $23.78.
Wachovia fell 38 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $5.71 after reporting its results. Merck slid $1.96, or 6.5 percent, to $28.01.
Some tech names advanced. Apple rose after the company reported a 26 percent increase in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. The stock rose $5.38, or 5.9 percent, to $98.87. Yahoo reported a 64 percent drop in third-quarter profits but said it would cut at least 1,500 jobs, cost-cutting that appeared to please investors. The shares rose 32 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $12.39.
Thornton said the latest corporate forecasts are difficult to rely on because companies are grappling with many of the same unknowns that investors are struggling with, primarily the extent of weakness in the economy.
"These markets are making it difficult to gauge how much to read into management comments because clearly they're dealing with unprecedented change in fundamentals. It's hard to take their word on their outlook," he said.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.56 billion shares.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 28.68, or 5.40 percent, to 501.97.
Markets overseas fell sharply. Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 6.79 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 4.46 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 4.46 percent, and France's CAC-40 lost 5.10 percent.
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street tumbled again Wednesday as investors worried that the global economy is poised to weaken even as parts of the credit market slowly show signs of recovery. The major indexes fell more than 4 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which finished off its lows with a loss of 515 points.
Corporate profit forecasts, a jump in the dollar and falling oil prices signaled investors are fearful that an economic slowdown will sweep the globe even if lending begins to approach more normal levels.
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -514.45 ponts-5.69% on Wednesday October 22
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,519.21 -514.45 -5.69%
Nasdaq 1,615.75 -80.93 -4.77%
S&P 500 896.78 -58.27 -6.10%
30-yr Bond 4.0880% -0.1060
NYSE Volume 6,260,657,500
Nasdaq Volume 2,623,335,500
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,040.89 -188.84 -4.46%
DAX 4,571.07 -213.34 -4.46%
CAC 40 3,298.18 -177.22 -5.10%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,674.69 -631.56 -6.79%
Hang Seng 14,266.60 -774.57 -5.15%
Straits Times 1,821.13 -99.66 -5.19%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081022/wall_street.html
AP
Dow skids more than 500 on profit forecast worries
Wednesday October 22, 5:20 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Dow tumbles more than 500 as unease shifts from credit to health of corporate earnings
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street tumbled again Wednesday as investors worried that the global economy is poised to weaken even as parts of the credit market slowly show signs of recovery. The major indexes fell more than 4 percent, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which finished off its lows with a loss of 515 points.
Corporate profit forecasts, a jump in the dollar and falling oil prices signaled investors are fearful that an economic slowdown will sweep the globe even if lending begins to approach more normal levels.
The dollar hit multiyear highs against several other major currencies, weighing on commodity prices. That hurt raw materials and energy companies, while giving a boost to airlines. Technology shares fared better than the broader market following quarterly reports from Apple Inc. and Yahoo Inc.
While reduced strains in global credit markets have eased some investors' nervousness about the economy, market anxiety remains as hundreds of companies this week report third-quarter results and issue somewhat murky forecasts that are stirring unease about the economic bumps that may lay ahead.
Wachovia Corp., which is being bought by Wells Fargo & Co., reported that it swung to a huge loss in the third quarter while the drugmaker Merck & Co. said its quarterly profit fell 28 percent and that it would cut more than 10 percent of its work force.
John Thornton, co-portfolio manager at Stephens Investment Management Group LLC in Houston, said investors' fear has shifted from the immediate concerns about tightness in credit and the resulting difficulty in borrowing to the broader economy as companies come out with their quarterly numbers.
"Even if it weren't for the credit crisis we'd probably be looking toward a pretty tough recession anyway," he said. "The third-quarter earnings are kind of uninspiring but third quarter hasn't been the real concern of people. I think the concern is the depth and duration of the downturn and the effect it's going to have on earnings."
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 514.45, or 5.69 percent, to 8,519.21, after being down as much as 698 points in the final half hour of trading. Still, the Dow finished above its Oct. 10 closing low of 8,451. The Dow fell 231 points Tuesday after jumping 413 points Monday.
Broader stock indicators also fell Wednesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 58.27, or 6.10 percent, to 896.78, its lowest close since it finished at 892 on April 21, 2003.
The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 80.93, or 4.77 percent, to 1,615.75.
Light trading volume and the Dow's snapback -- a rebound in the final 20 minutes that left the blue chips 183 points above the session's low -- indicated that the trading was more orderly than it had been two weeks ago when waves of selling pounded the major indexes.
"I'm not as concerned about a pullback in the market when you have light volume," said Dave Hinnenkamp, chief executive KDV Wealth Management in Minneapolis.
Meanwhile, credit markets showed improvement after virtually freezing up in the past month. Bank-to-bank lending rates fell sharply overnight, indicating that credit is becoming easier to obtain. The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, on three-month loans in dollars fell to 3.54 percent from 3.83 percent, dropping for an eighth straight day.
Demand for Treasury bills, regarded as the safest assets around, grew slightly compared to the previous day as economic worries led investors to shun risky assets in favor of government bonds.
The three-month Treasury bill yielded 1.00 percent, down from 1.07 percent late Tuesday. The levels are a notable improvement from the 0.20 percent seen last Wednesday, when investors were willing to take the slimmest of returns in exchange for a safe place to keep their money.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.60 percent from 3.74 percent late Tuesday. The dollar was sharply higher against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
"We're making slow progress and confidence is returning but we're still not there yet," said Christopher Cordaro, chief investment officer at RegentAtlantic Capital LLC in Chatham, N.J.
He said the latest batch of quarterly results, which cover results through Sept. 30, don't reflect the full brunt of the credit freeze-up felt this month and the nervousness among some consumers following the stock market's swoon.
While he expects corporate results will continue to worsen, he also said the markets remain "in panic mode" and investors are perhaps being overly dour in their assessment of how the economy will perform in the next few years.
"When you look at the fundamentals of equities around the world, stocks are selling for very cheap prices," he said. "Behaviorally people project today's current bad news much further out into the future than they should."
Worries about the global economy helped the dollar. The greenback rose against currencies like the British pound and the euro as investors worried about sluggishness in overseas economies. The strong dollar helped drive down the price of oil, as did a government report that U.S. fuel supplies rose last week. Light, sweet crude fell $5.43 to $66.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling as low as $66.20.
Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. fell $1.63, or 13.4 percent, to $10.52 as commodities lost ground, making it the steepest decliner among the 30 stocks that make up the Dow industrials. Miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. fell $5.82, or 17.8 percent, to $26.92.
Energy issues fell as oil slid to its lowest level in 16 months. Exxon Mobil Corp. fell $6.93, or 9.7 percent, to $64.57, while Chevron Corp. fell $5.06, or 7.6 percent, to $61.74.
The decline in oil helped airlines. JetBlue Airways Corp. rose 2 cents, or 0.40 percent, to $5.01, and United Airlines parent UAL Corp. rose 85 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $14.65.
In corporate news, AT&T Inc. said its third-quarter earnings rose 5.5 percent but missed analyst expectations in part because of strong sales of iPhones, which the carrier subsidizes. The stock fell $1.95, or 7.6 percent, to $23.78.
Wachovia fell 38 cents, or 6.2 percent, to $5.71 after reporting its results. Merck slid $1.96, or 6.5 percent, to $28.01.
Some tech names advanced. Apple rose after the company reported a 26 percent increase in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. The stock rose $5.38, or 5.9 percent, to $98.87. Yahoo reported a 64 percent drop in third-quarter profits but said it would cut at least 1,500 jobs, cost-cutting that appeared to please investors. The shares rose 32 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $12.39.
Thornton said the latest corporate forecasts are difficult to rely on because companies are grappling with many of the same unknowns that investors are struggling with, primarily the extent of weakness in the economy.
"These markets are making it difficult to gauge how much to read into management comments because clearly they're dealing with unprecedented change in fundamentals. It's hard to take their word on their outlook," he said.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.56 billion shares.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 28.68, or 5.40 percent, to 501.97.
Markets overseas fell sharply. Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 6.79 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 4.46 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 4.46 percent, and France's CAC-40 lost 5.10 percent.
Attachments
bigdog
Retired many years ago
- Joined
- 19 July 2006
- Posts
- 8,124
- Reactions
- 5,474
NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street spent another session buffeted by volatility Thursday, this time closing mixed after investors wrestled with their fears about the economy but also looked for bargains after two days of selling. While the Dow Jones industrials and Standard & Poor's 500 index rose sharply, a downdraft in tech stocks left the Nasdaq composite index with a loss.
Buying came in spurts and then tended to quickly evaporate as investors fretted that the economy is either in a recession or headed for one. Investors tended to gravitate toward big-name stocks seen as safer bets after a two-day selloff that sliced nearly 750 points from the Dow.
The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER +172.04 points +2.02% on Thurssday October 23
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,691.25 +172.04 +2.02%
Nasdaq 1,603.91 -11.84 -0.73%
S&P 500 908.11 +11.33 +1.26%
30-yr Bond 3.9690% -0.1190
NYSE Volume 7,247,448,500
Nasdaq Volume 3,177,970,000
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,087.83 +46.94 +1.16%
DAX 4,519.70 -51.37 -1.12%
CAC 40 3,310.87 +12.69 +0.38%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,460.98 -213.71 -2.46%
Hang Seng 13,760.49 -506.11 -3.55%
Straits Times 1,745.67 -75.46 -4.14%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081023/wall_street.html
Stocks end mixed as investors worry about economy
Thursday October 23, 5:06 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Wall Street ends mixed as investors worry about economy's health, search for bargains
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street spent another session buffeted by volatility Thursday, this time closing mixed after investors wrestled with their fears about the economy but also looked for bargains after two days of selling. While the Dow Jones industrials and Standard & Poor's 500 index rose sharply, a downdraft in tech stocks left the Nasdaq composite index with a loss.
Buying came in spurts and then tended to quickly evaporate as investors fretted that the economy is either in a recession or headed for one. Investors tended to gravitate toward big-name stocks seen as safer bets after a two-day selloff that sliced nearly 750 points from the Dow.
"I think that people feel that it's got to stop sliding someplace and they're looking basically for bargains," said Scott Fullman, director of derivatives investment strategy for WJB Capital Group in New York. "The analogy I'm using right now is that you can buy a BMW at Toyota prices. But there is still concern that better bargains can be had."
With its gyrations, Wall Street is living up to predictions that trading will remain volatile as investors try to test whether the market has formed a bottom.
Manny Weintraub, president of Integre Advisors in New York, said several of the market's attempts to rally have been short-circuited by sellers who had awaiting an opportunity to cash out and that some investors looking to snap up inexpensive stocks are worried about getting burned by further declines.
"A lot of bargain hunters came in last week and now that money has been spent and they can't hunt twice," he said.
Wall Street's jitters came as investors tried to extract clues about where the economy is headed from a mix of corporate news.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is preparing to cut about 10 percent of its work force, according to a person briefed on the plan who requested anonymity because the company hadn't publicly disclosed details of the plan. Dow Chemical Co. said its quarterly profit rose 6 percent, helped by price hikes that offset a nearly 50 percent increase in raw materials and energy costs.
Meanwhile, Amazon.com Inc. lowered its revenue guidance for the year amid a weakening economy; the news helped pummel tech and small-cap stocks.
Weintraub said Amazon's forecast is the latest disappointment from the technology sector, following lackluster reports from eBay Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. Some investors had hoped, apparently in vain, that the sector would sidestep some of the troubles hitting financial companies and other parts of the economy.
"As we go through earning season earnings are basically not great," Weintraub said.
A snapshot of the labor market signaled highlighted one of investors' worries about the fragility of the economy. The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for unemployment benefits rose 15,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 478,000. That was slightly above analysts' estimates of 470,000. Jobless claims above 400,000 are considered a sign of recession.
Investors viewed the data as more evidence that the financial crisis is battering the economy and forcing companies to cut back.
Thomas J. Lee, U.S. equities strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York, cautioned that Wall Street will need to rein in its sharp swings before some investors will feel confident enough to return.
"I don't think anyone can buy and sell stocks right now with conviction," he said.
The Dow rose 172.04, or 2.02 percent, to 8,691.25, after rising 277 points and falling by 276 points during the session. On Wednesday, the Dow lost 514 points as investors worried that the global economy is poised to weaken. That was on top of a 231-point loss Tuesday.
Broader stock indicators were mixed Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 11.33, or 1.26 percent, to 908.11, and the Nasdaq fell 11.84, or 0.73 percent, to 1,603.91.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 12.05, or 2.40 percent, to 489.92.
While the major indexes were mixed, declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 5 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.7 billion shares.
"You're not getting the volume associated with a normal triple-digit move in the Dow," Fullman said. "We should be at 2 billion shares."
He said the volume levels indicate that many investors aren't willing to step into the market.
The credit markets again showed signs of thawing after locking up when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. declared bankruptcy in mid-September.
An auction of $988 million in debt from failed bank Washington Mutual Inc. fetched a substantially higher price than was seen for a similar auction of Lehman Brothers debt earlier in the month. The sale priced $988 million of WaMu debt at 57 cents for every $1 of debt sold compared with the 8.625 cents on the dollar that a $4.92 billion sale of Lehman debt garnered.
Besides indicating greater confidence in WaMu's debt, the auction also indicated that some investors are becoming more willing to wade into risky debt following a range of coordinated moves by governments around the world to build confidence in the credit markets.
But the improvement in credit markets, which is expected to help revive lending to businesses and consumers, will take time. A key bank-to-bank lending measure has show significant improvement. The rate on three-month loans in dollars -- known as the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor -- was unchanged at 3.54 percent. The rate fell to that level on Wednesday and is the lowest since Sept. 24.
While demand for short-term Treasury bills rose, yields are well above where they were last week. The three-month bill, regarded as the safest assets around, yielded 0.97 percent, down from 1.01 percent late Wednesday. Last week the yield was at 0.20 percent, indicating investors were willing to trade the slimmest of returns for a safe place to keep their money.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.63 percent from 3.60 percent late Wednesday.
The dollar was mixed against other currencies after jumping to multiyear highs Wednesday, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude rose $1.09 to settle at $67.84 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell to a 16-month low on Wednesday as an increase in U.S. crude and gasoline stocks fed beliefs that weakness in the economy is eroding demand for energy.
Among individual stocks, Amazon.com rose 33 cents at $50.32 after trading as low as $43.31.
Goldman Sachs fell $6.13, or 5.3 percent, to $108.58, while Dow Chemical rose $3.23, or 10.5 percent, to $24.43.
Blue chips in the Dow that drew buyers included Boeing Co., up $3.61, or 8.4 percent, at $46.52, and 3M Co., which rose $3.35, or 5.8 percent, to $61.54.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 2.46 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.16 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.12 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.38 percent.
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street spent another session buffeted by volatility Thursday, this time closing mixed after investors wrestled with their fears about the economy but also looked for bargains after two days of selling. While the Dow Jones industrials and Standard & Poor's 500 index rose sharply, a downdraft in tech stocks left the Nasdaq composite index with a loss.
Buying came in spurts and then tended to quickly evaporate as investors fretted that the economy is either in a recession or headed for one. Investors tended to gravitate toward big-name stocks seen as safer bets after a two-day selloff that sliced nearly 750 points from the Dow.
The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER +172.04 points +2.02% on Thurssday October 23
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,691.25 +172.04 +2.02%
Nasdaq 1,603.91 -11.84 -0.73%
S&P 500 908.11 +11.33 +1.26%
30-yr Bond 3.9690% -0.1190
NYSE Volume 7,247,448,500
Nasdaq Volume 3,177,970,000
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,087.83 +46.94 +1.16%
DAX 4,519.70 -51.37 -1.12%
CAC 40 3,310.87 +12.69 +0.38%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,460.98 -213.71 -2.46%
Hang Seng 13,760.49 -506.11 -3.55%
Straits Times 1,745.67 -75.46 -4.14%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081023/wall_street.html
Stocks end mixed as investors worry about economy
Thursday October 23, 5:06 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Wall Street ends mixed as investors worry about economy's health, search for bargains
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street spent another session buffeted by volatility Thursday, this time closing mixed after investors wrestled with their fears about the economy but also looked for bargains after two days of selling. While the Dow Jones industrials and Standard & Poor's 500 index rose sharply, a downdraft in tech stocks left the Nasdaq composite index with a loss.
Buying came in spurts and then tended to quickly evaporate as investors fretted that the economy is either in a recession or headed for one. Investors tended to gravitate toward big-name stocks seen as safer bets after a two-day selloff that sliced nearly 750 points from the Dow.
"I think that people feel that it's got to stop sliding someplace and they're looking basically for bargains," said Scott Fullman, director of derivatives investment strategy for WJB Capital Group in New York. "The analogy I'm using right now is that you can buy a BMW at Toyota prices. But there is still concern that better bargains can be had."
With its gyrations, Wall Street is living up to predictions that trading will remain volatile as investors try to test whether the market has formed a bottom.
Manny Weintraub, president of Integre Advisors in New York, said several of the market's attempts to rally have been short-circuited by sellers who had awaiting an opportunity to cash out and that some investors looking to snap up inexpensive stocks are worried about getting burned by further declines.
"A lot of bargain hunters came in last week and now that money has been spent and they can't hunt twice," he said.
Wall Street's jitters came as investors tried to extract clues about where the economy is headed from a mix of corporate news.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is preparing to cut about 10 percent of its work force, according to a person briefed on the plan who requested anonymity because the company hadn't publicly disclosed details of the plan. Dow Chemical Co. said its quarterly profit rose 6 percent, helped by price hikes that offset a nearly 50 percent increase in raw materials and energy costs.
Meanwhile, Amazon.com Inc. lowered its revenue guidance for the year amid a weakening economy; the news helped pummel tech and small-cap stocks.
Weintraub said Amazon's forecast is the latest disappointment from the technology sector, following lackluster reports from eBay Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. Some investors had hoped, apparently in vain, that the sector would sidestep some of the troubles hitting financial companies and other parts of the economy.
"As we go through earning season earnings are basically not great," Weintraub said.
A snapshot of the labor market signaled highlighted one of investors' worries about the fragility of the economy. The Labor Department reported Thursday that new applications for unemployment benefits rose 15,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 478,000. That was slightly above analysts' estimates of 470,000. Jobless claims above 400,000 are considered a sign of recession.
Investors viewed the data as more evidence that the financial crisis is battering the economy and forcing companies to cut back.
Thomas J. Lee, U.S. equities strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York, cautioned that Wall Street will need to rein in its sharp swings before some investors will feel confident enough to return.
"I don't think anyone can buy and sell stocks right now with conviction," he said.
The Dow rose 172.04, or 2.02 percent, to 8,691.25, after rising 277 points and falling by 276 points during the session. On Wednesday, the Dow lost 514 points as investors worried that the global economy is poised to weaken. That was on top of a 231-point loss Tuesday.
Broader stock indicators were mixed Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 11.33, or 1.26 percent, to 908.11, and the Nasdaq fell 11.84, or 0.73 percent, to 1,603.91.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 12.05, or 2.40 percent, to 489.92.
While the major indexes were mixed, declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 5 to 3 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.7 billion shares.
"You're not getting the volume associated with a normal triple-digit move in the Dow," Fullman said. "We should be at 2 billion shares."
He said the volume levels indicate that many investors aren't willing to step into the market.
The credit markets again showed signs of thawing after locking up when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. declared bankruptcy in mid-September.
An auction of $988 million in debt from failed bank Washington Mutual Inc. fetched a substantially higher price than was seen for a similar auction of Lehman Brothers debt earlier in the month. The sale priced $988 million of WaMu debt at 57 cents for every $1 of debt sold compared with the 8.625 cents on the dollar that a $4.92 billion sale of Lehman debt garnered.
Besides indicating greater confidence in WaMu's debt, the auction also indicated that some investors are becoming more willing to wade into risky debt following a range of coordinated moves by governments around the world to build confidence in the credit markets.
But the improvement in credit markets, which is expected to help revive lending to businesses and consumers, will take time. A key bank-to-bank lending measure has show significant improvement. The rate on three-month loans in dollars -- known as the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor -- was unchanged at 3.54 percent. The rate fell to that level on Wednesday and is the lowest since Sept. 24.
While demand for short-term Treasury bills rose, yields are well above where they were last week. The three-month bill, regarded as the safest assets around, yielded 0.97 percent, down from 1.01 percent late Wednesday. Last week the yield was at 0.20 percent, indicating investors were willing to trade the slimmest of returns for a safe place to keep their money.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.63 percent from 3.60 percent late Wednesday.
The dollar was mixed against other currencies after jumping to multiyear highs Wednesday, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude rose $1.09 to settle at $67.84 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell to a 16-month low on Wednesday as an increase in U.S. crude and gasoline stocks fed beliefs that weakness in the economy is eroding demand for energy.
Among individual stocks, Amazon.com rose 33 cents at $50.32 after trading as low as $43.31.
Goldman Sachs fell $6.13, or 5.3 percent, to $108.58, while Dow Chemical rose $3.23, or 10.5 percent, to $24.43.
Blue chips in the Dow that drew buyers included Boeing Co., up $3.61, or 8.4 percent, at $46.52, and 3M Co., which rose $3.35, or 5.8 percent, to $61.54.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 2.46 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.16 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.12 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.38 percent.
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bigdog
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NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -312.30 points -3.59% on Friday October 24
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,378.95 -312.30 -3.59%
Nasdaq 1,552.03 -51.88 -3.23%
S&P 500 876.77 -31.34 -3.45%
30-yr Bond 4.0870% +0.1180
NYSE Volume 6,656,668,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,693,114,000
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 3,883.36 -204.47 -5.00%
DAX 4,295.67 -224.03 -4.96%
CAC 40 3,193.79 -117.08 -3.54%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 7,649.08 -811.90 -9.60%
Hang Seng 12,618.38 -1,142.11 -8.30%
Straits Times 1,600.28 -145.39 -8.33%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081024/wall_street.html
Stocks fall on belief global recession is at hand
Friday October 24, 6:11 pm ET
By Tim Paradis and Sara Lepro, AP Business Writers
Wall Street tumbles on growing belief that severe global recession is at hand; Dow falls 312
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street joined stock markets around the world in a huge sell off Friday, sending major market indexes to their lowest levels in more than five years on the belief that a punishing economic recession is at hand. A grim outlook from electronics maker Sony helped trigger the selling, and another bleak forecast from the automaker Daimler added momentum to the drop.
U.S. trading was dramatic and fractious, with the Dow Jones industrials falling more than 500 points soon after the opening bell. The blue chips followed the pattern of recent sessions, recovering ground only to fall sharply again, before ending the day with a loss of 312. All the major indexes fell more than 3 percent.
The pullback on Wall Street, while steep, wasn't as bad as some observers had feared after stocks plunged overseas in response to another round of grim corporate news. Sony's profit warning sent its shares tumbling in Japan and offered only the latest example that companies are girding for a slowing economy and a pullback among consumers worried about falling home prices and losses on their investments.
And in Germany, Daimler's stock fell sharply after the company reported lower third-quarter earnings and abandoned its 2008 profit and revenue forecast. That followed news in the U.S. late Thursday from Microsoft Corp., which issued a weaker-than-expected forecast for its fiscal second quarter, pointing to the economy; other big U.S. companies have scaled back their forecasts as they announced third-quarter earnings.
"People have been saying that we're in a recession. This is the realization," said Scott Fullman, director of derivatives investment strategy for WJB Capital Group in New York.
It is clear that many investors are convinced the world economy is headed for a severe downturn even as governments have raced to revive credit markets on the hope that a return of more normal lending levels by banks and other financial houses will fan economic activity.
But some say the recent pullbacks have been set off by forced selling, keeping some bargain-seeking traders from entering the market.
"There's nothing new going on," said Scott Bleier, president of market advisory service CreateCapital.com. "This is all about the unwinding of massive leverage."
Bleier attributed the declines to margin calls and investors in hedge funds and mutual funds cashing out. A margin call occurs when investors are forced to sell holdings, like stock, to raise cash at the demands of brokers.
"Market participants' fear is not that the economy is slowing," he said. "The fear is there is an endless supply of things for sale, regardless of price."
Steve Gross, principal at alternative investment and advisory firm Penso Capital Markets, said most large hedge funds have already slashed their positions. Instead, he sees a lack of demand: "There are no buyers at all."
Investors were nervous going into the session after U.S. stock futures -- the bets traders place on where the market will go -- fell so sharply before Friday's opening bell that selling halts were imposed.
By the close, the Dow fell 312.30, or 3.59 percent, to 8,378.95 after falling 504 in the early going. Still, the blue chips remained above 8,000; at its recent low of Oct. 10, the Dow traded down to 7,882.51 but it hasn't finished below that level since 2003.
Broader stock indicators also fell Friday. The S&P 500 index declined 31.34, or 3.45 percent, to 876.77, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 51.88, or 3.23 percent, to 1,552.03.
Friday's finish was the lowest for the Dow since April 25, 2003, when it ended at 8,306.35. For the S&P 500, it was the lowest ending since April 11, 2003, when the index finished at 868.30. It was the Nasdaq's lowest close since a May 23, 2003, finish of 1,510.09.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies ended Friday down 18.80, or 3.84 percent, at 471.12.
Declining issues outpaced advancers by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 6.45 billion shares compared with 7.05 billion shares traded Thursday.
Friday was the 79th anniversary of the day that, according to many market historians, the October 1929 stock market crash began. Selling began on Thursday, Oct. 24, and accelerated the following week on the days that have since become known as Black Monday and Black Tuesday, Oct 28 and 29.
For the week, the Dow fell 5.35 percent, the S&P 500 lost 6.78 percent and the Nasdaq fell 9.31 percent. The week's selling left the Dow down 40.9 percent from its Oct. 9, 2007, record close of 14,164.53, while the S&P 500 is off 44 percent from its peak of a year ago. The Nasdaq is down 45.7 percent.
The Dow hasn't had an up week since the week ended Sept. 12, while the S&P500 and Nasdaq last turned in a winning weekly performance the following week, which ended Sept. 19.
U.S. stock market paper losses came to about $800 billion for the week, according to the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index, which represents nearly all stocks traded in America.
Jason Weisberg, a New York Stock Exchange trader for Seaport Securities, contends the selling has been overdone.
"Technically we're way oversold," he said. "We have these downdrafts on very light volume. But all that being said, historically speaking this is all unprecedented."
The panicky feeling ahead of the opening bell came after Japan's Nikkei stock average fell a staggering 9.60 percent. In Europe, Germany's benchmark DAX index lost 4.96 percent, France's CAC40 dropped 3.54 percent while Britain's FTSE 100 sank 5 percent after the government said its gross domestic product fell 0.5 percent in the third quarter, putting the country on the brink of recession.
Demand for U.S. Treasurys remained high as investors sought safe places to put their money. The yield on the three-month bill, regarded as the safest asset around, fell to 0.82 percent from 0.94 percent late Thursday.
There were signs that credit markets continue to thaw but are doing so more slowly amid growing economic fears. The rate on three-month loans in dollars -- a key bank-to-bank lending benchmark known as the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor -- fell to 3.52 percent from 3.54 percent on Thursday.
The rates have fallen steadily for 10 days as confidence in the banking industry has been helped by government rescue measures. However, the improvements were smaller Friday on concerns about the health of the global economy.
"We've moved from credit market concerns to economic concerns and people really don't know what the impact on the economy is going to be, they don't know the full impact. The market abhors uncertainty," said Ben Halliburton, chief investment officer of Tradition Capital Management in Summit, N.J.
Gold futures briefly fell to their lowest level in 21 months Friday as the dollar strengthened and the drop in the world's stock markets led investors to sell commodities to offset massive losses in equities. Gold regained much of what it lost later in the day though prices remain down by about 20 percent since the start of the month.
Ordinarily, gold is seen as a safe-haven investment during market upheavals.
Other commodities declined. Light, sweet crude fell $3.69 to settle at $64.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The sell-off, another sign that investors fear a severe recession, came despite OPEC's announcement that it will cut production by 1.5 million barrels a day to boost sagging prices.
The dollar has risen as a safety holding despite fears about the U.S. economy. Investors appear more worried about the stability of emerging markets. That's hurting the euro, for example, because Iceland, Hungary, Ukraine and Belarus are all in talks with the International Monetary Fund to discuss possible loans. Investors are also pulling money out of countries in Latin America and Asia amid worries about vulnerable countries.
Investors had been bracing for a rocky start on Wall Street after futures contracts for the Dow and the S&P 500 fell so low they triggered "circuit breakers," which froze selling until the market's 9:30 a.m. EDT open. That slide raised the possibility that these emergency breaks intended to prevent panic selling could be triggered during the regular session -- something that hasn't happened since 1997. But the Dow's decline was well short of the 10 percent, or 1,100-point, decline that would be needed to halt trading.
The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index -- a free-float weighted index that measures 5,000 U.S. based companies -- ended at 9,514.37, down 403.02 points, or 4.24 percent, for the week. A year ago, the index was at 15,337.70.
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -312.30 points -3.59% on Friday October 24
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,378.95 -312.30 -3.59%
Nasdaq 1,552.03 -51.88 -3.23%
S&P 500 876.77 -31.34 -3.45%
30-yr Bond 4.0870% +0.1180
NYSE Volume 6,656,668,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,693,114,000
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 3,883.36 -204.47 -5.00%
DAX 4,295.67 -224.03 -4.96%
CAC 40 3,193.79 -117.08 -3.54%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 7,649.08 -811.90 -9.60%
Hang Seng 12,618.38 -1,142.11 -8.30%
Straits Times 1,600.28 -145.39 -8.33%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081024/wall_street.html
Stocks fall on belief global recession is at hand
Friday October 24, 6:11 pm ET
By Tim Paradis and Sara Lepro, AP Business Writers
Wall Street tumbles on growing belief that severe global recession is at hand; Dow falls 312
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street joined stock markets around the world in a huge sell off Friday, sending major market indexes to their lowest levels in more than five years on the belief that a punishing economic recession is at hand. A grim outlook from electronics maker Sony helped trigger the selling, and another bleak forecast from the automaker Daimler added momentum to the drop.
U.S. trading was dramatic and fractious, with the Dow Jones industrials falling more than 500 points soon after the opening bell. The blue chips followed the pattern of recent sessions, recovering ground only to fall sharply again, before ending the day with a loss of 312. All the major indexes fell more than 3 percent.
The pullback on Wall Street, while steep, wasn't as bad as some observers had feared after stocks plunged overseas in response to another round of grim corporate news. Sony's profit warning sent its shares tumbling in Japan and offered only the latest example that companies are girding for a slowing economy and a pullback among consumers worried about falling home prices and losses on their investments.
And in Germany, Daimler's stock fell sharply after the company reported lower third-quarter earnings and abandoned its 2008 profit and revenue forecast. That followed news in the U.S. late Thursday from Microsoft Corp., which issued a weaker-than-expected forecast for its fiscal second quarter, pointing to the economy; other big U.S. companies have scaled back their forecasts as they announced third-quarter earnings.
"People have been saying that we're in a recession. This is the realization," said Scott Fullman, director of derivatives investment strategy for WJB Capital Group in New York.
It is clear that many investors are convinced the world economy is headed for a severe downturn even as governments have raced to revive credit markets on the hope that a return of more normal lending levels by banks and other financial houses will fan economic activity.
But some say the recent pullbacks have been set off by forced selling, keeping some bargain-seeking traders from entering the market.
"There's nothing new going on," said Scott Bleier, president of market advisory service CreateCapital.com. "This is all about the unwinding of massive leverage."
Bleier attributed the declines to margin calls and investors in hedge funds and mutual funds cashing out. A margin call occurs when investors are forced to sell holdings, like stock, to raise cash at the demands of brokers.
"Market participants' fear is not that the economy is slowing," he said. "The fear is there is an endless supply of things for sale, regardless of price."
Steve Gross, principal at alternative investment and advisory firm Penso Capital Markets, said most large hedge funds have already slashed their positions. Instead, he sees a lack of demand: "There are no buyers at all."
Investors were nervous going into the session after U.S. stock futures -- the bets traders place on where the market will go -- fell so sharply before Friday's opening bell that selling halts were imposed.
By the close, the Dow fell 312.30, or 3.59 percent, to 8,378.95 after falling 504 in the early going. Still, the blue chips remained above 8,000; at its recent low of Oct. 10, the Dow traded down to 7,882.51 but it hasn't finished below that level since 2003.
Broader stock indicators also fell Friday. The S&P 500 index declined 31.34, or 3.45 percent, to 876.77, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 51.88, or 3.23 percent, to 1,552.03.
Friday's finish was the lowest for the Dow since April 25, 2003, when it ended at 8,306.35. For the S&P 500, it was the lowest ending since April 11, 2003, when the index finished at 868.30. It was the Nasdaq's lowest close since a May 23, 2003, finish of 1,510.09.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies ended Friday down 18.80, or 3.84 percent, at 471.12.
Declining issues outpaced advancers by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 6.45 billion shares compared with 7.05 billion shares traded Thursday.
Friday was the 79th anniversary of the day that, according to many market historians, the October 1929 stock market crash began. Selling began on Thursday, Oct. 24, and accelerated the following week on the days that have since become known as Black Monday and Black Tuesday, Oct 28 and 29.
For the week, the Dow fell 5.35 percent, the S&P 500 lost 6.78 percent and the Nasdaq fell 9.31 percent. The week's selling left the Dow down 40.9 percent from its Oct. 9, 2007, record close of 14,164.53, while the S&P 500 is off 44 percent from its peak of a year ago. The Nasdaq is down 45.7 percent.
The Dow hasn't had an up week since the week ended Sept. 12, while the S&P500 and Nasdaq last turned in a winning weekly performance the following week, which ended Sept. 19.
U.S. stock market paper losses came to about $800 billion for the week, according to the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index, which represents nearly all stocks traded in America.
Jason Weisberg, a New York Stock Exchange trader for Seaport Securities, contends the selling has been overdone.
"Technically we're way oversold," he said. "We have these downdrafts on very light volume. But all that being said, historically speaking this is all unprecedented."
The panicky feeling ahead of the opening bell came after Japan's Nikkei stock average fell a staggering 9.60 percent. In Europe, Germany's benchmark DAX index lost 4.96 percent, France's CAC40 dropped 3.54 percent while Britain's FTSE 100 sank 5 percent after the government said its gross domestic product fell 0.5 percent in the third quarter, putting the country on the brink of recession.
Demand for U.S. Treasurys remained high as investors sought safe places to put their money. The yield on the three-month bill, regarded as the safest asset around, fell to 0.82 percent from 0.94 percent late Thursday.
There were signs that credit markets continue to thaw but are doing so more slowly amid growing economic fears. The rate on three-month loans in dollars -- a key bank-to-bank lending benchmark known as the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor -- fell to 3.52 percent from 3.54 percent on Thursday.
The rates have fallen steadily for 10 days as confidence in the banking industry has been helped by government rescue measures. However, the improvements were smaller Friday on concerns about the health of the global economy.
"We've moved from credit market concerns to economic concerns and people really don't know what the impact on the economy is going to be, they don't know the full impact. The market abhors uncertainty," said Ben Halliburton, chief investment officer of Tradition Capital Management in Summit, N.J.
Gold futures briefly fell to their lowest level in 21 months Friday as the dollar strengthened and the drop in the world's stock markets led investors to sell commodities to offset massive losses in equities. Gold regained much of what it lost later in the day though prices remain down by about 20 percent since the start of the month.
Ordinarily, gold is seen as a safe-haven investment during market upheavals.
Other commodities declined. Light, sweet crude fell $3.69 to settle at $64.15 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The sell-off, another sign that investors fear a severe recession, came despite OPEC's announcement that it will cut production by 1.5 million barrels a day to boost sagging prices.
The dollar has risen as a safety holding despite fears about the U.S. economy. Investors appear more worried about the stability of emerging markets. That's hurting the euro, for example, because Iceland, Hungary, Ukraine and Belarus are all in talks with the International Monetary Fund to discuss possible loans. Investors are also pulling money out of countries in Latin America and Asia amid worries about vulnerable countries.
Investors had been bracing for a rocky start on Wall Street after futures contracts for the Dow and the S&P 500 fell so low they triggered "circuit breakers," which froze selling until the market's 9:30 a.m. EDT open. That slide raised the possibility that these emergency breaks intended to prevent panic selling could be triggered during the regular session -- something that hasn't happened since 1997. But the Dow's decline was well short of the 10 percent, or 1,100-point, decline that would be needed to halt trading.
The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index -- a free-float weighted index that measures 5,000 U.S. based companies -- ended at 9,514.37, down 403.02 points, or 4.24 percent, for the week. A year ago, the index was at 15,337.70.
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bigdog
Retired many years ago
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NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street has ended another highly volatile session with a big last-minute loss as the market's stubborn worries about a protracted economic downturn and tight credit erased budding optimism about a housing sector recovery. The Dow Jones industrial average skidded 203 points, with almost all the decline coming in the last 10 minutes.
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -203.18 points -2.42% on Monday October 27
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,175.77 -203.18 -2.42%
Nasdaq 1,505.90 -46.13 -2.97%
S&P 500 848.92 -27.85 -3.18%
30-yr Bond 4.1050% +0.0180
NYSE Volume 5,608,561,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,277,592,500
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 3,852.59 -30.77 -0.79%
DAX 4,334.64 +38.97 +0.91%
CAC 40 3,067.35 -126.44 -3.96%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 7,162.90 -486.18 -6.36%
Hang Seng 11,015.84 -1,602.54 -12.70%
Straits Times 1,600.28 closed for holiday
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081027/wall_street.html
Stocks end lower as financials give up early gains
Monday October 27, 5:04 pm ET
By Tim Paradis and Madlen Read, AP Business Writer
Stocks end erratic day down on worries about credit, economy; banks give up early gains
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street has ended another highly volatile session with a big last-minute loss as the market's stubborn worries about a protracted economic downturn and tight credit erased budding optimism about a housing sector recovery. The Dow Jones industrial average skidded 203 points, with almost all the decline coming in the last 10 minutes.
The Street's back-and-forth moves were typical for a turbulent market that has seen many recent rallies evaporate -- particularly as hedge and mutual funds sell off even strong assets so they can meet investors' demands for their money back. These forced sell-offs tend to happen late in the day, when the funds figure out how much cash they'll need to meet redemptions.
But the market's anxiety also increases as the closing bell approaches, especially with growing concern about the spread of the financial crisis overseas. News from Asia and Europe tends to break overnight and before trading on Wall Street resumes in the morning.
"We were trading higher earlier on very light volume, but the buyers just couldn't gather enough momentum to keep it going," said Alfred E. Goldman, chief market strategist at Wachovia Securities. "When confidence is razor-thin, the nervous tension goes way up and bam -- the sellers take over."
"It's just an overall malaise about how bad the economic slump is going to be globally," he said.
That malaise grew particularly after credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service in the last half-hour of trading Monday downgraded General Motors Corp. further into "junk" status, pointing to the sharp contraction of the U.S. auto market. Shares of GM, one of the 30 Dow components, sank 50 cents, or 8.4 percent, to $5.45.
Earlier, banks got a boost after the Treasury said it signed agreements with nine financial institutions to buy stock in the companies this week. An upbeat home sales report also gave the market support until late afternoon.
The Dow fell 203.18, or 2.42 percent, to 8,175.77 after earlier rising by as many as 220 points. Even before the late-day selloff, it was an incredibly volatile day for Wall Street -- the Dow crossed between positive and negative territory 60 times during the session.
Broader stock indicators showed even more sizable losses. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 27.85, or 3.18 percent, to 848.92, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 46.13, or 2.97 percent, to 1,505.90.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 22.72, or 4.82 percent, to 448.40.
The waffling in the market came amid light trading volumes ahead of possible interest rate moves from central banks -- including the Federal Reserve, which is set to begin a two-day meeting Tuesday. The Fed is expected to lower its fed funds rate by a half-point to 1 percent on Wednesday. Investors are also optimistic that the European Central Bank is moving toward its own cut after President Jean-Claude Trichet said Monday such a step was "a possibility."
But while policymakers around the world have been trying to find a remedy for the fear of bad debt that has paralyzed parts of the credit markets in the past month, lending conditions have eased only slightly. Investors are worried that a drop-off in lending has damaged the economy.
The U.S. government is taking some of its first steps to steady the banking sector. The Treasury said it signed agreements with nine banks and will buy stock in the companies this week. The proceeds from the stock sales are intended to bolster the banks' balance sheets so they will begin more normal lending.
"Clearly, what's most important is that the funding crisis needs to be contained at this point," said Chris Orndorff, director of equity strategy at Payden & Rygel in Los Angeles. "The banks need to start taking on some more risks," he said. "I think it's going to take months."
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.34 billion shares.
Light, sweet crude fell 93 cents to settle at $63.22 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The gyrations in U.S. stocks have been sizable since the market's peak a year ago, but particularly since last month's bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the government rescue of insurer American International Group. With investors uncertain about the economy, the market appears to be bouncing along a rocky bottom after falling sharply earlier this month.
News that sales of new homes increased in September was a welcome surprise. While median home prices have dropped to the lowest level in four years, investors appeared pleased -- at least initially -- that the market was beginning to chip away at an inventory glut. The Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes rose by 2.7 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 homes. Economists had expected sales would drop from August.
But home prices -- a big factor causing banks to tighten their lending standards -- are still falling. The median price of a new home declined by 9.1 percent from a year ago to $218,400, its lowest level since September 2004.
While most large banks ended the session lower, a few regional banks still finished higher after the Treasury began rolling out its investments. Fifth Third Bancorp. rose 40 cents, or 5 percent, to $8.47, First Horizon rose 94 cents, or 10.9 percent, to $9.58.
The biggest gainer in the Dow was Verizon, which rose $2.53, or 10.1 percent, to $27.61, after it reported that its third-quarter earnings rose 31 percent. Its wireless business revealed stronger-than-expected results.
Even with several pieces of welcome news, investors around the world remain worried about the prospects for economic expansion. A surge in the yen illustrated investors' nervousness about how much economic activity could slow. The yen is seen as a safe haven holding for investors who contend the Japanese economy will fare better in a global recession.
Greg Church, chief investment officer of Church Capital Management in Yardley, Pa., contends the markets likely will remain volatile as hedge funds and mutual funds step into the market to sell. He also expects that some skittish investors will look to sell their positions as rallies emerge but that the severity of the market's recent sell-off has left it overdue for a rally, even if it's only temporary.
"We probably are due for some type of a bounce. Bear market rallies can be beautiful things. I think we could get one of those things sooner than later," he said.
Investors uneasy about where the market is headed continued to propel demand for the safety of government debt. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.69 percent from 3.72 percent late Friday. The dollar was higher against most other major currencies, except the yen, while gold prices rose.
The yield on the three-month bill, regarded as the safest asset around, fell to 0.77 percent from 0.82 percent late Thursday.
A key bank-to-bank lending rate slipped Monday. The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, on three-month loans in dollars dipped to 3.51 percent from 3.52 percent on Friday. While Libor has fallen steadily for over 10 days as confidence slowly returns to the banking system, investors remain skittish, particularly overseas.
The Nikkei fell 6.4 percent to its lowest level since October 1982, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 12.7 percent, its lowest finish in more than four years and its biggest single-session drop since 1991.
In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.79 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.91 percent, and France's CAC-40 declined 3.96 percent. Stocks in Europe pulled well off their lows after Wall Street traded better than expected after Asia's selloff and after Trichet raised the prospect of an interest rate cut.
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street has ended another highly volatile session with a big last-minute loss as the market's stubborn worries about a protracted economic downturn and tight credit erased budding optimism about a housing sector recovery. The Dow Jones industrial average skidded 203 points, with almost all the decline coming in the last 10 minutes.
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -203.18 points -2.42% on Monday October 27
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,175.77 -203.18 -2.42%
Nasdaq 1,505.90 -46.13 -2.97%
S&P 500 848.92 -27.85 -3.18%
30-yr Bond 4.1050% +0.0180
NYSE Volume 5,608,561,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,277,592,500
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 3,852.59 -30.77 -0.79%
DAX 4,334.64 +38.97 +0.91%
CAC 40 3,067.35 -126.44 -3.96%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 7,162.90 -486.18 -6.36%
Hang Seng 11,015.84 -1,602.54 -12.70%
Straits Times 1,600.28 closed for holiday
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081027/wall_street.html
Stocks end lower as financials give up early gains
Monday October 27, 5:04 pm ET
By Tim Paradis and Madlen Read, AP Business Writer
Stocks end erratic day down on worries about credit, economy; banks give up early gains
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street has ended another highly volatile session with a big last-minute loss as the market's stubborn worries about a protracted economic downturn and tight credit erased budding optimism about a housing sector recovery. The Dow Jones industrial average skidded 203 points, with almost all the decline coming in the last 10 minutes.
The Street's back-and-forth moves were typical for a turbulent market that has seen many recent rallies evaporate -- particularly as hedge and mutual funds sell off even strong assets so they can meet investors' demands for their money back. These forced sell-offs tend to happen late in the day, when the funds figure out how much cash they'll need to meet redemptions.
But the market's anxiety also increases as the closing bell approaches, especially with growing concern about the spread of the financial crisis overseas. News from Asia and Europe tends to break overnight and before trading on Wall Street resumes in the morning.
"We were trading higher earlier on very light volume, but the buyers just couldn't gather enough momentum to keep it going," said Alfred E. Goldman, chief market strategist at Wachovia Securities. "When confidence is razor-thin, the nervous tension goes way up and bam -- the sellers take over."
"It's just an overall malaise about how bad the economic slump is going to be globally," he said.
That malaise grew particularly after credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service in the last half-hour of trading Monday downgraded General Motors Corp. further into "junk" status, pointing to the sharp contraction of the U.S. auto market. Shares of GM, one of the 30 Dow components, sank 50 cents, or 8.4 percent, to $5.45.
Earlier, banks got a boost after the Treasury said it signed agreements with nine financial institutions to buy stock in the companies this week. An upbeat home sales report also gave the market support until late afternoon.
The Dow fell 203.18, or 2.42 percent, to 8,175.77 after earlier rising by as many as 220 points. Even before the late-day selloff, it was an incredibly volatile day for Wall Street -- the Dow crossed between positive and negative territory 60 times during the session.
Broader stock indicators showed even more sizable losses. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 27.85, or 3.18 percent, to 848.92, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 46.13, or 2.97 percent, to 1,505.90.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 22.72, or 4.82 percent, to 448.40.
The waffling in the market came amid light trading volumes ahead of possible interest rate moves from central banks -- including the Federal Reserve, which is set to begin a two-day meeting Tuesday. The Fed is expected to lower its fed funds rate by a half-point to 1 percent on Wednesday. Investors are also optimistic that the European Central Bank is moving toward its own cut after President Jean-Claude Trichet said Monday such a step was "a possibility."
But while policymakers around the world have been trying to find a remedy for the fear of bad debt that has paralyzed parts of the credit markets in the past month, lending conditions have eased only slightly. Investors are worried that a drop-off in lending has damaged the economy.
The U.S. government is taking some of its first steps to steady the banking sector. The Treasury said it signed agreements with nine banks and will buy stock in the companies this week. The proceeds from the stock sales are intended to bolster the banks' balance sheets so they will begin more normal lending.
"Clearly, what's most important is that the funding crisis needs to be contained at this point," said Chris Orndorff, director of equity strategy at Payden & Rygel in Los Angeles. "The banks need to start taking on some more risks," he said. "I think it's going to take months."
Declining issues outnumbered advancers by about 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.34 billion shares.
Light, sweet crude fell 93 cents to settle at $63.22 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The gyrations in U.S. stocks have been sizable since the market's peak a year ago, but particularly since last month's bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the government rescue of insurer American International Group. With investors uncertain about the economy, the market appears to be bouncing along a rocky bottom after falling sharply earlier this month.
News that sales of new homes increased in September was a welcome surprise. While median home prices have dropped to the lowest level in four years, investors appeared pleased -- at least initially -- that the market was beginning to chip away at an inventory glut. The Commerce Department reported that sales of new single-family homes rose by 2.7 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 homes. Economists had expected sales would drop from August.
But home prices -- a big factor causing banks to tighten their lending standards -- are still falling. The median price of a new home declined by 9.1 percent from a year ago to $218,400, its lowest level since September 2004.
While most large banks ended the session lower, a few regional banks still finished higher after the Treasury began rolling out its investments. Fifth Third Bancorp. rose 40 cents, or 5 percent, to $8.47, First Horizon rose 94 cents, or 10.9 percent, to $9.58.
The biggest gainer in the Dow was Verizon, which rose $2.53, or 10.1 percent, to $27.61, after it reported that its third-quarter earnings rose 31 percent. Its wireless business revealed stronger-than-expected results.
Even with several pieces of welcome news, investors around the world remain worried about the prospects for economic expansion. A surge in the yen illustrated investors' nervousness about how much economic activity could slow. The yen is seen as a safe haven holding for investors who contend the Japanese economy will fare better in a global recession.
Greg Church, chief investment officer of Church Capital Management in Yardley, Pa., contends the markets likely will remain volatile as hedge funds and mutual funds step into the market to sell. He also expects that some skittish investors will look to sell their positions as rallies emerge but that the severity of the market's recent sell-off has left it overdue for a rally, even if it's only temporary.
"We probably are due for some type of a bounce. Bear market rallies can be beautiful things. I think we could get one of those things sooner than later," he said.
Investors uneasy about where the market is headed continued to propel demand for the safety of government debt. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.69 percent from 3.72 percent late Friday. The dollar was higher against most other major currencies, except the yen, while gold prices rose.
The yield on the three-month bill, regarded as the safest asset around, fell to 0.77 percent from 0.82 percent late Thursday.
A key bank-to-bank lending rate slipped Monday. The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, on three-month loans in dollars dipped to 3.51 percent from 3.52 percent on Friday. While Libor has fallen steadily for over 10 days as confidence slowly returns to the banking system, investors remain skittish, particularly overseas.
The Nikkei fell 6.4 percent to its lowest level since October 1982, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index tumbled 12.7 percent, its lowest finish in more than four years and its biggest single-session drop since 1991.
In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.79 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.91 percent, and France's CAC-40 declined 3.96 percent. Stocks in Europe pulled well off their lows after Wall Street traded better than expected after Asia's selloff and after Trichet raised the prospect of an interest rate cut.
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Finally, it's a positive day.
Dows up 8% with minutes to go.
Its about time!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=5d&l=on&z=m&q=l&p=&a=&c=^DJI&s=^dji
Dows up 8% with minutes to go.
Its about time!
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?t=5d&l=on&z=m&q=l&p=&a=&c=^DJI&s=^dji
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bigdog
Retired many years ago
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NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street had another astounding advance Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrials soaring nearly 900 points in their second-largest point gain ever as late-day bargain hunters stormed into the market. The Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 index were each up nearly 11 percent.
The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER +889.35 points +10.88% on Tuesday October 28
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,065.12 +889.35 +10.88%
Nasdaq 1,649.47 +143.57 +9.53%
S&P 500 940.51 +91.59 +10.79%
30-yr Bond 4.1720% +0.0670
NYSE Volume 7,231,232,500
Nasdaq Volume 2,853,352,250
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 3,926.38 +73.79 +1.92%
DAX 4,823.45 +488.81 +11.28%
CAC 40 3,114.92 +47.57 +1.55%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 7,621.92 +459.02 +6.41%
Hang Seng 12,596.29 +1,580.45 +14.35%
Straits Times 1,666.49 +66.21 +4.14%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081028/wall_street.html
Dow jumps nearly 900 as investors seek bargains
Tuesday October 28, 5:25 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Dow jumps nearly 900 points as bargain hunters grab stocks in anticipation of a Fed rate cut
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street had another astounding advance Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrials soaring nearly 900 points in their second-largest point gain ever as late-day bargain hunters stormed into the market. The Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 index were each up nearly 11 percent.
There didn't appear to be any one catalyst for the surge that saw the Dow nearly double its gain in the last hour of trading. Many analysts said investors were grabbing up stocks in the belief that the market had fallen too far in recent sessions; the Dow had dropped 500 points in two days. Some said buying early in the day came from anticipation of an interest rate cut Wednesday by the Federal Reserve, and the market just followed its recent pattern of building on its gains or losses in the last minutes of the session.
"There is nothing fundamental that came out today or yesterday that would take it up or down. We're all groping for something meaningful to talk about," said Bob Andres, chief investment strategist at Portfolio Management Consultants. "The market is exhausted from going down."
But given the relentless volatility in the market -- out of 20 trading days this month, there have been only two that didn't see the Dow close up or down in triple digits -- no one expects that the market is now headed higher for good. After Wall Street's devastating losses that slashed 2,400 points off the Dow in eight sessions, market veterans warned that the recovery would rocky, including huge gains followed by huge declines.
"I don't think it will be a sustained move," said Matt King, chief investment officer at Bell Investment Advisors, of Tuesday's surge.
It was clear that investors wanted to buy -- they looked past news of a sharp drop in consumer confidence early in the session. The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence has fallen to 38 in October, well below the 51 analysts expected.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 889.35, or 10.88 percent, to 9,065.12. That was its second-largest point gain, coming after the 936 points the Dow jumped on Oct. 13.
The Dow was up 456 points at 3 p.m. and rose as much as 906.31 before edging back.
The gains in the 30 blue chip stocks were stunning -- Alcoa Inc. was up 19.25 percent, while Verizon Communications Inc. rose 14.63 percent. Even oil stocks shot higher, withstanding another drop in the price of crude -- Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. each rose more than 13 percent.
Broader stock indicators also surged. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 91.59, or 10.79 percent, to 940.51, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 143.57, or 9.53 percent, to 1,649.47.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 34.15, or 7.62 percent, to 482.55.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by more than 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a moderate 1.72 billion shares compared with 1.34 billion shares traded Monday.
"I guess we're just coming out of this oversold situation. I think you've got a lot of players on the sidelines," said Dan Demming, trader at Stutland Equities in Chicago. "There's just no one standing in the way right now."
He contends investors are also anticipating an interest rate cut. The Fed is expected to cut its target fed funds rate by half a point to 1 percent.
Bond prices were mixed as some investors looked for the safety of government debt. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, regarded as the safest investment around and an indicator of investor sentiment, fell to 0.76 percent from 0.77 percent Monday. The lower yield indicates an increase in demand. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.86 percent from 3.69 percent late Monday.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude settled down 49 cents to settle at $62.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Investors worldwide snapped up stocks after posting huge declines Monday on economic worries. Japan's Nikkei stock average jumped 6.41 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 14.4 percent -- its biggest gain in 11 years -- a day after plunging more than 12 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.92 percent, Germany's DAX index jumped 11.3 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 1.55 percent.
The disruptions in the normal flow of the credit markets over the past six weeks have produced widespread worries about the economy's ability to avoid a severe downturn. The evaporation in lending is making it difficult and more expensive for businesses and consumers to get loans.
But Monday saw the start of the Fed's efforts to revive lending in the commercial paper market, where companies turn for short-term loans. General Electric Co., for example, has said it would borrow money from the government. The Treasury has also begun to implement part of the government's $700 billion financial bailout plan by investing directly in some banks to give them a much-need source of fresh cash.
The government's extraordinary moves to help support borrowing and restore market confidence come as unease about the economy has buffeted trading. Some of Wall Street's gyrations since the mid-September bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the subsequent seizing up of the credit markets are tied to massive selling by hedge funds and mutual funds trying to raise cash for nervous investors.
On Monday stocks fell sharply in the final minutes of the session, with the Dow giving up 200 points. Tuesday's gain seemed as puzzling to some observers.
"It makes just as much sense as yesterday's 200 point drop in 10 minutes," said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. He did say, however, that there was a "smattering of good news" that appeared to help boost stocks Tuesday.
One was the dollar's massive rally against the yen, Hogan said, a signal that the "indiscriminate selling" by hedge funds might be hitting a plateau. Hedge funds often borrow yen to fund investments in higher-yielding currencies; recently, they've been forced to sell assets raise cash, so they have been buying back yen and boosting its value. That weighed on global markets on Monday.
The dollar leaped to 97.68 Japanese yen in late New York trading Tuesday from 93.93 yen late Monday.
"Was there enough good news to warrant a 10 percent rally? No," Hogan said. "But you put things in perspective -- this is a rally amidst a very difficult market."
Wall Street's jump came as fallout from credit market troubles popped up around the globe. Iceland's central bank on Tuesday raised its key interest rate by an enormous 6 percentage points to 18 percent. Iceland has seen its currency tumble after its banking sector collapsed this month. Prime minister Geir Haarde said separately on Tuesday that the country will require $4 billion in financial support in addition to the $2 billion loan package announced by the IMF.
Meanwhile, Germany's foreign minister said Tuesday that Pakistan must secure a loan from the IMF within a week to avoid sliding into a financial crisis.
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street had another astounding advance Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrials soaring nearly 900 points in their second-largest point gain ever as late-day bargain hunters stormed into the market. The Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 index were each up nearly 11 percent.
The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER +889.35 points +10.88% on Tuesday October 28
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,065.12 +889.35 +10.88%
Nasdaq 1,649.47 +143.57 +9.53%
S&P 500 940.51 +91.59 +10.79%
30-yr Bond 4.1720% +0.0670
NYSE Volume 7,231,232,500
Nasdaq Volume 2,853,352,250
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 3,926.38 +73.79 +1.92%
DAX 4,823.45 +488.81 +11.28%
CAC 40 3,114.92 +47.57 +1.55%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 7,621.92 +459.02 +6.41%
Hang Seng 12,596.29 +1,580.45 +14.35%
Straits Times 1,666.49 +66.21 +4.14%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081028/wall_street.html
Dow jumps nearly 900 as investors seek bargains
Tuesday October 28, 5:25 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Dow jumps nearly 900 points as bargain hunters grab stocks in anticipation of a Fed rate cut
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street had another astounding advance Tuesday, with the Dow Jones industrials soaring nearly 900 points in their second-largest point gain ever as late-day bargain hunters stormed into the market. The Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 index were each up nearly 11 percent.
There didn't appear to be any one catalyst for the surge that saw the Dow nearly double its gain in the last hour of trading. Many analysts said investors were grabbing up stocks in the belief that the market had fallen too far in recent sessions; the Dow had dropped 500 points in two days. Some said buying early in the day came from anticipation of an interest rate cut Wednesday by the Federal Reserve, and the market just followed its recent pattern of building on its gains or losses in the last minutes of the session.
"There is nothing fundamental that came out today or yesterday that would take it up or down. We're all groping for something meaningful to talk about," said Bob Andres, chief investment strategist at Portfolio Management Consultants. "The market is exhausted from going down."
But given the relentless volatility in the market -- out of 20 trading days this month, there have been only two that didn't see the Dow close up or down in triple digits -- no one expects that the market is now headed higher for good. After Wall Street's devastating losses that slashed 2,400 points off the Dow in eight sessions, market veterans warned that the recovery would rocky, including huge gains followed by huge declines.
"I don't think it will be a sustained move," said Matt King, chief investment officer at Bell Investment Advisors, of Tuesday's surge.
It was clear that investors wanted to buy -- they looked past news of a sharp drop in consumer confidence early in the session. The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence has fallen to 38 in October, well below the 51 analysts expected.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 889.35, or 10.88 percent, to 9,065.12. That was its second-largest point gain, coming after the 936 points the Dow jumped on Oct. 13.
The Dow was up 456 points at 3 p.m. and rose as much as 906.31 before edging back.
The gains in the 30 blue chip stocks were stunning -- Alcoa Inc. was up 19.25 percent, while Verizon Communications Inc. rose 14.63 percent. Even oil stocks shot higher, withstanding another drop in the price of crude -- Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. each rose more than 13 percent.
Broader stock indicators also surged. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 91.59, or 10.79 percent, to 940.51, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 143.57, or 9.53 percent, to 1,649.47.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 34.15, or 7.62 percent, to 482.55.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by more than 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a moderate 1.72 billion shares compared with 1.34 billion shares traded Monday.
"I guess we're just coming out of this oversold situation. I think you've got a lot of players on the sidelines," said Dan Demming, trader at Stutland Equities in Chicago. "There's just no one standing in the way right now."
He contends investors are also anticipating an interest rate cut. The Fed is expected to cut its target fed funds rate by half a point to 1 percent.
Bond prices were mixed as some investors looked for the safety of government debt. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, regarded as the safest investment around and an indicator of investor sentiment, fell to 0.76 percent from 0.77 percent Monday. The lower yield indicates an increase in demand. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.86 percent from 3.69 percent late Monday.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude settled down 49 cents to settle at $62.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Investors worldwide snapped up stocks after posting huge declines Monday on economic worries. Japan's Nikkei stock average jumped 6.41 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 14.4 percent -- its biggest gain in 11 years -- a day after plunging more than 12 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.92 percent, Germany's DAX index jumped 11.3 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 1.55 percent.
The disruptions in the normal flow of the credit markets over the past six weeks have produced widespread worries about the economy's ability to avoid a severe downturn. The evaporation in lending is making it difficult and more expensive for businesses and consumers to get loans.
But Monday saw the start of the Fed's efforts to revive lending in the commercial paper market, where companies turn for short-term loans. General Electric Co., for example, has said it would borrow money from the government. The Treasury has also begun to implement part of the government's $700 billion financial bailout plan by investing directly in some banks to give them a much-need source of fresh cash.
The government's extraordinary moves to help support borrowing and restore market confidence come as unease about the economy has buffeted trading. Some of Wall Street's gyrations since the mid-September bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the subsequent seizing up of the credit markets are tied to massive selling by hedge funds and mutual funds trying to raise cash for nervous investors.
On Monday stocks fell sharply in the final minutes of the session, with the Dow giving up 200 points. Tuesday's gain seemed as puzzling to some observers.
"It makes just as much sense as yesterday's 200 point drop in 10 minutes," said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. He did say, however, that there was a "smattering of good news" that appeared to help boost stocks Tuesday.
One was the dollar's massive rally against the yen, Hogan said, a signal that the "indiscriminate selling" by hedge funds might be hitting a plateau. Hedge funds often borrow yen to fund investments in higher-yielding currencies; recently, they've been forced to sell assets raise cash, so they have been buying back yen and boosting its value. That weighed on global markets on Monday.
The dollar leaped to 97.68 Japanese yen in late New York trading Tuesday from 93.93 yen late Monday.
"Was there enough good news to warrant a 10 percent rally? No," Hogan said. "But you put things in perspective -- this is a rally amidst a very difficult market."
Wall Street's jump came as fallout from credit market troubles popped up around the globe. Iceland's central bank on Tuesday raised its key interest rate by an enormous 6 percentage points to 18 percent. Iceland has seen its currency tumble after its banking sector collapsed this month. Prime minister Geir Haarde said separately on Tuesday that the country will require $4 billion in financial support in addition to the $2 billion loan package announced by the IMF.
Meanwhile, Germany's foreign minister said Tuesday that Pakistan must secure a loan from the IMF within a week to avoid sliding into a financial crisis.
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bigdog
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NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street received the interest rate cut it wanted, but still turned in a baffling late-day performance Wednesday, shooting higher and then skidding lower in the very last minutes of trading as some investors rushed to cash in profits after the previous session's big advance. The major indexes ended the day mixed, with the Dow Jones industrials falling 74 points -- only the third time in October that the blue chips had just a double-digit close.
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -74.16 points -0.82% on Wednesday October 29
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,990.96 -74.16 -0.82%
Nasdaq 1,657.21 +7.74 +0.47%
S&P 500 930.09 -10.42 -1.11%
30-yr Bond 4.2380% +0.0660
NYSE Volume 7,193,214,500
Nasdaq Volume 2,790,546,000
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,242.54 +316.16 +8.05%
DAX 4,808.69 -14.76 -0.31%
CAC 40 3,402.57 +287.65 +9.23%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,211.90 +589.98 +7.74%
Hang Seng 12,702.07 +105.78 +0.84%
Straits Times 1,671.20 +4.71 +0.28%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081029/wall_street.html
Stocks end mixed in late slide after Fed rate cut
Wednesday October 29, 5:42 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Stocks end mixed in late slide after Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by half a point
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street received the interest rate cut it wanted, but still turned in a baffling late-day performance Wednesday, shooting higher and then skidding lower in the very last minutes of trading as some investors rushed to cash in profits after the previous session's big advance. The major indexes ended the day mixed, with the Dow Jones industrials falling 74 points -- only the third time in October that the blue chips had just a double-digit close.
Analysts were divided over why the market turned around so abruptly. Some cited reports of a lackluster profit forecast at General Electric Co. -- a Dow component that dropped nearly 4 percent from its late-session high -- and others contended investors were simply looking to cash in gains after the Federal Reserve's decision to lower its fed funds rate by a half-point to 1 percent.
"It was a panic sell in the last two minutes," said Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Canaccord Adams in New York, referring to reports that GE was aiming at 2009 profits to be little changed from 2008. The reports were subsequently called into question, and a GE spokesman said the statements were taken out of context.
Because of the last-hour confusion, it was likely that it would take the opening of trading on Thursday to get a better read on how the market feels about the Fed's rate cut and its accompanying economic statement.
The market waffled while it was still digesting the Fed's moves, then advanced for most of the final hour of trading. Until shortly before the close, it looked like Wall Street was feeling more confident about the economy and would extend its huge rally from Tuesday, which propelled the Dow Jones industrials up nearly 900 points.
Policymakers spelled out a weakening of economic conditions in the U.S. and abroad, citing first a drop in spending by American consumers. The Fed also reiterated that it expects government steps, including its own efforts to increase liquidity, to improve credit market conditions and the economy over time.
Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland, said the Fed's overall tone conveyed it regards the economic troubles as somewhat typical of a weak economy and not the kind of intractable problems that signal a deep recession is imminent.
"They more or less indicated elevated concerns about the economy but nothing in it suggests any real panic but that this is just one more step in their program to restore the financial system to complete functioning."
But the final hour of trading on Wall Street over the past month has seen turnarounds in sentiment as well as prices, and the late-session volatility that has become the norm was in force again Wednesday.
"We set ourselves up in the last hour with a golden opportunity to lock in profits," said Ryan Larson, senior equity trader at Voyageur Asset Management, a subsidiary of RBC Dain Rauscher.
He said that very late in the day, more investors were putting a more downbeat spin on the Fed's statement, which had indicated policymakers are willing to lower the fed funds rate below 1 percent if necessary. Traders started thinking, "if they're willing to go under 1 percent, there must be serious problems that we don't know about yet," Larson said.
The Dow was up as much as 298 points in the last quarter hour of the session, giving it a two-day gain of more than 1,187 points, when it began to slide. It closed down 74.16, or 0.82 percent, at 8,990.96. During the 21 trading days so far this month, the Dow has had closes of less than 100 points only twice -- on Oct. 1 and Oct. 14; the month has seen unprecedented volatility, with the blue chips recording their largest ever advance, 936 points, and their largest ever decline, 778 points.
Broader stock indicators were mixed. The S&P 500 index fell 10.42, or 1.11 percent, to 930.09, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 7.74, or 0.47 percent, to 1,657.21.
Advancers outnumbered decliners by about 2 to 1 on moderate volume of 1.62 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
Some traders expressed frustration by the market's finish.
"You cannot have moves like this and have any sort of investor confidence," said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading LLC.
The credit markets had a lukewarm response to the Fed move. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, regarded as the safest investment around and an indicator of investor sentiment, fell to 0.55 percent from 0.74 percent Tuesday. A drop in yield indicates an increase in demand. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.86 percent from 3.84 percent late Tuesday.
It was clear from Wednesday's trading that Wall Street is nowhere near moving away from the volatility that has devasted stock prices this month. And many investors are hesitant to re-enter the market after being hit hard -- even with Tuesday's jump, the three major stock indexes are still down more than 30 percent for the year, battered since last month's freeze-up of the credit markets. The troubles with the credit markets have made it harder and more expensive for businesses and consumers to get loans.
While signs have emerged that the government action to revive credit markets is starting to work, investors remain skittish over the effects of the prolonged credit freeze on the economy, which relies on lending to feed growth.
Investors are hoping the latest rate cut will complement the government's still-unfolding efforts to aid the commercial paper market, where companies turn for short-term loans, and the banks themselves. The Treasury this week is investing directly in banks, hoping the cash will make them more likely to issue loans.
Wall Street's rally Tuesday helped lift trading in most markets overseas. Japan's Nikkei stock average jumped 7.74 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 8.05 percent, Germany's DAX index slipped 0.31 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 9.23 percent.
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street received the interest rate cut it wanted, but still turned in a baffling late-day performance Wednesday, shooting higher and then skidding lower in the very last minutes of trading as some investors rushed to cash in profits after the previous session's big advance. The major indexes ended the day mixed, with the Dow Jones industrials falling 74 points -- only the third time in October that the blue chips had just a double-digit close.
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -74.16 points -0.82% on Wednesday October 29
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,990.96 -74.16 -0.82%
Nasdaq 1,657.21 +7.74 +0.47%
S&P 500 930.09 -10.42 -1.11%
30-yr Bond 4.2380% +0.0660
NYSE Volume 7,193,214,500
Nasdaq Volume 2,790,546,000
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,242.54 +316.16 +8.05%
DAX 4,808.69 -14.76 -0.31%
CAC 40 3,402.57 +287.65 +9.23%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,211.90 +589.98 +7.74%
Hang Seng 12,702.07 +105.78 +0.84%
Straits Times 1,671.20 +4.71 +0.28%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081029/wall_street.html
Stocks end mixed in late slide after Fed rate cut
Wednesday October 29, 5:42 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Stocks end mixed in late slide after Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by half a point
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street received the interest rate cut it wanted, but still turned in a baffling late-day performance Wednesday, shooting higher and then skidding lower in the very last minutes of trading as some investors rushed to cash in profits after the previous session's big advance. The major indexes ended the day mixed, with the Dow Jones industrials falling 74 points -- only the third time in October that the blue chips had just a double-digit close.
Analysts were divided over why the market turned around so abruptly. Some cited reports of a lackluster profit forecast at General Electric Co. -- a Dow component that dropped nearly 4 percent from its late-session high -- and others contended investors were simply looking to cash in gains after the Federal Reserve's decision to lower its fed funds rate by a half-point to 1 percent.
"It was a panic sell in the last two minutes," said Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Canaccord Adams in New York, referring to reports that GE was aiming at 2009 profits to be little changed from 2008. The reports were subsequently called into question, and a GE spokesman said the statements were taken out of context.
Because of the last-hour confusion, it was likely that it would take the opening of trading on Thursday to get a better read on how the market feels about the Fed's rate cut and its accompanying economic statement.
The market waffled while it was still digesting the Fed's moves, then advanced for most of the final hour of trading. Until shortly before the close, it looked like Wall Street was feeling more confident about the economy and would extend its huge rally from Tuesday, which propelled the Dow Jones industrials up nearly 900 points.
Policymakers spelled out a weakening of economic conditions in the U.S. and abroad, citing first a drop in spending by American consumers. The Fed also reiterated that it expects government steps, including its own efforts to increase liquidity, to improve credit market conditions and the economy over time.
Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland, said the Fed's overall tone conveyed it regards the economic troubles as somewhat typical of a weak economy and not the kind of intractable problems that signal a deep recession is imminent.
"They more or less indicated elevated concerns about the economy but nothing in it suggests any real panic but that this is just one more step in their program to restore the financial system to complete functioning."
But the final hour of trading on Wall Street over the past month has seen turnarounds in sentiment as well as prices, and the late-session volatility that has become the norm was in force again Wednesday.
"We set ourselves up in the last hour with a golden opportunity to lock in profits," said Ryan Larson, senior equity trader at Voyageur Asset Management, a subsidiary of RBC Dain Rauscher.
He said that very late in the day, more investors were putting a more downbeat spin on the Fed's statement, which had indicated policymakers are willing to lower the fed funds rate below 1 percent if necessary. Traders started thinking, "if they're willing to go under 1 percent, there must be serious problems that we don't know about yet," Larson said.
The Dow was up as much as 298 points in the last quarter hour of the session, giving it a two-day gain of more than 1,187 points, when it began to slide. It closed down 74.16, or 0.82 percent, at 8,990.96. During the 21 trading days so far this month, the Dow has had closes of less than 100 points only twice -- on Oct. 1 and Oct. 14; the month has seen unprecedented volatility, with the blue chips recording their largest ever advance, 936 points, and their largest ever decline, 778 points.
Broader stock indicators were mixed. The S&P 500 index fell 10.42, or 1.11 percent, to 930.09, and the Nasdaq composite index advanced 7.74, or 0.47 percent, to 1,657.21.
Advancers outnumbered decliners by about 2 to 1 on moderate volume of 1.62 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
Some traders expressed frustration by the market's finish.
"You cannot have moves like this and have any sort of investor confidence," said Joe Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading LLC.
The credit markets had a lukewarm response to the Fed move. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, regarded as the safest investment around and an indicator of investor sentiment, fell to 0.55 percent from 0.74 percent Tuesday. A drop in yield indicates an increase in demand. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.86 percent from 3.84 percent late Tuesday.
It was clear from Wednesday's trading that Wall Street is nowhere near moving away from the volatility that has devasted stock prices this month. And many investors are hesitant to re-enter the market after being hit hard -- even with Tuesday's jump, the three major stock indexes are still down more than 30 percent for the year, battered since last month's freeze-up of the credit markets. The troubles with the credit markets have made it harder and more expensive for businesses and consumers to get loans.
While signs have emerged that the government action to revive credit markets is starting to work, investors remain skittish over the effects of the prolonged credit freeze on the economy, which relies on lending to feed growth.
Investors are hoping the latest rate cut will complement the government's still-unfolding efforts to aid the commercial paper market, where companies turn for short-term loans, and the banks themselves. The Treasury this week is investing directly in banks, hoping the cash will make them more likely to issue loans.
Wall Street's rally Tuesday helped lift trading in most markets overseas. Japan's Nikkei stock average jumped 7.74 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 8.05 percent, Germany's DAX index slipped 0.31 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 9.23 percent.
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bigdog
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NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street showed some welcome signs of stability Thursday, taking a downbeat gross domestic product report in stride and driving the Dow Jones industrial average up nearly 190 points in relatively calm trading. Even the last hour of the session, lately a period of turbulent activity, was comparatively quiet.
The market that a week ago was reeling from fears about recession was more composed after the Commerce Department's report that GDP fell at an annual rate of 0.3 percent during the third quarter. Analysts expected a 0.5 percent decline in GDP, the broadest measure of economic growth or contraction, but while the report was better than expected, it still pointed to an economy that is shrinking.
The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER +189.73 points +2.11% on Thurday October 30
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,180.69 +189.73 +2.11%
Nasdaq 1,698.52 +41.31 +2.49%
S&P 500 954.09 +24.00 +2.58%
30-yr Bond 4.2840% +0.0460
NYSE Volume 6,276,917,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,554,893,750
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,291.65 +49.11 +1.16%
DAX 4,869.30 +60.61 +1.26%
CAC 40 3,407.82 +5.25 +0.15%
[B]Asia[/B]
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 9,029.76 +817.86 +9.96%
Hang Seng 14,329.85 +1,627.78 +12.82%
Straits Times 1,801.91 +130.71 +7.82%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081030/wall_street.html
Stocks rise after better-than-expected GDP report
Thursday October 30, 5:47 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Wall Street closes higher after GDP report in relatively calm trading; Dow rises nearly 190
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street showed some welcome signs of stability Thursday, taking a downbeat gross domestic product report in stride and driving the Dow Jones industrial average up nearly 190 points in relatively calm trading. Even the last hour of the session, lately a period of turbulent activity, was comparatively quiet.
The market that a week ago was reeling from fears about recession was more composed after the Commerce Department's report that GDP fell at an annual rate of 0.3 percent during the third quarter. Analysts expected a 0.5 percent decline in GDP, the broadest measure of economic growth or contraction, but while the report was better than expected, it still pointed to an economy that is shrinking.
It's premature to say the market's volatility is over -- most analysts expect trading to remain erratic for many months, and some believe investors will eventually test the lows that were reached on Oct. 10, when the Dow traded as low as 7,882.51. But Thursday's trading session was the most placid in weeks, a sign that the market might be in the process of bottoming, analysts say. The Dow was only briefly in negative territory, and traded in a range of less than 300 points -- well below the 400- and 500-point swings that have become commonplace.
"It does look like the market is taking a tentatively better tone today," said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist, director of asset allocation for RidgeWorth Capital Management. "Pessimism and skepticism have become the dominant mode of thinking. And that's usually when I think that the market is more ripe for a rebound."
The market did not erupt into frantic buying or selling in the last half-hour of trading -- a move that has become almost expected at the end of every session as big funds tried to raise cash to meet investors' calls for their money back, or rushed to cover their short positions. The last hour saw the Dow move in a range of 206 points, compared with a 370-point swing in the last quarter-hour of Wednesday's session.
Even though corporate earnings reports and outlooks have not been strong in recent weeks, there is a growing sense that business is not at a standstill. On Thursday, Exxon Mobil Corp. adhered to its five-year capital spending forecast, a day after Starbucks Corp.'s CEO Howard Schultz said it appears the coffee retailer's store traffic may have already bottomed out. And CVS Caremark Corp. said Thursday its third-quarter earnings rose 7 percent as its retail pharmacy revenue improved.
"There's the idea that life goes on, and will go on," said Richard E. Cripps, chief market strategist for Stifel Nicolaus, noting that the daily trading range Thursday for the Standard & Poor's 500 index was about half its October average. "The market sort of inhaled, and it was waiting to exhale -- and you're seeing that now."
The Dow rose 189.73, or 2.11 percent, to 9,180.69.
Broader stock indicators also finished higher. The S&P 500 index rose 24.00, or 2.58 percent, to 954.09, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 41.31, or 2.49 percent, to 1,698.52.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 23.30, or 4.75 percent, to 514.18.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a light 1.38 billion shares.
The Dow is still down 15 percent for the month of October, following the mid-September bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. that contributed to a freeze in the credit markets, and in turn, devastating losses on Wall Street.
Even though Thursday's move was not as large and immediate a boost to people's stock portfolios as Monday's 889-point advance in the Dow, analysts were more encouraged by Thursday's 189-point gain, saying it displayed less frenzy, and more deliberation and caution.
Still, the credit markets showed signs that investors are still quite cautious, with short-term government debt still in demand. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, regarded as the safest investment around and an indicator of investor sentiment, fell to 0.37 percent from 0.55 percent Wednesday. A drop in yield indicates an increase in buying. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.97 percent from 3.86 percent late Wednesday.
Wall Street is likely to remain worried for some time about how much the economy will slow and whether the stock market's pullback adequately accounts for the an ancipated ongoing drop in corporate profits. If companies' outlooks for the coming quarters are more negative than the market expects, another wave of volatility and selloffs could follow.
But according to Michael Strauss, chief economist at Commonfund, investors were relieved that the GDP figures weren't worse and that, more broadly, investors are drawing some confidence from the government's array of efforts to revive the credit markets as boding well for a weak economy. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve lowered the key federal funds rate by a half-point to 1 percent in an effort to make borrowing cheaper and, in turn, boost spending.
"I think it's sort of, 'What do you have to do to get someone back from cardiac arrest?' You have to shock them pretty hard and sometimes you have to shock them a couple of times. I think that's what going on here," Strauss said, referring to steps like the Fed's rate cuts and government cash injections in banks, which began this week.
Strauss contends the programs, most of which have yet to take effect, are creating some appetite for stocks that have been pounded down this month.
"I think we're seeing that transition from 'don't buy' to 'maybe we buy something,'" he said.
On Thursday, the dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude fell $1.54 to settle at $65.96 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average jumped 9.96 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.16 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 1.26 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.15 percent.
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street showed some welcome signs of stability Thursday, taking a downbeat gross domestic product report in stride and driving the Dow Jones industrial average up nearly 190 points in relatively calm trading. Even the last hour of the session, lately a period of turbulent activity, was comparatively quiet.
The market that a week ago was reeling from fears about recession was more composed after the Commerce Department's report that GDP fell at an annual rate of 0.3 percent during the third quarter. Analysts expected a 0.5 percent decline in GDP, the broadest measure of economic growth or contraction, but while the report was better than expected, it still pointed to an economy that is shrinking.
The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER +189.73 points +2.11% on Thurday October 30
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,180.69 +189.73 +2.11%
Nasdaq 1,698.52 +41.31 +2.49%
S&P 500 954.09 +24.00 +2.58%
30-yr Bond 4.2840% +0.0460
NYSE Volume 6,276,917,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,554,893,750
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,291.65 +49.11 +1.16%
DAX 4,869.30 +60.61 +1.26%
CAC 40 3,407.82 +5.25 +0.15%
[B]Asia[/B]
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 9,029.76 +817.86 +9.96%
Hang Seng 14,329.85 +1,627.78 +12.82%
Straits Times 1,801.91 +130.71 +7.82%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081030/wall_street.html
Stocks rise after better-than-expected GDP report
Thursday October 30, 5:47 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Wall Street closes higher after GDP report in relatively calm trading; Dow rises nearly 190
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street showed some welcome signs of stability Thursday, taking a downbeat gross domestic product report in stride and driving the Dow Jones industrial average up nearly 190 points in relatively calm trading. Even the last hour of the session, lately a period of turbulent activity, was comparatively quiet.
The market that a week ago was reeling from fears about recession was more composed after the Commerce Department's report that GDP fell at an annual rate of 0.3 percent during the third quarter. Analysts expected a 0.5 percent decline in GDP, the broadest measure of economic growth or contraction, but while the report was better than expected, it still pointed to an economy that is shrinking.
It's premature to say the market's volatility is over -- most analysts expect trading to remain erratic for many months, and some believe investors will eventually test the lows that were reached on Oct. 10, when the Dow traded as low as 7,882.51. But Thursday's trading session was the most placid in weeks, a sign that the market might be in the process of bottoming, analysts say. The Dow was only briefly in negative territory, and traded in a range of less than 300 points -- well below the 400- and 500-point swings that have become commonplace.
"It does look like the market is taking a tentatively better tone today," said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist, director of asset allocation for RidgeWorth Capital Management. "Pessimism and skepticism have become the dominant mode of thinking. And that's usually when I think that the market is more ripe for a rebound."
The market did not erupt into frantic buying or selling in the last half-hour of trading -- a move that has become almost expected at the end of every session as big funds tried to raise cash to meet investors' calls for their money back, or rushed to cover their short positions. The last hour saw the Dow move in a range of 206 points, compared with a 370-point swing in the last quarter-hour of Wednesday's session.
Even though corporate earnings reports and outlooks have not been strong in recent weeks, there is a growing sense that business is not at a standstill. On Thursday, Exxon Mobil Corp. adhered to its five-year capital spending forecast, a day after Starbucks Corp.'s CEO Howard Schultz said it appears the coffee retailer's store traffic may have already bottomed out. And CVS Caremark Corp. said Thursday its third-quarter earnings rose 7 percent as its retail pharmacy revenue improved.
"There's the idea that life goes on, and will go on," said Richard E. Cripps, chief market strategist for Stifel Nicolaus, noting that the daily trading range Thursday for the Standard & Poor's 500 index was about half its October average. "The market sort of inhaled, and it was waiting to exhale -- and you're seeing that now."
The Dow rose 189.73, or 2.11 percent, to 9,180.69.
Broader stock indicators also finished higher. The S&P 500 index rose 24.00, or 2.58 percent, to 954.09, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 41.31, or 2.49 percent, to 1,698.52.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 23.30, or 4.75 percent, to 514.18.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a light 1.38 billion shares.
The Dow is still down 15 percent for the month of October, following the mid-September bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. that contributed to a freeze in the credit markets, and in turn, devastating losses on Wall Street.
Even though Thursday's move was not as large and immediate a boost to people's stock portfolios as Monday's 889-point advance in the Dow, analysts were more encouraged by Thursday's 189-point gain, saying it displayed less frenzy, and more deliberation and caution.
Still, the credit markets showed signs that investors are still quite cautious, with short-term government debt still in demand. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, regarded as the safest investment around and an indicator of investor sentiment, fell to 0.37 percent from 0.55 percent Wednesday. A drop in yield indicates an increase in buying. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.97 percent from 3.86 percent late Wednesday.
Wall Street is likely to remain worried for some time about how much the economy will slow and whether the stock market's pullback adequately accounts for the an ancipated ongoing drop in corporate profits. If companies' outlooks for the coming quarters are more negative than the market expects, another wave of volatility and selloffs could follow.
But according to Michael Strauss, chief economist at Commonfund, investors were relieved that the GDP figures weren't worse and that, more broadly, investors are drawing some confidence from the government's array of efforts to revive the credit markets as boding well for a weak economy. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve lowered the key federal funds rate by a half-point to 1 percent in an effort to make borrowing cheaper and, in turn, boost spending.
"I think it's sort of, 'What do you have to do to get someone back from cardiac arrest?' You have to shock them pretty hard and sometimes you have to shock them a couple of times. I think that's what going on here," Strauss said, referring to steps like the Fed's rate cuts and government cash injections in banks, which began this week.
Strauss contends the programs, most of which have yet to take effect, are creating some appetite for stocks that have been pounded down this month.
"I think we're seeing that transition from 'don't buy' to 'maybe we buy something,'" he said.
On Thursday, the dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude fell $1.54 to settle at $65.96 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average jumped 9.96 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.16 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 1.26 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.15 percent.
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bigdog
Retired many years ago
- Joined
- 19 July 2006
- Posts
- 8,124
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NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
The stock market closed out a horrendous October, its worst month in 21 years, with a big advance Friday as more investors took chances on stocks turned into bargains by waves of intense selling. The advance -- which gave the market its first back-to-back gains in more than a month -- fed hopes that Wall Street has indeed found a bottom.
The Dow Jones industrials rose 144 points on the day but ended the month down 14.1 percent, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 16.9 percent during October as the stock market fell victim to investors' anguish over frozen credit markets and what looked like an inevitable recession.
The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER +144.32 points +1.57% on Friday October 31
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,325.01 +144.32 +1.57%
Nasdaq 1,720.95 +22.43 +1.32%
S&P 500 968.75 +14.66 +1.54%
30-yr Bond 4.3690% +0.0850
NYSE Volume 6,373,314,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,437,126,250
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,377.34 +85.69 +2.00%
DAX 4,987.97 +118.67 +2.44%
CAC 40 3,487.07 +79.25 +2.33%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,576.98 -452.78 -5.01%
Hang Seng 13,968.67 -361.18 -2.52%
Straits Times 1,794.20 -7.71 -0.43%
Stocks End Worst Month in 21 Years on High Note
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081031/wall_street.html
Stocks advance to add to week's large gains
Friday October 31, 5:39 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Wall Street rallies, adds to week's big gain, as investors look past drop in consumer spending
NEW YORK (AP) -- The stock market closed out a horrendous October, its worst month in 21 years, with a big advance Friday as more investors took chances on stocks turned into bargains by waves of intense selling. The advance -- which gave the market its first back-to-back gains in more than a month -- fed hopes that Wall Street has indeed found a bottom.
The Dow Jones industrials rose 144 points on the day but ended the month down 14.1 percent, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 16.9 percent during October as the stock market fell victim to investors' anguish over frozen credit markets and what looked like an inevitable recession.
But the month did end on a far more upbeat note than anyone might have expected at the height of investors' despair just weeks ago. The Dow was up 11.3 percent for the week, its best weekly performance in 34 years, while the S&P 500 index rose 10.5 percent -- a sign of stability that followed a growing sense that the series of government moves to unlock the credit markets would indeed help the economy move toward recovery.
Investors who have become used to bad economic news dealt calmly Friday with data showing a drop in consumer spending. Another reason for the advance: Mutual funds that dumped stocks furiously as the end of their fiscal year approached were finished with their selling.
While the market capped a terrible month with a strong week, it likely will need to put the presidential election next week behind it and focus on the October employment report due next Friday before committing to a direction. The jobs report should provide some insight into how long and how severe the economic downturn could be.
The market is "settling into a little bit of a holding pattern" ahead of the election and jobs report, said Craig Peckham, market strategist at Jefferies & Co. "The fear level has clearly subsided, but there's still a pervasive tone of unease."
The Dow rose 144.32, or 1.57 percent, to 9,325.01 after rising as much as 274 and falling 62.
Broader stock indicators also advanced. The S&P 500 index rose 14.66, or 1.54 percent, to 968.75, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 22.43, or 1.32 percent, to 1,720.95.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 23.34, or 4.54 percent, to 537.52.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a moderate 1.57 billion shares. Lighter volume can raise questions about the conviction behind the market's moves.
October marked the Dow's worst percentage loss since 1987. But the 11.3 percent gain for the week -- mostly from an 889-point surge on Tuesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's second interest rate cut of the month on Wednesday -- gave the Dow its best weekly performance since Oct. 11, 1974.
Still, the market's stats during the month of October were unnerving:
-- Paper losses in U.S. stocks came to $2.5 trillion for the month, according to the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index, which represents nearly all stocks traded in America. The 17.7 percent decline was the worst since the 23 percent drop in October 1987.
-- During the week of Oct. 10, the Dow plunged 1,874.19 points, or 18.2 percent to finish at 8,451.19, its lowest close since April 2003. The week's decline accounted for half of the blue chips' losses for the entire year.
-- The Dow fell for eight straight sessions -- the longest losing streak since the eight days of declines following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, when the blue chips lost 1,038.12, or 10.8 percent. It lost a staggering 2,400 points, or 22.1 percent.
-- The market's volatility was so intense that there were just three days during the month that the Dow didn't rise or fall in triple digits. The Dow set new records for one-day point gains, 936.42 and 889.35, and for one-day point losses, 777.68 and 733.08.
The stock market began the month anguishing over the House of Representative's rejection of the government's plan to bail out the nation's financial system -- a program made necessary by the paralysis of the credit markets following the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. But the ultimate passage of the plan gave the market no lasting joy -- it was overshadowed by the market's intense fears of a prolonged and deep recession, and the volatility and heavy selling that marked the month continued.
It was only after the government decided to invest money into the nation's big banks that the market began to calm -- there were signs that lending was starting to ease. There were still waves of selling, some of them due to hedge and mutual funds unloading their shares at the end of their fiscal year, but by this week, signs were emerging that Wall Street was righting itself.
But the week's relative stability offered investors some calm. And their reaction to economic data also showed a decrease in some of their anxiety. The Commerce Department said personal spending fell by 0.3 percent last month, as expected, the biggest decline since June 2004. Combined with flat readings in both July and August, it led to the worst quarterly performance in 28 years.
The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, a measure of manufacturing activity, fell to a reading of 37.8 -- much worse than the 48.0 figure that analysts anticipated. But the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment data came in at 57.6, slightly better than the 57.5 expected.
Alongside the unsurprisingly downbeat readings, investors also considered whether government help for struggling homeowners might be able to help stabilize the housing market and alleviate a worry for many homeowners, even those not behind on mortgage payments.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, speaking by satellite to a Berkeley, Calif., conference said the housing finance system will require better safeguards to allow it to function during times of strain in the market. He outlined a number of possible ways to structure housing finance in the future, though he did not indicate his preferences.
The Bush administration is mulling a proposal that would help around 3 million homeowners avoid foreclosure by having the government guarantee billions of dollars worth of distressed mortgages. It could include changes to loans that would lower interest rates for a five-year period.
Treasury demand let up slightly as stocks rose. The three-month Treasury bill, considered one of the safest assets around, yielded 0.45 percent, higher than 0.37 percent late Thursday. A higher yield translates to decreased demand. The 10-year Treasury note's yield was 3.97 percent, unchanged from late Thursday.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies. Gold prices declined.
Crude oil fell $1.35 to $64.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 5.01 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 2.01 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 2.44 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 2.33 percent.
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
The stock market closed out a horrendous October, its worst month in 21 years, with a big advance Friday as more investors took chances on stocks turned into bargains by waves of intense selling. The advance -- which gave the market its first back-to-back gains in more than a month -- fed hopes that Wall Street has indeed found a bottom.
The Dow Jones industrials rose 144 points on the day but ended the month down 14.1 percent, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 16.9 percent during October as the stock market fell victim to investors' anguish over frozen credit markets and what looked like an inevitable recession.
The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER +144.32 points +1.57% on Friday October 31
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,325.01 +144.32 +1.57%
Nasdaq 1,720.95 +22.43 +1.32%
S&P 500 968.75 +14.66 +1.54%
30-yr Bond 4.3690% +0.0850
NYSE Volume 6,373,314,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,437,126,250
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,377.34 +85.69 +2.00%
DAX 4,987.97 +118.67 +2.44%
CAC 40 3,487.07 +79.25 +2.33%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,576.98 -452.78 -5.01%
Hang Seng 13,968.67 -361.18 -2.52%
Straits Times 1,794.20 -7.71 -0.43%
Stocks End Worst Month in 21 Years on High Note
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081031/wall_street.html
Stocks advance to add to week's large gains
Friday October 31, 5:39 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Wall Street rallies, adds to week's big gain, as investors look past drop in consumer spending
NEW YORK (AP) -- The stock market closed out a horrendous October, its worst month in 21 years, with a big advance Friday as more investors took chances on stocks turned into bargains by waves of intense selling. The advance -- which gave the market its first back-to-back gains in more than a month -- fed hopes that Wall Street has indeed found a bottom.
The Dow Jones industrials rose 144 points on the day but ended the month down 14.1 percent, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 16.9 percent during October as the stock market fell victim to investors' anguish over frozen credit markets and what looked like an inevitable recession.
But the month did end on a far more upbeat note than anyone might have expected at the height of investors' despair just weeks ago. The Dow was up 11.3 percent for the week, its best weekly performance in 34 years, while the S&P 500 index rose 10.5 percent -- a sign of stability that followed a growing sense that the series of government moves to unlock the credit markets would indeed help the economy move toward recovery.
Investors who have become used to bad economic news dealt calmly Friday with data showing a drop in consumer spending. Another reason for the advance: Mutual funds that dumped stocks furiously as the end of their fiscal year approached were finished with their selling.
While the market capped a terrible month with a strong week, it likely will need to put the presidential election next week behind it and focus on the October employment report due next Friday before committing to a direction. The jobs report should provide some insight into how long and how severe the economic downturn could be.
The market is "settling into a little bit of a holding pattern" ahead of the election and jobs report, said Craig Peckham, market strategist at Jefferies & Co. "The fear level has clearly subsided, but there's still a pervasive tone of unease."
The Dow rose 144.32, or 1.57 percent, to 9,325.01 after rising as much as 274 and falling 62.
Broader stock indicators also advanced. The S&P 500 index rose 14.66, or 1.54 percent, to 968.75, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 22.43, or 1.32 percent, to 1,720.95.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 23.34, or 4.54 percent, to 537.52.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a moderate 1.57 billion shares. Lighter volume can raise questions about the conviction behind the market's moves.
October marked the Dow's worst percentage loss since 1987. But the 11.3 percent gain for the week -- mostly from an 889-point surge on Tuesday ahead of the Federal Reserve's second interest rate cut of the month on Wednesday -- gave the Dow its best weekly performance since Oct. 11, 1974.
Still, the market's stats during the month of October were unnerving:
-- Paper losses in U.S. stocks came to $2.5 trillion for the month, according to the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index, which represents nearly all stocks traded in America. The 17.7 percent decline was the worst since the 23 percent drop in October 1987.
-- During the week of Oct. 10, the Dow plunged 1,874.19 points, or 18.2 percent to finish at 8,451.19, its lowest close since April 2003. The week's decline accounted for half of the blue chips' losses for the entire year.
-- The Dow fell for eight straight sessions -- the longest losing streak since the eight days of declines following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, when the blue chips lost 1,038.12, or 10.8 percent. It lost a staggering 2,400 points, or 22.1 percent.
-- The market's volatility was so intense that there were just three days during the month that the Dow didn't rise or fall in triple digits. The Dow set new records for one-day point gains, 936.42 and 889.35, and for one-day point losses, 777.68 and 733.08.
The stock market began the month anguishing over the House of Representative's rejection of the government's plan to bail out the nation's financial system -- a program made necessary by the paralysis of the credit markets following the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. But the ultimate passage of the plan gave the market no lasting joy -- it was overshadowed by the market's intense fears of a prolonged and deep recession, and the volatility and heavy selling that marked the month continued.
It was only after the government decided to invest money into the nation's big banks that the market began to calm -- there were signs that lending was starting to ease. There were still waves of selling, some of them due to hedge and mutual funds unloading their shares at the end of their fiscal year, but by this week, signs were emerging that Wall Street was righting itself.
But the week's relative stability offered investors some calm. And their reaction to economic data also showed a decrease in some of their anxiety. The Commerce Department said personal spending fell by 0.3 percent last month, as expected, the biggest decline since June 2004. Combined with flat readings in both July and August, it led to the worst quarterly performance in 28 years.
The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, a measure of manufacturing activity, fell to a reading of 37.8 -- much worse than the 48.0 figure that analysts anticipated. But the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment data came in at 57.6, slightly better than the 57.5 expected.
Alongside the unsurprisingly downbeat readings, investors also considered whether government help for struggling homeowners might be able to help stabilize the housing market and alleviate a worry for many homeowners, even those not behind on mortgage payments.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, speaking by satellite to a Berkeley, Calif., conference said the housing finance system will require better safeguards to allow it to function during times of strain in the market. He outlined a number of possible ways to structure housing finance in the future, though he did not indicate his preferences.
The Bush administration is mulling a proposal that would help around 3 million homeowners avoid foreclosure by having the government guarantee billions of dollars worth of distressed mortgages. It could include changes to loans that would lower interest rates for a five-year period.
Treasury demand let up slightly as stocks rose. The three-month Treasury bill, considered one of the safest assets around, yielded 0.45 percent, higher than 0.37 percent late Thursday. A higher yield translates to decreased demand. The 10-year Treasury note's yield was 3.97 percent, unchanged from late Thursday.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies. Gold prices declined.
Crude oil fell $1.35 to $64.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 5.01 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 2.01 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 2.44 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 2.33 percent.
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bigdog
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NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street ended the calmest session in recent memory with a narrowly mixed performance Monday as investors looked past a weak reading on the manufacturing sector and focused on the election.
Before finishing essentially flat, the Dow Jones industrials moved in a range of just over 130 points -- well below October's average daily swing of 594. While trading was quiet, including the often-volatile final hour, the calm doesn't necessarily mean stocks have carved a definitive bottom; analysts said investors weren't making big moves ahead of the election.
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -5.18 points -0.06% on Monday Novemeber 3
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,319.83 -5.18 -0.06%
Nasdaq 1,726.33 +5.38 +0.31%
S&P 500 966.30 -2.45 -0.25%
30-yr Bond 4.3210% -0.0480
NYSE Volume 4,506,830,500
Nasdaq Volume 1,809,306,250
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,443.28 +65.94 +1.51%
DAX 5,026.84 +38.87 +0.78%
CAC 40 3,527.97 +40.90 +1.17%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,576.98 closed for holiday
Hang Seng 14,344.37 +375.70 +2.69%
Straits Times 1,883.75 +89.55 +4.99%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081103/wall_street.html
Stocks end quiet session mixed ahead of election
Monday November 3, 5:01 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Stocks end quiet session mixed ahead of election; investors overlook weak manufacturing data
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street ended the calmest session in recent memory with a narrowly mixed performance Monday as investors looked past a weak reading on the manufacturing sector and focused on the election.
Before finishing essentially flat, the Dow Jones industrials moved in a range of just over 130 points -- well below October's average daily swing of 594. While trading was quiet, including the often-volatile final hour, the calm doesn't necessarily mean stocks have carved a definitive bottom; analysts said investors weren't making big moves ahead of the election.
Stocks showed no lasting impact from the Institute for Supply Management report that its measure of U.S. manufacturing dropped last month to the lowest level since September 1982 as credit conditions tightened and disruptions remained from Hurricane Ike. The trade group said its index of manufacturing activity fell to 38.9 from 43.5 in September, well below the 41.5 economists predicted, according to Thomson/IFR.
A separate report showed construction spending fell by a smaller-than-expected amount in September as a rebound in nonresidential activity helped offset further weakness in home building. The Commerce Department said construction spending fell by 0.3 percent in September, less than the 0.8 percent decline many economists expected.
Major auto companies reported weak sales for the month of October on Monday as tight credit and nervousness about the economy kept customers away from showrooms. General Motors Corp.'s U.S. sales plunged 45 percent, Ford Motor Co.'s sales fell 30 percent, while Toyota Motor Corp.'s dropped 23 percent.
The data support the growing belief that the economy is in recession, hurt by a drop in lending and slower overall spending. But with the Dow having tumbled more than 14 percent in October -- its worst month in 21 years -- the market priced in a significant falloff in economic activity. Wall Street must now determine whether the selloff in stocks is adequate, not enough or overdone.
Stephen Massocca, co-chief executive of Pacific Growth Equities, said the economic readings weren't a surprise given the hits the economy has taken from the evaporation of lending since September. He said Wall Street's tepid reaction also reflects the market's process of forming a bottom after its selloff. Investors are also waiting to make big bets until after the election, he said.
In addition, the fiscal year for mutual funds ended Friday, removing one source of selling pressure from the market. Some funds had been selling ahead of Oct. 31 for tax purposes.
"What we've seen was a rally last week taking a dire depression off the table, and I think now what we have is a severe recession," he said. "By and large, the economy is bad but it's not as bad as many people think it is. There are still people going to work every day.
"With the election tomorrow, obviously people probably want to wait and see what happens there. I think that's probably holding people back," Massocca said.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 5.18, or 0.06 percent, to 9,319.83.
Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2.45, or 0.25 percent, to 966.30, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 5.38, or 0.31 percent, to 1,726.33.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.98, or 0.18 percent, to 538.50.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a light 1.02 billion.
The quiet session wasn't a surprise as many investors sat on the sidelines ahead of the election. Many analysts have said that in general, neither candidate is more favored than the other on Wall Street, but investors are eager to put the uncertainty behind them.
John Dorfman, portfolio manager of the Dorfman Value Fund, noted that even with a difficult economy the market has priced in a tough recession.
"I think we are groping for a bottom here and there is often a relief really after the election is resolved," he said.
Given how far the stock market has already tumbled, some analysts believe the market is showing signs of bottoming out but that volatility likely will remain. Last month, for all its problems, did end with a positive tone, thanks in large part to weeks of gradual improvement in the tight credit markets, but also because mutual funds were finished with selling at the end of their fiscal year. The Dow added 11.3 percent last week, its best weekly performance in 34 years, while the S&P 500 index climbed 10.5 percent.
But Craig Peckham, market strategist at Jefferies & Co., remains cautious. He said the market is still trying to determine how long the slowdown will last and if it's longer than normal slowdowns, which he suspects.
"There continues to be risk to equity values particularly if we have a long-term downturn," said. "I think we probably do end up bouncing around for a while and I think real conviction to the upside or the downside won't come until people get better visibility on 2009."
The key bank-to-bank lending rate known as Libor was unchanged with Friday's rate of 3.03 percent for three-month dollar loans. A fall in the London Interbank Offered Rate indicates that banks are more willing to lend to one another.
Investors' demand for short-term government debt remained high, however, a sign that they are still cautious. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, seen as one of the safest assets around, rose only slightly to 0.45 percent from 0.43 percent Friday. A low yield indicates high demand.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.92 percent from 3.96 percent late Friday.
The dollar rose against most other major currencies. Gold prices also rose.
Light, sweet crude fell $3.87 to settle at $63.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.51 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.78 percent, and France's CAC-40 advanced 1.17 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 2.69 percent. Japan's stock market was closed for a holiday.
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Wall Street ended the calmest session in recent memory with a narrowly mixed performance Monday as investors looked past a weak reading on the manufacturing sector and focused on the election.
Before finishing essentially flat, the Dow Jones industrials moved in a range of just over 130 points -- well below October's average daily swing of 594. While trading was quiet, including the often-volatile final hour, the calm doesn't necessarily mean stocks have carved a definitive bottom; analysts said investors weren't making big moves ahead of the election.
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -5.18 points -0.06% on Monday Novemeber 3
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,319.83 -5.18 -0.06%
Nasdaq 1,726.33 +5.38 +0.31%
S&P 500 966.30 -2.45 -0.25%
30-yr Bond 4.3210% -0.0480
NYSE Volume 4,506,830,500
Nasdaq Volume 1,809,306,250
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,443.28 +65.94 +1.51%
DAX 5,026.84 +38.87 +0.78%
CAC 40 3,527.97 +40.90 +1.17%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,576.98 closed for holiday
Hang Seng 14,344.37 +375.70 +2.69%
Straits Times 1,883.75 +89.55 +4.99%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081103/wall_street.html
Stocks end quiet session mixed ahead of election
Monday November 3, 5:01 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Stocks end quiet session mixed ahead of election; investors overlook weak manufacturing data
NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street ended the calmest session in recent memory with a narrowly mixed performance Monday as investors looked past a weak reading on the manufacturing sector and focused on the election.
Before finishing essentially flat, the Dow Jones industrials moved in a range of just over 130 points -- well below October's average daily swing of 594. While trading was quiet, including the often-volatile final hour, the calm doesn't necessarily mean stocks have carved a definitive bottom; analysts said investors weren't making big moves ahead of the election.
Stocks showed no lasting impact from the Institute for Supply Management report that its measure of U.S. manufacturing dropped last month to the lowest level since September 1982 as credit conditions tightened and disruptions remained from Hurricane Ike. The trade group said its index of manufacturing activity fell to 38.9 from 43.5 in September, well below the 41.5 economists predicted, according to Thomson/IFR.
A separate report showed construction spending fell by a smaller-than-expected amount in September as a rebound in nonresidential activity helped offset further weakness in home building. The Commerce Department said construction spending fell by 0.3 percent in September, less than the 0.8 percent decline many economists expected.
Major auto companies reported weak sales for the month of October on Monday as tight credit and nervousness about the economy kept customers away from showrooms. General Motors Corp.'s U.S. sales plunged 45 percent, Ford Motor Co.'s sales fell 30 percent, while Toyota Motor Corp.'s dropped 23 percent.
The data support the growing belief that the economy is in recession, hurt by a drop in lending and slower overall spending. But with the Dow having tumbled more than 14 percent in October -- its worst month in 21 years -- the market priced in a significant falloff in economic activity. Wall Street must now determine whether the selloff in stocks is adequate, not enough or overdone.
Stephen Massocca, co-chief executive of Pacific Growth Equities, said the economic readings weren't a surprise given the hits the economy has taken from the evaporation of lending since September. He said Wall Street's tepid reaction also reflects the market's process of forming a bottom after its selloff. Investors are also waiting to make big bets until after the election, he said.
In addition, the fiscal year for mutual funds ended Friday, removing one source of selling pressure from the market. Some funds had been selling ahead of Oct. 31 for tax purposes.
"What we've seen was a rally last week taking a dire depression off the table, and I think now what we have is a severe recession," he said. "By and large, the economy is bad but it's not as bad as many people think it is. There are still people going to work every day.
"With the election tomorrow, obviously people probably want to wait and see what happens there. I think that's probably holding people back," Massocca said.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 5.18, or 0.06 percent, to 9,319.83.
Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 2.45, or 0.25 percent, to 966.30, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 5.38, or 0.31 percent, to 1,726.33.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 0.98, or 0.18 percent, to 538.50.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a light 1.02 billion.
The quiet session wasn't a surprise as many investors sat on the sidelines ahead of the election. Many analysts have said that in general, neither candidate is more favored than the other on Wall Street, but investors are eager to put the uncertainty behind them.
John Dorfman, portfolio manager of the Dorfman Value Fund, noted that even with a difficult economy the market has priced in a tough recession.
"I think we are groping for a bottom here and there is often a relief really after the election is resolved," he said.
Given how far the stock market has already tumbled, some analysts believe the market is showing signs of bottoming out but that volatility likely will remain. Last month, for all its problems, did end with a positive tone, thanks in large part to weeks of gradual improvement in the tight credit markets, but also because mutual funds were finished with selling at the end of their fiscal year. The Dow added 11.3 percent last week, its best weekly performance in 34 years, while the S&P 500 index climbed 10.5 percent.
But Craig Peckham, market strategist at Jefferies & Co., remains cautious. He said the market is still trying to determine how long the slowdown will last and if it's longer than normal slowdowns, which he suspects.
"There continues to be risk to equity values particularly if we have a long-term downturn," said. "I think we probably do end up bouncing around for a while and I think real conviction to the upside or the downside won't come until people get better visibility on 2009."
The key bank-to-bank lending rate known as Libor was unchanged with Friday's rate of 3.03 percent for three-month dollar loans. A fall in the London Interbank Offered Rate indicates that banks are more willing to lend to one another.
Investors' demand for short-term government debt remained high, however, a sign that they are still cautious. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, seen as one of the safest assets around, rose only slightly to 0.45 percent from 0.43 percent Friday. A low yield indicates high demand.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 3.92 percent from 3.96 percent late Friday.
The dollar rose against most other major currencies. Gold prices also rose.
Light, sweet crude fell $3.87 to settle at $63.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.51 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.78 percent, and France's CAC-40 advanced 1.17 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 2.69 percent. Japan's stock market was closed for a holiday.
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bigdog
Retired many years ago
- Joined
- 19 July 2006
- Posts
- 8,124
- Reactions
- 5,474
NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Investors believing that Wall Street is on the verge of a yearend rally piled into the market Tuesday, brushing off more weak economic data while they scarfed up stocks and propelled the Dow Jones industrials up 300 points to its highest close in four weeks.
It was the biggest Election Day rally for the Dow, topping the 1.2 percent gain seen in 1984 when Ronald Reagan defeated Walter Mondale. Prior to 1980, the market was closed on Election Day.
The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER +305.45 points +3.28% on Tuesday Novmember 4
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,625.28 +305.45 +3.28%
Nasdaq 1,780.12 +53.79 +3.12%
S&P 500 1,005.75 +39.45 +4.08%
30-yr Bond 4.2220% -0.0990
NYSE Volume 5,598,237,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,347,218,500
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,639.50 +196.22 +4.42%
DAX 5,278.04 +251.20 +5.00%
CAC 40 3,691.09 +163.12 +4.62%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 9,114.60 +537.62 +6.27%
Hang Seng 14,384.34 +39.97 +0.28%
Straits Times 1,854.54 -29.21 -1.55%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081104/wall_street.html
Stocks surge as investors anticipate yearend rally
Tuesday November 4, 4:46 pm ET
By Sara Lepro and Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Wall Street surges as investors pile into market, expecting yearend rally
NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors believing that Wall Street is on the verge of a yearend rally piled into the market Tuesday, brushing off more weak economic data while they scarfed up stocks and propelled the Dow Jones industrials up 300 points to its highest close in four weeks.
It was the biggest Election Day rally for the Dow, topping the 1.2 percent gain seen in 1984 when Ronald Reagan defeated Walter Mondale. Prior to 1980, the market was closed on Election Day.
Some analysts said the market rose on relief that the presidential election was about to be over. But others said investors were anticipating a year-end recovery from Wall Street's huge sell-off and were buying to be sure they didn't miss out on its start.
"I seriously doubt it has much to do with the election, other than we're all looking forward to it being over," said independent investment strategist Edward Yardeni.
The fact that Wall Street is in the final stretch of a tough year is probably lifting stocks more than the elections, he said. "It's almost been a classic textbook crash in September and October followed by a year-end rally."
Steven Goldman, chief market strategist at Weeden & Co., said, "historically, we were at the most oversold levels since October 1974," said pointing to price-to-earnings ratios. "We've come to levels that would tend to discount a lot of bad news."
There's still a feeling the market might fall back and retest the trading lows reached Oct. 10 before entering a true bull market. But it's possible that the retrenchment won't happen until 2009 -- in similar oversold markets in 1974 and 2002, Goldman said, the return to the lows of the bear market did not happen until two months later.
Analysts predict stocks are headed for a recovery no matter who is elected, as the policies of both John McCain and Barack Obama likely will be guided by the weak economy and the recent flood of government support designed to keep the global financial system from collapsing.
The market again looked past a downbeat economic report, as it did on Monday, when investors calmly received a report of a big slowdown in manufacturing before the Dow finished essentially flat.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that factory orders fell 2.5 percent in September from August levels, much worse than the 0.7 percent drop analysts predicted. But investors generally expect data from September, and even October, to be extremely weak, as credit markets began to seize up in mid-September. Analysts believe much of the bad news is already factored into stock prices; last week saw the Dow rise 11.3 percent -- its best weekly gain in 34 years.
"The risk of a depression is off the table," said Ben Halliburton, chief investment officer of Tradition Capital Management.
Still, some analysts say the market's gains might not be sustainable. Though the uncertainty surrounding the election will be cleared, they said there are still many economic challenges, and some of the market volatility seen in October, in the weeks and months ahead.
"In the next couple of days, people are going to focus on the fact that we still have these issues," said Bernie McGinn, chief executive of McGinn Investment Management, referring to the worsening economy. "They aren't resolved."
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 305.45, or 3.28 percent, to 9,625.28. The Dow last closed above 9,500 on Oct. 6, when it finished at 9,955.50.
The broader indexes also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 39.45, or 4.08 percent, to 1,005.75. The Nasdaq composite index rose 53.79, or 3.12 percent, to 1,780.12, its sixth straight advance and its longest winning streak of the year.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 7.47, or 1.39 percent, to 545.97.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a light 1.3 billion shares.
Energy and industrial stocks led the market higher, while health care names, often a defensive investment, showed more modest advances. Exxon Mobil Corp. rose 4.3 percent, aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. rose 3.5 percent and Johnson & Johnson advanced 1.19 percent.
There were other signs of the market's growing confidence. Wall Street's fear gauge, the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, fell to 47.73, its lowest close since Oct. 3. The VIX normally trades below 30 and tracks options activity for the companies that make up the S&P 500; it closed as high as 80.06, on Oct. 27.
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
Investors believing that Wall Street is on the verge of a yearend rally piled into the market Tuesday, brushing off more weak economic data while they scarfed up stocks and propelled the Dow Jones industrials up 300 points to its highest close in four weeks.
It was the biggest Election Day rally for the Dow, topping the 1.2 percent gain seen in 1984 when Ronald Reagan defeated Walter Mondale. Prior to 1980, the market was closed on Election Day.
The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER +305.45 points +3.28% on Tuesday Novmember 4
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,625.28 +305.45 +3.28%
Nasdaq 1,780.12 +53.79 +3.12%
S&P 500 1,005.75 +39.45 +4.08%
30-yr Bond 4.2220% -0.0990
NYSE Volume 5,598,237,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,347,218,500
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,639.50 +196.22 +4.42%
DAX 5,278.04 +251.20 +5.00%
CAC 40 3,691.09 +163.12 +4.62%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 9,114.60 +537.62 +6.27%
Hang Seng 14,384.34 +39.97 +0.28%
Straits Times 1,854.54 -29.21 -1.55%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081104/wall_street.html
Stocks surge as investors anticipate yearend rally
Tuesday November 4, 4:46 pm ET
By Sara Lepro and Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Wall Street surges as investors pile into market, expecting yearend rally
NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors believing that Wall Street is on the verge of a yearend rally piled into the market Tuesday, brushing off more weak economic data while they scarfed up stocks and propelled the Dow Jones industrials up 300 points to its highest close in four weeks.
It was the biggest Election Day rally for the Dow, topping the 1.2 percent gain seen in 1984 when Ronald Reagan defeated Walter Mondale. Prior to 1980, the market was closed on Election Day.
Some analysts said the market rose on relief that the presidential election was about to be over. But others said investors were anticipating a year-end recovery from Wall Street's huge sell-off and were buying to be sure they didn't miss out on its start.
"I seriously doubt it has much to do with the election, other than we're all looking forward to it being over," said independent investment strategist Edward Yardeni.
The fact that Wall Street is in the final stretch of a tough year is probably lifting stocks more than the elections, he said. "It's almost been a classic textbook crash in September and October followed by a year-end rally."
Steven Goldman, chief market strategist at Weeden & Co., said, "historically, we were at the most oversold levels since October 1974," said pointing to price-to-earnings ratios. "We've come to levels that would tend to discount a lot of bad news."
There's still a feeling the market might fall back and retest the trading lows reached Oct. 10 before entering a true bull market. But it's possible that the retrenchment won't happen until 2009 -- in similar oversold markets in 1974 and 2002, Goldman said, the return to the lows of the bear market did not happen until two months later.
Analysts predict stocks are headed for a recovery no matter who is elected, as the policies of both John McCain and Barack Obama likely will be guided by the weak economy and the recent flood of government support designed to keep the global financial system from collapsing.
The market again looked past a downbeat economic report, as it did on Monday, when investors calmly received a report of a big slowdown in manufacturing before the Dow finished essentially flat.
The Commerce Department said Tuesday that factory orders fell 2.5 percent in September from August levels, much worse than the 0.7 percent drop analysts predicted. But investors generally expect data from September, and even October, to be extremely weak, as credit markets began to seize up in mid-September. Analysts believe much of the bad news is already factored into stock prices; last week saw the Dow rise 11.3 percent -- its best weekly gain in 34 years.
"The risk of a depression is off the table," said Ben Halliburton, chief investment officer of Tradition Capital Management.
Still, some analysts say the market's gains might not be sustainable. Though the uncertainty surrounding the election will be cleared, they said there are still many economic challenges, and some of the market volatility seen in October, in the weeks and months ahead.
"In the next couple of days, people are going to focus on the fact that we still have these issues," said Bernie McGinn, chief executive of McGinn Investment Management, referring to the worsening economy. "They aren't resolved."
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 305.45, or 3.28 percent, to 9,625.28. The Dow last closed above 9,500 on Oct. 6, when it finished at 9,955.50.
The broader indexes also rose. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 39.45, or 4.08 percent, to 1,005.75. The Nasdaq composite index rose 53.79, or 3.12 percent, to 1,780.12, its sixth straight advance and its longest winning streak of the year.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 7.47, or 1.39 percent, to 545.97.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a light 1.3 billion shares.
Energy and industrial stocks led the market higher, while health care names, often a defensive investment, showed more modest advances. Exxon Mobil Corp. rose 4.3 percent, aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. rose 3.5 percent and Johnson & Johnson advanced 1.19 percent.
There were other signs of the market's growing confidence. Wall Street's fear gauge, the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, fell to 47.73, its lowest close since Oct. 3. The VIX normally trades below 30 and tracks options activity for the companies that make up the S&P 500; it closed as high as 80.06, on Oct. 27.
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NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
A case of postelection nerves sent Wall Street plunging Wednesday as investors absorbing a stream of bad economic news wondered how a Barack Obama presidency will help the country weather a possibly severe recession. Volatility returned to the market, with the Dow Jones industrials falling nearly 500 points and all the major indexes tumbling more than 5 percent.
The market was expected to give back some gains after a six-day runup that lifted the Standard & Poor's 500 index more than 18 percent. But investors lost some of their recent confidence about the economy and began dumping stocks again; light volume helped exaggerate the price swings.
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -486.01 points -5.05% on Wednesday Novmember 5
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,139.27 -486.01 -5.05%
Nasdaq 1,681.64 -98.48 -5.53%
S&P 500 952.77 -52.98 -5.27%
30-yr Bond 4.1540% -0.0680
NYSE Volume 5,447,484,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,092,419,000
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,530.73 -108.77 -2.34%
DAX 5,166.87 -111.17 -2.11%
CAC 40 3,618.11 -72.98 -1.98%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 9,521.24 +406.64 +4.46%
Hang Seng 14,840.16 +455.82 +3.17%
Straits Times 1,868.82 +39.13 +2.14%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081105/wall_street.html
Stocks plunge as investors ponder Obama presidency
Wednesday November 5, 4:30 pm ET
By Sara Lepro and Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Stocks plunge as anxious investors ponder impact of Obama presidency on business, economy
NEW YORK (AP) -- A case of postelection nerves sent Wall Street plunging Wednesday as investors absorbing a stream of bad economic news wondered how a Barack Obama presidency will help the country weather a possibly severe recession. Volatility returned to the market, with the Dow Jones industrials falling nearly 500 points and all the major indexes tumbling more than 5 percent.
The market was expected to give back some gains after a six-day runup that lifted the Standard & Poor's 500 index more than 18 percent. But investors lost some of their recent confidence about the economy and began dumping stocks again; light volume helped exaggerate the price swings.
"I think what is happening in the market is a continuation of really the last few weeks," said Subodh Kumar, global investment strategist at Subodh Kumar & Associates in Toronto. "The markets are still incorporating the slowdown in the global economy."
Worries about the financial sector intensified after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. began to notify about 3,200 employees globally that they have been lost their jobs as part of a broader plan to slash 10 percent of the investment bank's work force, a person familiar with the situation said. The cuts were first reported last month. Goldman fell 8 percent, while other financial names like Citigroup Inc. fell 14 percent.
Commodities stocks also fell after steelmaker ArcelorMittal said it would slash production because of weakening demand. Its stock plunged 21.5 percent.
Although the market expected Obama to win the election, as the session wore on investors were clearly worrying about the weakness of the economy and pondered what the Obama administration might do to help it. Analysts said the market is already anxious about who Obama selects as the next Treasury Secretary, as well as who he picks for other Cabinet positions
Analysts said investors were also uneasy in advance of the Labor Department's October employment report, to be issued on Friday. Economists on average expect a 200,000 drop in payrolls, according to Thomson/IFR. Employers have been slashing jobs after a freeze-up in the credit markets crippled many companies' ability to get financing.
Late-day selling by hedge funds helped deepen the market's losses during the last hour. More selling by the funds is expected to weigh on the market ahead of a Nov. 15 cutoff for shareholders to notify fund managers of their intent to cash out investments before year-end.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 486.01, or 5.05 percent, to 9,139.27.
The S&P 500 index fell 52.98, or 5.27 percent, to 952.77. Through the six sessions that ended Tuesday, the index, the one most closely watched by market professionals, rose 18.3 percent.
The Nasdaq composite index fell 98.48, or 5.53 percent, to 1,681.64, while the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 31.33, or 5.74 percent, to 514.64.
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com
A case of postelection nerves sent Wall Street plunging Wednesday as investors absorbing a stream of bad economic news wondered how a Barack Obama presidency will help the country weather a possibly severe recession. Volatility returned to the market, with the Dow Jones industrials falling nearly 500 points and all the major indexes tumbling more than 5 percent.
The market was expected to give back some gains after a six-day runup that lifted the Standard & Poor's 500 index more than 18 percent. But investors lost some of their recent confidence about the economy and began dumping stocks again; light volume helped exaggerate the price swings.
The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -486.01 points -5.05% on Wednesday Novmember 5
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,139.27 -486.01 -5.05%
Nasdaq 1,681.64 -98.48 -5.53%
S&P 500 952.77 -52.98 -5.27%
30-yr Bond 4.1540% -0.0680
NYSE Volume 5,447,484,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,092,419,000
Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,530.73 -108.77 -2.34%
DAX 5,166.87 -111.17 -2.11%
CAC 40 3,618.11 -72.98 -1.98%
Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 9,521.24 +406.64 +4.46%
Hang Seng 14,840.16 +455.82 +3.17%
Straits Times 1,868.82 +39.13 +2.14%
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081105/wall_street.html
Stocks plunge as investors ponder Obama presidency
Wednesday November 5, 4:30 pm ET
By Sara Lepro and Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Stocks plunge as anxious investors ponder impact of Obama presidency on business, economy
NEW YORK (AP) -- A case of postelection nerves sent Wall Street plunging Wednesday as investors absorbing a stream of bad economic news wondered how a Barack Obama presidency will help the country weather a possibly severe recession. Volatility returned to the market, with the Dow Jones industrials falling nearly 500 points and all the major indexes tumbling more than 5 percent.
The market was expected to give back some gains after a six-day runup that lifted the Standard & Poor's 500 index more than 18 percent. But investors lost some of their recent confidence about the economy and began dumping stocks again; light volume helped exaggerate the price swings.
"I think what is happening in the market is a continuation of really the last few weeks," said Subodh Kumar, global investment strategist at Subodh Kumar & Associates in Toronto. "The markets are still incorporating the slowdown in the global economy."
Worries about the financial sector intensified after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. began to notify about 3,200 employees globally that they have been lost their jobs as part of a broader plan to slash 10 percent of the investment bank's work force, a person familiar with the situation said. The cuts were first reported last month. Goldman fell 8 percent, while other financial names like Citigroup Inc. fell 14 percent.
Commodities stocks also fell after steelmaker ArcelorMittal said it would slash production because of weakening demand. Its stock plunged 21.5 percent.
Although the market expected Obama to win the election, as the session wore on investors were clearly worrying about the weakness of the economy and pondered what the Obama administration might do to help it. Analysts said the market is already anxious about who Obama selects as the next Treasury Secretary, as well as who he picks for other Cabinet positions
Analysts said investors were also uneasy in advance of the Labor Department's October employment report, to be issued on Friday. Economists on average expect a 200,000 drop in payrolls, according to Thomson/IFR. Employers have been slashing jobs after a freeze-up in the credit markets crippled many companies' ability to get financing.
Late-day selling by hedge funds helped deepen the market's losses during the last hour. More selling by the funds is expected to weigh on the market ahead of a Nov. 15 cutoff for shareholders to notify fund managers of their intent to cash out investments before year-end.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 486.01, or 5.05 percent, to 9,139.27.
The S&P 500 index fell 52.98, or 5.27 percent, to 952.77. Through the six sessions that ended Tuesday, the index, the one most closely watched by market professionals, rose 18.3 percent.
The Nasdaq composite index fell 98.48, or 5.53 percent, to 1,681.64, while the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 31.33, or 5.74 percent, to 514.64.
