Boeing's (Dow stock) favorable earnings sent stocks higher despite other tough stories. Dow was up 43, but advancers just barely beat decliners while NAZ had a good day, up 28. While BA's news sent the stock up 3.53 accounting for chunk of the gain in the Dow, other news was mixed. Credit problems are starting to weigh on regional banks signaling losses will continue & probably grow. Speaking of credit problems, AMBAC (ABK) had another brutal day, down 60%+ to 3.46. About a year ago the stock traded at 96. This is one of the major credit agencies which had to come up with extra financing & beg to keep their AAA credit status (one of just a few companies in the US with that rating) 3 months ago. The Financial Times has a good review of their loss. They've lost $13 per share in the last ½ year, making the current AAA rating for them to be a joke. They should be downgraded soon as will their rivals. These are bond insurers. If the bond insurers are in trouble, it makes you wonder what value their insurance has! This kind of thinking can cause bond yields to rise due to less certainty about the future. Not good.
Amazon (AMZN) had a very good Q1, but.... They had been up 1.40 for the day but in after hours trading they're down 4.05. Too many companies when reporting even good figures have been following with a but.... Their earnings were 34¢ beating the street by 2¢, pretty good. Sales rose 37% worldwide over last year worldwide . But margins were weak & sales in the US only grew 31%, slower than in the rest of the world. Problems in the US economy continue. It's difficult to see them ending without some resolution to the credit mess that seems to be getting worse.
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