Economy
Dow Jones Index showing the economy does better with a Democrat in office. What are your views on this?
http://www.djindexes.com/mdsidx/index.cf…
http://www.djindexes.com/mdsidx/index.cf…
http://www.djindexes.com/mdsidx/index.cfm?event=showavgDecades&decade=1990
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Dow Jones Industrial Average Of Stocks Rise On Consumer Spending …
Consumers are more willing to spend, and that’s making investors more optimistic about the economy.
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Dow Jones Industrial Average Of Stocks Rise On Consumer Spending …
How the Dow Jones industrials and other major stock indexes fared …
Major stock indexes ended mixed Thursday on more evidence that the economy is regaining strength at a slow pace. The Dow Jones industrial average rose for an eighth straight day, its longest unbroken climb since August.
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How the Dow Jones industrials and other major stock indexes fared …
Did the stock market crash because the banks were failing? How do failing stocks affect the economy?
In words that I will be able to understand, can anyone explain to me the correlation between the banks, the housing crisis, and the stock market. And how does the stock market affect the economy itself? I am just beginning to understand what the stock market is, so numbers and statistics are really not helpful.
Does the level of the Dow Jones index reflect the current state of the economy?
If so, the economy should be considered to be in Great shape. The Dow currently remains to be almost at its all-time high. How can this be possible if the economy is in bad shape?
economy collapse coming soon, dow jones drops below 7000
the dow jones has finally dropped below 7000 points, when will it drop below 6000 points? I’m predicting the 9th of april 2009 for a bit of light hearted fun, join in to see who’s going to be the closest.
Why is the Dow Jones Industrial Average going up when the economy is still bad?
Why is the Dow Jones Industrial Average going up (gradually), when so many people are still unemployed, home sales are still lagging, businesses are still going under? Is it just the buying and selling by stock brokers and investors that is driving the market, and this has no real connection to the real economy and real peoples’ economic plight?
Wall Street snaps 2-week losing streak
Wall Street snaps 2-week losing streak
Analyst upgrades of GE, Macy’s and Amazon.com help spur optimism that the world’s largest economy is recovering
US stocks ended with modest gains on Friday after a volatile session, as most market players chose to overlook a government report showing the unemployment rate jumping to a 26-year high. Analyst upgrades of General Electric Co. (GE), Macy’s and Amazon.com helped spur optimism that the world’s largest economy is recovering.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 17 points, or 0.2%, to close at 10,023.43. The S&P 500 gained 3 points or 0.3%, to end at 1,069.30 and the Nasdaq Composite index rose 7 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 2,112.44.
US stocks had gained on Thursday, with the Dow reclaiming 10,000 after a series of better-than-expected economic reports. But trading was very choppy on Friday, with stocks slumping at the open and then fluctuating for most of the session, before closing higher.
All three major US benchmarks finished higher for the week, recovering most of what was lost in a two-week selloff. For the week, the Dow was up 3.2%, while the Nasdaq rose 3.3% and the S&P 500 added 3.2%.
Though the Dow has closed above 10,000 several times this fall, it has not finished a full week of trading above that level since the period ending Oct. 3, 2009.
US stocks, as represented by the broad S&P 500 index, had lost 5.6% through the end of last week Prior to that selloff, the S&P 500 had rallied 63% off the March bottom.
US companies cut 190,000 jobs from their payrolls in October, after cutting 219,000 in the previous month, according to a Labor Department report. That was worse than the 175,000 economists. The unemployment rate , generated by a separate survey, rose to a 26-year high of 10.2% from 9.8% in September. Economists thought the rate would rise to 9.9%.
While the unemployment rate jump was surprising, the number of non-farm payrolls cut – combined with Thursday’s weekly jobless claims report – suggest that the pace of layoffs is slowing. Also, the number of non-farm jobs lost in August and September was revised down. American companies cut 91,000 fewer jobs in August and September than originally reported.
Dow component GE surged 6.2% after analysts at both Bernstein and Oppenheimer upgraded the stock to “outperform,” according to reports. The GE-owned business television network CNBC reported that its parent is near a deal to sell its 80% stake in NBC Universal to Comcast. Comcast shares were up 2.8%.
Amazon.com climbed after Bernstein upgraded it to “outperform” from “market perform,” and also lifted its 12-month target price on the stock.
AIG reported its second straight quarterly profit after seven quarters of losses. Results were better than expected, but the company’s main insurance businesses posted weaker revenue, sending shares tumbling by almost 10% Friday. AIG stock had rallied on Thursday ahead of the results.
Starbucks posted weaker quarterly results that beat expectations in a report released late on Thursday. The coffee retailer also boosted its outlook for 2010 profit, after having cut costs and shuttered hundreds of stores in the last year. Shares gained 7.2%.
Fannie Mae reported an almost US$19 billion quarterly loss on bad loans. The biggest US mortgage lender also said that it would need more help from the Treasury. Shares fell 7.1%.
The dollar fell against the euro on speculation that the Federal Reserve will keep borrowing costs near zero into next year after the USunemployment rate exceeded 10 percent for the first time since 1983. The dollar fell versus the yen.
US light crude oil for December delivery fell US$2.19 to settle at US$77.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a decline of more than 3%.
COMEX gold for December delivery climbed US$6.40 to settle at US$1,095.70 an ounce after hitting an all-time high of US$1101.90 during the session.
Treasury prices rose, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 3.51% from 3.52% on Thursday.
European shares finished the week on an upbeat note, overcoming weak US jobs data to close slightly higher. The pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index rose 0.2% to close at 241.06. On the week, the Stoxx 600 added 1.7%. The index recovered after temporarily losing ground early in the afternoon.
The UK’s FTSE 100 index rose 0.3% to settle at 5,142.72, while the German DAX index finished nearly flat at 5,488.25. The French CAC-40 index posted a virtually flat finish, slipping 1.44 points to close at 3,707.29.
US Stocks Move Higher, Led By Health Care; DJIA Up 140
US Stocks Move Higher, Led By Health Care; DJIA Up 140
By Donna Kardos Yesalavich
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–U.S. stocks moved higher Wednesday morning after the Institute for Supply Management’s latest report on the non-manufacturing sector, despite it missing expectations, as it did show growth in new orders and prices, while jobs data from earlier in the morning boosted hopes for the government’s monthly jobs report Friday.
Stocks were also taking their cues off the dollar, which has been weakening against the euro since the open.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was recently up 140 points, or 1.4%, to 9912. Merck led the gains, surging 5.5% after it predicted annual earnings growth in the high-single digits on a percentage basis until 2013. Walt Disney was up 4% after it got the go-ahead from China’s central government to pursue plans to build a theme park in Shanghai. Kraft Foods was the only component in the red, down 3.1% after reporting weaker-than-expected third-quarter sales and lowering its outlook for sales growth this year.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 index climbed 1.3%, with its health care sector in the lead, up 2.3% thanks to Merck’s forecast. The materials and industrials sectors were also sharply higher. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1%.
Wednesday’s early gains contrast with the usual caution seen ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee’s interest-rate decisions. But stocks have already been in a slump lately, and with today’s statement expected to include no change in rates and perhaps just a hint at best as to when they could change, Friday’s jobs report has become the bigger focus.
Payroll giant Automatic Data Processing and consultancy Macroeconomic Advisors reported a 203,000 drop in private-sector jobs last month, on par with the drop expected by economists and smaller than September’s decline. In addition, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said the number of layoffs announced by U.S. companies in October fell to the lowest reading since March 2008.
The Institute for Supply Management reported its non-manufacturing index moved to 50.6 in October, from 50.9 in September. The index, which comprises mainly the service sector activities that make up the strong majority of total American economic output, was expected to hit 52.0 in October, but traders were encouraged that the measure is still over 50, a level that indicates growth and describes the breadth of the expansion. In addition, its new orders and prices indexes both showed growth from September.
“That’s encouraging,” said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird. “It fits with the general scheme of recent reports showing the economy is slowly healing. Nobody expects the economy to boom but as long as it continues to put one foot in front of the other, it’s a positive signal for stocks.”
As for the Fed’s statement due at 2:15 p.m., EST, traders will be paying particular attention to the central bank’s description of the interest-rate outlook. The Fed said in its September policy statement that rates would likely remain low “for an extended period,” and any deviation from that language in Wednesday’s release could be interpreted as a sign higher rates are on the way.
Still, economist Bob Eisenbeis, a former senior vice president of the Atlanta Fed, said he doesn’t think the central bank will change that part of its statement for now. “They’re just not going to risk choking off a recovery at this juncture,” since traders would quickly take more defensive positions in bonds and stocks at the first hint of Fed tightening, Eisenbeis said.
Ahead of the meeting, the dollar was sliding against the euro but higher against the yen. Crude oil and gold futures were both rising, and Treasuries fell, with the 10-year note recently down 5/32 to yield 3.486%.
(Peter A. McKay contributed to this article)
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