Stocks gained a little today, as usual on light volume of 1.2B. Dow was up 52, advancers ahead of decliners almost 3-2 & NAZ was up 13. Banks were weak as in the last few days. Dow remains below 13K & S&P 500 at 1397 is still below 1400 but some consider today's action "positive" for the S&P index. After the close, American Int'l Group (AIG), a Dow company, reported an ugly loss. The loss was almost 8B & they plan to seek additional investments of 12B. The per share loss at 3.09 far exceeded 76¢ analysts had been forecasting. Directors saw fit to boost the div from 20¢ annual rate to 22¢, OK! In after hours trading, the stock was up 28¢.
Crude oil closed above 124 while gold rose 11 to 880. There was additional talk about the retail sales numbers reported today. They agree the numbers were good but not great, this happens when comparisons are made against low standards. The US economy is still struggling.
Here is an interesting discussion about what might happen if Bank America's takeover of Countrywide is amended, as some expect. They are talking about a deal like the JP Morgan- BearStearns arrangement, where the FEDS provide guarantees. All this is speculative, but fun to think about.
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