Asian markets last night sold off in opening hours following the horrible day in US markets. Australia, Tokyo & Korea were all hit hard. However most rallied by the close of trading. A major news item in Japan was that Tokyo said that they were expecting this to be their worst year in 15 years.
Dow was encouraged & rose 166, advancers over decliners 2-1 & NAZ was up 28 on a greatly oversold rally. The indices I follow were up mildly, while S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX was down pennies. Oil was up, again only by pennies. If there is logic behind the rally, it seems to be on the hope of another rate cut (even though banks aren't lending) which trumps the terrible unemployment report
The unemployment report came out & it was ugly. The rate shot up to 6.5% in Oct, versus 6.1% in the prior month & the highest rate since 1994. This is the 10th consecutive month of job declines, 1.2MM jobs lost this year. The outlook is for more rate increases, as everybody is trying to guess how high the rate will go.
•Jobless Rate in U.S. Jumps to 6.5%, Highest Since 1994, as Payrolls Tumble
Ford (F) reported a terrible qtr (GM results should be out shortly) as sales plunged 22% producing a $3B loss (Ford is now a $2 stock). Their biggest problem is the rapid pace at which they are "burning cash" (7.7B in Q3). The auto makers are meeting in DC, trying to come up with a rescue, bailout, whatever package (roughly $50B) so they can ride out the recession. When I hear that about sales plunging, I am reminded of talk about how retail demand dropped off a cliff on Sep 15.
•Ford Has $2.98 Billion Operating Loss, Burns $7.7 Billion Cash in Quarter
Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), plunged 10 in the last week to 6.76, is looking for Asian money (where it has $16B in expansion projects underway) to avoid defaulting on loans.
•Las Vegas Sands Chief Adelson Holds Talks With Singapore, Banks on Funding
Markets are having a good day but the Dow is still down 400 this week after the pounding it took in the last 2 days. Markets remain on defense.
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