Stocks sold off at the start of trading & continued underwater for the rest of the session. Dow dropped 89, decliners over advancers 3-1 & NAZ fell 23. The Financial Index was off 2 to 196.
The MLP index fell 1+ to the 397s & the REIT index was down 2+ to 247. Junk bond funds edged lower but Treasuries rose on greater worries over Greek & European debt problems. Oil fell on the expectation of weaker demand from Europe & gold had a big drop from the financial chaos in Europe.
![Live 24 hours gold chart [Kitco Inc.]](http://www.kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif)
Photo: Yahoo
Popular protests in Greece again turned violent & dissent grew among its lawmakers after European leaders demanded deeper spending cuts. The beleaguered coalition gov promised to push thru the tough new austerity measures & rescue a crucial bailout deal after 6 members of the Cabinet resigned. PM Papademos promised to "do everything necessary" to ensure parliament passes the new austerity measures that would slap Greeks with a minimum wage cut during a 5th year of recession. "It is absolutely necessary to complete the effort that began almost two years to consolidate public finances, restore competitiveness and economic recovery," Papademos told an emergency Cabinet meeting. In central Athens, clashes erupted outside Parliament between dozens of hooded youths & police in riot gear. Police said 8 officers & 2 members of the public were injured, while 6 suspected rioters were arrested. The violence broke as more than 15K took to the streets after unions launched a 2 day general strike that disrupted transport & other public services & left state hospitals running on emergency staff. The Greeks don't want to make any more sacrifices & the European countries with money (starting with Germany) are tired of supporting their free spending gov.
Greek PM says default would lead to 'chaos' AP
Photo: Bloomberg
34 top Italian financial firms were downgraded by S&P, after it reduced the nation’s grade last month. UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank, & #2 Intesa had their long-term ratings lowered to BBB+ from A, S&P said. Monte dei Paschi, the #3 bank, was reduced to BBB from BBB+. All 3 have a negative outlook, S&P said. Italy’s credit rating was cut 2 levels to BBB+ from an A a month ago when S&P said European leaders’ struggle to contain the region’s debt crisis would complicate the country’s efforts to finance borrowings. S&P revised its banking industry country risk assessment for Italy to group 4 from group 3, citing mounting risks. “Italy’s vulnerability to external financing risks has increased, given its high external public debt, resulting in Italian banks’ significantly diminished ability to roll over their wholesale debt,” S&P said in a separate statement. “We anticipate persistently weak profitability for Italian banks in the next few years.” Good news from Italy was based on a lack of bad news. Bad news is back.
S&P Downgrades 34 of 37 Italian Banks It Rates
Photo: Yahoo
Ben Bernanke issued a call to action to restore US housing markets, saying depressed house prices & sales are a serious drag on the economic recovery. "The state of housing has been an impediment to a faster recovery," he said. "We need to continue to develop and implement policies that will help the housing sector get back on its feet." The FED last month issued a paper discussing possible remedies for the housing sector. But that paper drew sharp criticism from some who accused the FED of intruding on fiscal policy. Bernanke made the case that overly tight credit in mortgage markets had undercut the effectiveness of the central bank's aggressive efforts to stimulate growth. In a typical recovery, a rebound in housing fuels hiring & income gains, but that has not been the case this time. Recent declines in home prices have slashed household wealth by as much as $7T. The housing recovery has been slow for a number of reasons. One is overly tight credit, he said, & he called on lenders & regulators to look at rules & practices that may hold back the origination of sound mortgages. An overhang of vacant homes & a glut of foreclosures is also weighing on housing activity. It could make sense in some markets to turn some of the foreclosed homes into rental properties, he said.
Bernanke: Housing Holds Back Fed Efforts
Photo: Bloomberg
The Air Force may buy as many as 18K iPad 2s, in what would be one of the military’s biggest orders of computer tablets. The Air Mobility Command plans to issue a request for proposals to buy between 63-18,000 iPad 2s to lighten the load of flight crews. The goal is to replace the bag of manuals & navigation charts weighing as much as 40 pounds that are carried by pilots & navigators,. A spokeswoman said.“The airline industry is way ahead of us on this.” “Most, if not all of the major airliners are already switching to tablets.” The stock was flat at 493, near its 497 record.
Apple Makes Inroads Into U.S. Government as Air Force May Buy 18,000 IPads\
The MLP index fell 1+ to the 397s & the REIT index was down 2+ to 247. Junk bond funds edged lower but Treasuries rose on greater worries over Greek & European debt problems. Oil fell on the expectation of weaker demand from Europe & gold had a big drop from the financial chaos in Europe.
JPMorgan Chase Capital XVI (AMJ)
Click below for the latest market update:
Treasury yields:
U.S. 3-month | 0.081% | |
U.S. 2-year | 0.266% | |
U.S. 10-year | 1.965% |
| CLH12.NYM | ..Crude Oil Mar 12 | ...98.72 | ... 1.12 | ( | 1.1%) |
Popular protests in Greece again turned violent & dissent grew among its lawmakers after European leaders demanded deeper spending cuts. The beleaguered coalition gov promised to push thru the tough new austerity measures & rescue a crucial bailout deal after 6 members of the Cabinet resigned. PM Papademos promised to "do everything necessary" to ensure parliament passes the new austerity measures that would slap Greeks with a minimum wage cut during a 5th year of recession. "It is absolutely necessary to complete the effort that began almost two years to consolidate public finances, restore competitiveness and economic recovery," Papademos told an emergency Cabinet meeting. In central Athens, clashes erupted outside Parliament between dozens of hooded youths & police in riot gear. Police said 8 officers & 2 members of the public were injured, while 6 suspected rioters were arrested. The violence broke as more than 15K took to the streets after unions launched a 2 day general strike that disrupted transport & other public services & left state hospitals running on emergency staff. The Greeks don't want to make any more sacrifices & the European countries with money (starting with Germany) are tired of supporting their free spending gov.
Greek PM says default would lead to 'chaos' AP
34 top Italian financial firms were downgraded by S&P, after it reduced the nation’s grade last month. UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank, & #2 Intesa had their long-term ratings lowered to BBB+ from A, S&P said. Monte dei Paschi, the #3 bank, was reduced to BBB from BBB+. All 3 have a negative outlook, S&P said. Italy’s credit rating was cut 2 levels to BBB+ from an A a month ago when S&P said European leaders’ struggle to contain the region’s debt crisis would complicate the country’s efforts to finance borrowings. S&P revised its banking industry country risk assessment for Italy to group 4 from group 3, citing mounting risks. “Italy’s vulnerability to external financing risks has increased, given its high external public debt, resulting in Italian banks’ significantly diminished ability to roll over their wholesale debt,” S&P said in a separate statement. “We anticipate persistently weak profitability for Italian banks in the next few years.” Good news from Italy was based on a lack of bad news. Bad news is back.
S&P Downgrades 34 of 37 Italian Banks It Rates
Ben Bernanke issued a call to action to restore US housing markets, saying depressed house prices & sales are a serious drag on the economic recovery. "The state of housing has been an impediment to a faster recovery," he said. "We need to continue to develop and implement policies that will help the housing sector get back on its feet." The FED last month issued a paper discussing possible remedies for the housing sector. But that paper drew sharp criticism from some who accused the FED of intruding on fiscal policy. Bernanke made the case that overly tight credit in mortgage markets had undercut the effectiveness of the central bank's aggressive efforts to stimulate growth. In a typical recovery, a rebound in housing fuels hiring & income gains, but that has not been the case this time. Recent declines in home prices have slashed household wealth by as much as $7T. The housing recovery has been slow for a number of reasons. One is overly tight credit, he said, & he called on lenders & regulators to look at rules & practices that may hold back the origination of sound mortgages. An overhang of vacant homes & a glut of foreclosures is also weighing on housing activity. It could make sense in some markets to turn some of the foreclosed homes into rental properties, he said.
Bernanke: Housing Holds Back Fed Efforts
The Air Force may buy as many as 18K iPad 2s, in what would be one of the military’s biggest orders of computer tablets. The Air Mobility Command plans to issue a request for proposals to buy between 63-18,000 iPad 2s to lighten the load of flight crews. The goal is to replace the bag of manuals & navigation charts weighing as much as 40 pounds that are carried by pilots & navigators,. A spokeswoman said.“The airline industry is way ahead of us on this.” “Most, if not all of the major airliners are already switching to tablets.” The stock was flat at 493, near its 497 record.
Apple Makes Inroads Into U.S. Government as Air Force May Buy 18,000 IPads\
Apple Inc. (AAPL)
Markets closed the week on a few gloomy notes. The Greek debt mess has gone from some optimism to bad to even worse. The downgrade of credit rating for most Italian banks will be felt in European trading on Mon. There is nothing especially exciting going on with the US economy as attention is concentrated on other matters in DC. Just a couple of weeks left to extend tax cuts, etc. & DC remains deeply divided, although most want an extension. All this spells confusion & that's bad for the markets.
Dow Industrials (INDU)
Get Trend Analysis
No comments:
Post a Comment