This is the Dow's 2nd straight weekly gain, maybe something's in the wind. Dow was up 92, advancers over decliners almost 4-1 & NAZ up 23 propelled by Microsoft's (MSFT) proposed acquisition of Yahoo (YHOO). Even with those gains, high flyer Google (GOOG) pulled back 48 after a disappointing earnings announcement yesterday, threatened competition from MSFT-YHOO & the idea of their investing almost $5B in TV airwaves next Feb when US switches to high definition TV broadcasting. But this was a strong & impressive day, almost everything I own went up. Wow!!
Before we get too excited, the following is copied from an AP press release just minutes ago:
The first blow came from the Labor Department's worrisome employment report for January. The economy lost 17,000 jobs, marking the first contraction of the labor market in more than four years. The news confounded economists, who were expecting 70,000 new jobs, according to Thomson/IFR. The unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent from 5 percent in December, though the move came as the labor pool shrank.
The Commerce Department added to the fray, reporting that construction spending dropped 1.1 percent in December -- the most in 15 months and twice what analysts expected.
And rating agency Moody's Investors Service warned on a conference call Friday that it expects to downgrade some bond insurers this month. A top rating is crucial for bond insurers to draw new business and for investors to feel secure about the bonds these companies already insure.
Maybe all is not well. At least dull Feb got off to a good start.
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