Three Consecutive Good Days on Wall Street

We have not seen this in a while, three consecutive good days on Wall Street. This occurred because there were some small glimmers of hope. The were some indications that the economy’s downward spiral might be slowing. On Monday the markets fell to their lowest point in 12 years, but since then the indexes have bounced back roughly 10%.

Now we are not out of the woods yet, but a few days of light was welcome relief.

Stocks Up on Citigroup News

There was some actual good news from Wall Street this morning, and the markets responded. Led by financial stocks, the market made its first big move upward in weeks Tuesday after Citigroup Inc. said it had operated at a profit during the first two months of the year. Dow Jones industrials shot up more than 250 points.

Dow Headed towards 6000

The Dow has gone below 7000 today. I used to think that 7000 was the floor that this crisis on Wall Street would hit, but 7000 was not the floor, and 6000 may be the floor.

World Stocks Lower as Economic Fears Remain

President Obama's plan to reform America's costly health care system is supposedly the cause of another bad day in the financial markets. Supposedly concerns about banks and pharmaceutical companies, whose profits may be curbed by President Obama caused investors to sell. I don't believe it.

I believe people are using Obama as an excuse to cover their want to sell assets and get what profit they can.

European markets fell today with Britain's FTSE 100 plunged 2 percent to 3,834.89, Germany's DAX lost 2 percent to 3,863.96, and France's CAC 40 dropped 1.5 percent to 2,702.89. This was lead by Lloyds Banking Group, which fell 20%. In total European bank stocks as a collective are down 25 percent since the beginning of the year.

In Asia, stock markets were mixed. Trade was listless after a bruising, volatile month that saw the region's export-driven economies sank deeper into recession amid collapsing demand and their currencies wither.

Stocks Sink to Lowest Levels in a Decade

It's all gone. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 251 points to its lowest close since Oct. 28, 1997, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index logged its lowest finish since April 11, 1997. All the major indexes slid more than 3 percent.

Over a decades worth of capitol in the stock markets is gone, and I think it will be a long time before this money is remade.

As has been the case for the past nine months, financial stocks were the heart of the crash. Investors are still concerned that a number of the country's largest banks could be nationalized as they continue to suffer severe losses because of their mismanagement and the on-going recession. They're also worried that banks' losses will keep escalating as the recession sends more borrowers into default.

The market's decline extends massive losses from last week when the major stock indexes tumbled more than 6 percent. The major indexes plunged through the lows they reached in late November, at the height of the credit crisis.

All Gone

The Dow Jones closed down at its lowest level in six years. The gains in the market during the Bush years are all gone. The gains made after the crash which came in the wake of 9-11 are all gone. The Dow is at about half of its all-time high of 14,164, which was reached in October 2007. The total value of all shares of companies on the Dow has now dwindled to $2.45 trillion, down from $4.51 trillion. Bank stocks have been especially hit as investors grow increasingly nervous about the fragile economy.

This economic crisis is going to be one for the history books. The trouble is our government has become so split and dysfunctional, I'm not sure it can meet the needs of the crisis. Look at what has been happening in California. California is the world's 8th largest economy, but has a 42 billion dollar deficit. They needed a draconian budget of tax increases and cost cutting to keep going yet Republicans were not willing to work with Democrats and compromise. Luckily at the last minute the disaster was averted in California.

Dow Drops Almost 300

On the day that President Obama signed the stimulus package into law the markets took another tumble. The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 297.81 points, or 3.79 percent, to 7,552.60. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX gave up 37.67 points, or 4.56 percent, at 789.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC lost 63.70 points, or 4.15 percent, to 1,470.66.

Wall Street's slide pulled the S&P 500 and Dow to their lowest levels since November 20, when stocks hit 11-year lows. Just before the end of the session, the Dow briefly broke through its bear market closing low that was hit on November 20.

The day's losses brought the Dow down 13.9 percent since the start of the year, while the S&P 500 is down 12.6 percent and the Nasdaq has fallen 6.7 percent.

Another Rough Day on Wall Street,

It was another rough day on Wall Street, with the Dow falling 245 points, the other major indexes down about 3% each.

Wall Street Ends on a High Note

Wall Street ended the week on a high note, with the Dow closing up about 3%. The other indexes did even better, with the S&P finishing 3.6% higher, and the Nasdaq closing up 4.4%. This market upswing happened despite dismal employment numbers, and a new report that U.S. retailers posted the worst November sales in more than three decades. Stocks reversed early losses and closed sharply higher as the data raised hopes that Washington will again step in to help the economy. The market's advance left Wall Street with only moderate losses for the week, the result of a nearly 680-point slide in on Monday.

While the deluge of bad economic readings have weighed on the markets in the past three months, investors are growing somewhat accustomed to the news, and so hopefully the roller coaster will start to flatten out. The stock market, which generally looks ahead, tends to recover six to nine months before economic reports show a recession is abating. At some point, investors likely will determine that a recession has been fully built into the market's expectations and will begin placing bets on a recovery. I think we have not reached this point yet, but we could be drawing closer.

Dow ends up nearly 400 points after bailout of Citigroup

Wall Street soared Monday for the second straight session as investors reacted to news that government had agreed to bail out Citigroup. The Dow finished up nearly 400 points today. This, combined with Friday's gains, marked the Dow's biggest two-day percentage gain since October 1987. The Dow's 891-point climb over the two sessions also wiped out the 872-point plunge it suffered on Wednesday and Thursday, when investors were anguished over the fate of Citigroup Inc. and financial companies in general, and the future of the nation's automakers.

All the major indexes jumped more than 4.5 percent.

S&P 500 sinks to '97 low

This is getting very scary:

"Wall Street slumped Thursday afternoon and the S&P 500 closed at an 11-1/2 year low as fears of a prolonged recession sparked a massive selloff.... The Dow Jones industrial average lost 445 points or 5.6%. It closed at the lowest level since March 12, 2003, just above the low of the last bear market. The Nasdaq composite lost 5.1% and also closed at its lowest level since March 12, 2003."

The Dow has lost 872 points, or 10.4%, over the last two sessions and now sits at 7552.29. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners by more than ten to one on volume of 2.23 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by five to one on volume of 3.20 billion shares.

Intel Takes a Hit

Because of the nature of it's product, chipmaker Intel has become a bell-weather for the Tech Market. It was therefore not good news when Intel reported late yesterday that it's expected earnings would be taking a hit.

And it wasn't a little hit, it was a bat to the head.

The chipmaker on Wednesday was forced to slash its fiscal-fourth-quarter revenue by $1 billion because of "significantly weaker" demand for its products. Intel now says it expects to post $9 billion in revenue for the quarter, plus or minus $300 million, the company said, compared with a previous forecast of between $10.1 billion and $10.9 billion.

This news caused stocks to drop late Wednesday, so the market ended down 411 points to 8,283.

Fox News Blames Barack Obama For Stock Market Fall

Of course they do.


Over the last two days the stock market were the worst in recent history since, at least since 1987. The Dow Jones industrial average has lost nearly 1,000 points and the S&P 500 which is a broader measure of stocks, has lost nearly 10 percent of its value.

There should be no surprise that Fox News has seized this opportunity to lay it all on President-elect Obama. Many of the guest pundits and hosts have suggested, or even claimed outright, that the stock market plunge is the direct result of Barack Obama’s presidential election victory:

– Gretchen Carlson: “There’s a lot of feeling in the market not reacting very well to the election of Barack Obama.”

– Fred Barnes: “We have seen the stock market go down over 800 points the last two days. There is great uncertainty out there about [Obama’s] policies.”

– Dick Morris: “Now the other thing that I predicted in “Fleeced” is that the stock market would go crazy after he was elected. Not just because he’s a radical, not just because he’s a Democrat, but because he’s going to raise the capital gains tax. […] Its going to continue to tank.”

Even Fox News’s business guru Neil Cavuto chimed in, wondering if “there is a connection” between the falling market and the Obama election. However, minutes later, he said, “You don’t want to glean too much politically into it.”


You can watch a compilation here:


In fact, the recent market plunge has absolutely nothing to do with Obama. As The New York Times noted, “There were no clear catalysts that spurred the sell-off…beyond the regular drumbeat of poor earnings from the corporate sector and bleak data on the economy.” Moreover, “[s]lumping retail sales and weakness in the auto sector” also helped send stocks plummeting. One market expert noted that “regardless of who won, there is no quick-term solution to the global economic crisis.”


The Wall Street Journal is reporting that stocks have rebounded this morning. Perhaps we should expect then that Fox News will give the credit to Obama. I didn't think so here.

Wall Street Steady Today

After two days that saw the Dow drop over 900 points to below 9000 again, and in spite of poor job data, Wall Street is holding steady today. Stocks seem set to recover some of the heavy losses sustained during the biggest two-day slump since 1987.

European stocks were higher ahead of the open on Wall Street. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 rose 1.2 per cent to 909.21. Asian equity markets were volatile, falling sharply before recovering most losses.

A thaw in the credit markets has helped the market today. The rate at which banks lend to each other, measured by three month dollar Libor, fell to a four year low following a fresh round of global interest rate cuts, fixed at 2.29 per cent.

Dow falls nearly 500 points

The election of Barack Obama is not a cure-all for the nation or the economy. The day after the historic presidential race the blue-chip index ended at 9,139.27, off 486.01 points, or 5.1%. and the S&P closed below 1,00 as investors' focus returned to the economy.

The nation's economy is a mess, and is going to take time to fix.

The Fed cut interest rates to just 1%.

The markets' reaction was mixed. Stocks plunged more than 360 points in the final minutes of trading, losing the momentum gained after the Federal Reserve's decision to cut a key interest rate to help alleviate fears of further economic deterioration.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 0.8 percent, with a loss of more than 74 points. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 fell 1.1 percent, or 10 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed up nearly 8 points, a gain of about half a percent.

Dow up 172 as stocks stage a comeback

Energy stocks powered an afternoon recovery on another wildly volatile day. Microsoft shares came in after the bell with better than expected earnings. Stocks mostly recovered from big losses at the close of a volatile day, despite weakness in technology stocks. At the close, the Dow Jones industrials were up 172 points, or 2%, to 8,691. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 11 points, 1.3%, to 908, but the Nasdaq Composite Index was off 12 points, 0.7%, to 1,604.

The market laggards were health care and materials stocks.

Futures trading tonight suggested stocks would open Friday slightly lower in expectation that members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will agree to cut oil production to support slumping crude prices.

The Horror Ride Continues

A late afternoon barrage of selling sent the Dow Jones industrials tumbling almost 700 points before the index pulled back to close down near 500. Weak corporate earnings stoked fears that the government's financial intervention won't keep global economies out of recession.

Dow dropped 230 points today

The stock market will continue to be a roller-coaster. Today's drop came after forecasts from Dupont, Sun Microsystems and Texas Instruments raised fears that companies’ outlooks for the fourth quarter and beyond could indeed signal a severe economic downturn. But really who is looking at this economy and thinks we are not in a severe economic downturn.

After pretty good gains yesterday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 2.5 percent, while the Nasdaq composite index lost more than 4 percent following weak showings by technology names.

The strain on the credit markets have continued to ease further in response to the 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, usually regarded as the safest investment assets around, has improved from last week in a sign that credit markets are gradually returning to a healthy state.

Bank-to-bank lending rates continued their retreat, another indication that credit is becoming easier to obtain. The London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, dropped to the lowest levels in more than a month.

two things to cheer about

Investors did have two things to cheer about this week.

The Dow and the S&P 500, wer up 4.8% and 4.6% for the week, respectively. Both markets enjoyed their best weekly performances since March 2003.
The Nasdaq was up 3.8% gain on the week to have its best since the week of August 4th.
All three market indexes had their first weekly gains after five weeks of losses.

The Dow finished above its Oct. 10 close of 8,451. This showed the market’s ability to bounce back from last week, and put it above the level it reached on Monday. It maintained gains what it made on Monday even as many investors were taking profits (see Wednesday's slide). This may help reduce fear and add confidence to the markets for weeks to come, and confidence is what the markets need.

There are some who are saying that the Dow's Oct. 10 close will prove to be the bottom for the market. I don't want to go that far, but we may be past the worst of the sell-offs.