Stocks were down fractionally, however 79 hit new lows. In the conference call following the earnings release yesterday, Cisco (CSCO) cut forecasts for sales growth rate from 15% to 10% in Q1, down .40. The Labor Dept reported jobless claims were down 22K, but below forecast numbers. D.R.Horton (DHI), largest home builder in the US, reported a Q1 loss due to write downs on inventory (homes) & property. In pre trading news, Walmart (WMT), among others, had gloomy news about retail sales. Because of it's immense size, sluggish sales in Jan for WMT sends a gloomy signal for the economy which affects business around the world.
Speaking of around the world, China is having a rough new year. They're coping with severe winter weather causing power shortages. 78% of their power comes from coal & they are having major problems with coal shortages. One estimate is that weather has already cost the economy $8B. At least they were able to ship the new Toshiba laptop I just bought.
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