This was another choppy & undecided day. Markets ended little changed, although Dow had a range of about 150 points from top to bottom. For the week, Dow was up 400 on Tues then bumped along sideways for the last 3 days, holding onto its gain. Volume today was light at 1.2B (1½B is typical). Banks & REITs fell today, but junk bond funds rallied from depressed levels. The Alerian MLP index gained more than 3 to 286.69, a 20 point gain from its lows a couple of weeks ago. The job report showing 80K jobs were lost is helping convince many we are in a recession. Oil is back up to 106 which should bring even higher gas prices at the pumps (from record current levels). Here is a good report on the Housing Bust from USNews.
Next week, Alcoa (AA) will be the first Dow company reporting earnings. Analysts are forecasting a lower Q1 than last year:
Low 48¢
Avg 37¢
High 64¢
Last year 79¢
Let's see what kind of reception the numbers get in the markets.
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