Stocks began the day climbing, taking the Dow above its previous yearly closing low in Aug. Dow is up 41, advancers ahead of decliners 2-1 & NAZ was up 25. Banks slipped, taking the Financial Index down 1 to 157 after yesterday's spectacular gain. The MLP index rose 1+ to the 332s, still at a weak level, while the REIT index fell 5 to 197. Junk bond funds are recovering after a bad day yesterday & Treasuries are selling off on strength in the stock market. Oil extended its gains after the Energy Dept reported an unexpected decline in inventories. Gold continues to mark time in the low 1600s.
Photo: Bloomberg
Service firms (employing 90% of the US work force) expanded at a slightly slower pace in Sep than in Aug. Meager pay increases & higher costs for food & gas have forced Americans to spend carefully. The decline in spending is hurting the service industry, which covers a range of businesses from hotels & restaurants to financial firms & retailers. The Institute for Supply Management said that its service sector index dipped to 53 from 53.3 in Aug (a reading above 50 indicates expansion). The index reached a 5-year high of 59.7 in Feb but has weakened consistently since. In Jul, it fell to its lowest point level in 17 months. Ben Bernanke said that the economic recovery "is close to faltering." He said the economy is growing more slowly than the Federal Reserve had expected and that the biggest factor depressing consumer confidence is poor job growth.
Photo: Bloomberg
Greek civil servants walked off the job, paralyzing the gov & public transport to protest ever-deeper austerity measures & seemingly ineffectual financial policies. At least 16K protesters converged in central Athens, & another 10K gathered in the northern city of Thessaloniki, to protest cuts. The vast majority of demonstrators were peaceful, but a few dozen threw stones at riot police. Air traffic controllers joined the 24-hour strike, grounding all flights to & from Greek airports. State hospitals were running on emergency staff, while lawyers, teachers & tax officers also didn't work. Public transport employees were holding work stoppages. State television & radio pulled news programs off the air. Civil servants are protesting plans to suspend about 30K staff on partial pay, part of new cutbacks that come on top of salary & pension cuts. There also have been waves of tax hikes over the past year and a half. The Greek rescue plan is far from over!
Greeks Strike Against Job Cuts as Aid Delayed
In Sep US employers announced the most job cuts in more than 2 years, led by planned reductions at Bank of America (BAC), a Dow stock, & in the military. Announced layoffs tripled, the largest increase since Jan 2009, to 115K last month from 37K in Sep 2010, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Cuts in gov employment, led by the Army’s 5-year troop reduction plan, & at BAC accounted for almost 70% of the announcements. While the bulk of firings are not “directly related” to economic weakness, they “could definitely be a sign of more cuts to come,” John A. Challenger, CEO said. “Bank of America is not the only bank still struggling in the wake of the housing collapse, and the military cutbacks are probably just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to federal spending cuts.” Today’s report also showed that employers announced plans in Sep to hire 76K workers, up from 15K in the prior month, but down from 123K in Sep 2010. Retailers led the gains, planning to add 70K positions ahead of the holidays. The job picture remains bleak.
Announced Job Cuts in U.S. More Than Triple From Year Ago, Challenger Says
Stocks are looking for direction again. It's hard not to think Dow's 350 rise in the last hour yesterday was suspicious. Greece is expected to get the next installment of aid, but its problems are far from over when there are constant protests over austerity measures. Also banking problems have not gone away, especially for US banks. If the bulls can take the markets higher today, that will be a good sign. For the moment, that is iffy.
ALERIAN MLP Index (^AMZ)
DJ REIT INDEXDJR (^DJR)
Get the latest market update below:
Treasury yields:
U.S. 3-month | 0.000% | |
U.S. 2-year | 0.255% | |
U.S. 10-year | 1.884% |
| CLX11.NYM | ...Crude Oil Nov 11 | ...77.84 | ... 2.17 | (2.9%) |
| GCV11.CMX | ...Gold Oct 11 | ......1,616.20 | ... 1.50 | (0.1%) |
Service firms (employing 90% of the US work force) expanded at a slightly slower pace in Sep than in Aug. Meager pay increases & higher costs for food & gas have forced Americans to spend carefully. The decline in spending is hurting the service industry, which covers a range of businesses from hotels & restaurants to financial firms & retailers. The Institute for Supply Management said that its service sector index dipped to 53 from 53.3 in Aug (a reading above 50 indicates expansion). The index reached a 5-year high of 59.7 in Feb but has weakened consistently since. In Jul, it fell to its lowest point level in 17 months. Ben Bernanke said that the economic recovery "is close to faltering." He said the economy is growing more slowly than the Federal Reserve had expected and that the biggest factor depressing consumer confidence is poor job growth.
Greek civil servants walked off the job, paralyzing the gov & public transport to protest ever-deeper austerity measures & seemingly ineffectual financial policies. At least 16K protesters converged in central Athens, & another 10K gathered in the northern city of Thessaloniki, to protest cuts. The vast majority of demonstrators were peaceful, but a few dozen threw stones at riot police. Air traffic controllers joined the 24-hour strike, grounding all flights to & from Greek airports. State hospitals were running on emergency staff, while lawyers, teachers & tax officers also didn't work. Public transport employees were holding work stoppages. State television & radio pulled news programs off the air. Civil servants are protesting plans to suspend about 30K staff on partial pay, part of new cutbacks that come on top of salary & pension cuts. There also have been waves of tax hikes over the past year and a half. The Greek rescue plan is far from over!
Greeks Strike Against Job Cuts as Aid Delayed
In Sep US employers announced the most job cuts in more than 2 years, led by planned reductions at Bank of America (BAC), a Dow stock, & in the military. Announced layoffs tripled, the largest increase since Jan 2009, to 115K last month from 37K in Sep 2010, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Cuts in gov employment, led by the Army’s 5-year troop reduction plan, & at BAC accounted for almost 70% of the announcements. While the bulk of firings are not “directly related” to economic weakness, they “could definitely be a sign of more cuts to come,” John A. Challenger, CEO said. “Bank of America is not the only bank still struggling in the wake of the housing collapse, and the military cutbacks are probably just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to federal spending cuts.” Today’s report also showed that employers announced plans in Sep to hire 76K workers, up from 15K in the prior month, but down from 123K in Sep 2010. Retailers led the gains, planning to add 70K positions ahead of the holidays. The job picture remains bleak.
Announced Job Cuts in U.S. More Than Triple From Year Ago, Challenger Says
Stocks are looking for direction again. It's hard not to think Dow's 350 rise in the last hour yesterday was suspicious. Greece is expected to get the next installment of aid, but its problems are far from over when there are constant protests over austerity measures. Also banking problems have not gone away, especially for US banks. If the bulls can take the markets higher today, that will be a good sign. For the moment, that is iffy.
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