Stocks were down fractionally, however 79 hit new lows. In the conference call following the earnings release yesterday, Cisco (CSCO) cut forecasts for sales growth rate from 15% to 10% in Q1, down .40. The Labor Dept reported jobless claims were down 22K, but below forecast numbers. D.R.Horton (DHI), largest home builder in the US, reported a Q1 loss due to write downs on inventory (homes) & property. In pre trading news, Walmart (WMT), among others, had gloomy news about retail sales. Because of it's immense size, sluggish sales in Jan for WMT sends a gloomy signal for the economy which affects business around the world.
Speaking of around the world, China is having a rough new year. They're coping with severe winter weather causing power shortages. 78% of their power comes from coal & they are having major problems with coal shortages. One estimate is that weather has already cost the economy $8B. At least they were able to ship the new Toshiba laptop I just bought.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Stocks down again
After a strong opening & rally at midday, stocks pulled back in the afternoon closing at the lows. Dow dropped 65, decliners over advancers almost 2-1 & NAZ dropped 31. Dow is back to 12.2K, down 2K (14%) from it's high just a few months ago & high volatility continues. Gloomy thoughts prevail. Macy's (M), down 1.16, is cutting 2300 jobs. Cisco (CSCO) reported after the close. Traders liked the report bidding up shares 78¢ after hours.
A common theme continues in these reports. Good news comes from overseas businesses but domestic business is weak, at best. Housing continues in the dumps. Toll Brothers (TOL) reported it's 7th consecutive quarterly decline. Their houses are high priced, this report indicates sluggishness in the economy is affecting affluent. Meanwhile, the VIX measuring volatility is back up to 29 (very high) & gold is near 900.
A common theme continues in these reports. Good news comes from overseas businesses but domestic business is weak, at best. Housing continues in the dumps. Toll Brothers (TOL) reported it's 7th consecutive quarterly decline. Their houses are high priced, this report indicates sluggishness in the economy is affecting affluent. Meanwhile, the VIX measuring volatility is back up to 29 (very high) & gold is near 900.
Stocks recover
Stocks recovered after yesterday's sharp sell-off. Dow is up 99, advancers over decliners 2-1 & NAZ is up 21. Today's up market may have been helped by Disney (DIS), a Dow stock, & Time Warner (TWX). Disney is up 2 on news of favorable earnings & Time Warner's report was well received, up .62, on efforts to remake the company. Today's rebound may be from buying by short sellers, big problems in the US economy continue.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Dow plunges 370
Stocks had one of their worst days in some time. Dow dropped 370, decliners over advancers 4-1 & NAZ fell 73. It's not too often we see 3% declines in the averages. The service sector suffered a major contraction in Jan, the first such in 5 years raising ugly fears about recession. This report was viewed as a collapse of the service sector. Not well noticed was the severe winter weather in China cutting into their economy. The US imports about $1B every day from China. Today's performance has the making of one tough week!
Monday, February 4, 2008
Stocks decline
After the best week in almost 5 years, stocks pulled back. Encouraging news from the Commerce Dept could not bring out the bulls or maybe it was traders cashing in short term profits. Dow was down 108, decliners over advancers 3-2 and NAZ declined 30. NAZ has plenty of problems. Two of the biggest stocks, Microsoft (MSFT) & Google (GOOG), were weak. MSFT was down 26¢ while GOOG slipped 20 putting it under 500, down 1/3 from it's high of 737 just a few weeks ago. The market is still trying to figure out how the Yahoo acquisition would play out (assuming it goes thru).
The President's budget was another mouthful to digest. The deficits in the next 2 years would each be over $400B, essentially at record levels. The budgets include the proposed economic stimulus package with related tax cuts. The large size of the deficits has to put approval of the tax package at risk. Gloomy news will keep markets on defense over the next few days.
The President's budget was another mouthful to digest. The deficits in the next 2 years would each be over $400B, essentially at record levels. The budgets include the proposed economic stimulus package with related tax cuts. The large size of the deficits has to put approval of the tax package at risk. Gloomy news will keep markets on defense over the next few days.
Stocks turn cautious
Cautious behavior today takes control of stocks. After a very good week, Dow is down 74, decliners ahead of advancers 4-3 & NAZ dropped 19. The Commerce Dept reported factory orders gained 2.3% in Dec, the biggest gain since July. But that failed to inspire buying. The market is still chewing over the effects of Microsoft (MSFT) buying Yahoo (YHOO). I'm sure Google (GOOG) would like to argue, but it's hard for them to get much sympathy considering their size.
President Bush announced a $3.1 trillion budget. However, the economic stimulus package with tax cuts is working it's way thru the Senate. They promised it would be approved by Feb 15, that's next week. In the meantime, it looks like last week the market had a rally in a trading range.
This is coming from my new computer. The back lighting for the screen on the other went, I figured time to try new Windows.
President Bush announced a $3.1 trillion budget. However, the economic stimulus package with tax cuts is working it's way thru the Senate. They promised it would be approved by Feb 15, that's next week. In the meantime, it looks like last week the market had a rally in a trading range.
This is coming from my new computer. The back lighting for the screen on the other went, I figured time to try new Windows.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Stocks gain, 2 weeks in a row
This is the Dow's 2nd straight weekly gain, maybe something's in the wind. Dow was up 92, advancers over decliners almost 4-1 & NAZ up 23 propelled by Microsoft's (MSFT) proposed acquisition of Yahoo (YHOO). Even with those gains, high flyer Google (GOOG) pulled back 48 after a disappointing earnings announcement yesterday, threatened competition from MSFT-YHOO & the idea of their investing almost $5B in TV airwaves next Feb when US switches to high definition TV broadcasting. But this was a strong & impressive day, almost everything I own went up. Wow!!
Before we get too excited, the following is copied from an AP press release just minutes ago:
The first blow came from the Labor Department's worrisome employment report for January. The economy lost 17,000 jobs, marking the first contraction of the labor market in more than four years. The news confounded economists, who were expecting 70,000 new jobs, according to Thomson/IFR. The unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent from 5 percent in December, though the move came as the labor pool shrank.
The Commerce Department added to the fray, reporting that construction spending dropped 1.1 percent in December -- the most in 15 months and twice what analysts expected.
And rating agency Moody's Investors Service warned on a conference call Friday that it expects to downgrade some bond insurers this month. A top rating is crucial for bond insurers to draw new business and for investors to feel secure about the bonds these companies already insure.
Maybe all is not well. At least dull Feb got off to a good start.
Before we get too excited, the following is copied from an AP press release just minutes ago:
The first blow came from the Labor Department's worrisome employment report for January. The economy lost 17,000 jobs, marking the first contraction of the labor market in more than four years. The news confounded economists, who were expecting 70,000 new jobs, according to Thomson/IFR. The unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent from 5 percent in December, though the move came as the labor pool shrank.
The Commerce Department added to the fray, reporting that construction spending dropped 1.1 percent in December -- the most in 15 months and twice what analysts expected.
And rating agency Moody's Investors Service warned on a conference call Friday that it expects to downgrade some bond insurers this month. A top rating is crucial for bond insurers to draw new business and for investors to feel secure about the bonds these companies already insure.
Maybe all is not well. At least dull Feb got off to a good start.
Microsoft to buy Yahoo
Before trading, Microsoft (MSFT) announced plans to buy Yahoo (YHOO) for $31 per share. Microsoft is down 1.50 while Yahoo is up 8.51 to 27.59. This will be tricky because they have to integrate 2 different cultures plus government approval will be needed. Oddly, the major injured party is Google (GOOG). Google is down 51 following last night's disappointing earnings announcement.
The Dow started the day up 100 on the news but has pulled back to near flat on worries that Moodys will downgrade bond insurers. The two majors, AMBAC & MBIA, carry the elite rating of AAA. The leading winner in recent days has been gold at 930, another record.
The Dow started the day up 100 on the news but has pulled back to near flat on worries that Moodys will downgrade bond insurers. The two majors, AMBAC & MBIA, carry the elite rating of AAA. The leading winner in recent days has been gold at 930, another record.
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