Posts Tagged ‘stock market’
Better Times Are Coming
April 10th, 2009 | 
Author: By Eric Martin and Lynn Thomasson
April 10 (Bloomberg) — U.S. stocks rose for a fifth week, capping the steepest rally since 1933, as Wells Fargo & Co.’s higher-than-estimated earnings and speculation banks will pass government stress tests spurred optimism that the industry’s slump is ending.
Bank of America Corp., American Express Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. helped drive a gauge of 80 financial companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to a 9.4 percent advance. Wells Fargo surged 20 percent after reporting record first-quarter profit. Lincoln National Corp. and Principal Financial Group Inc. jumped at least 37 percent as the Treasury considered bailouts for life insurers.
“This was a really, really positive start to the earnings season,” Hugh Johnson, who oversees $750 million as chairman of Johnson Illington Advisors in Albany, New York, told Bloomberg Television. “Banks are not going to be forced to take the kind of write-offs they had to take in prior quarters.”
The S&P 500 gained 1.7 percent to 856.56. It has soared 27 percent since March 9, the most in 23 days since the Great Depression, according to Howard Silverblatt, an analyst at S&P. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8 percent to 8,083.38 this week. U.S. exchanges are closed today for Good Friday.
The highest U.S. unemployment since 1983 has forced consumers to restrain spending. The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance exceeded 600,000 for a 10th straight week. The total collecting benefits rose to a record in a sign that the labor market remains weak.
Posted in Economy, IBEW Jobs, Middle Class, Obama, Powerhouse Work, Renewable Energy, Solar Power, Technology, Unions | 
Tags: dead cat bounce, stock market, u.s. stock market, wall st., wall street, world stock markets | 
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Fear, Greed, and Speculation
Fear, Greed, Speculation, and Bargain Hunting Drive Stocks Higher
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street stormed back after its worst week ever and staged the biggest single-day stock rally since the Great Depression on Monday, catapulting the Dow Jones industrials to a 936-point gain and finally offering relief from eight consecutive days of stock market carnage.
While no one was saying the worst was over for the staggering financial system or troubled economy, buyers returned to the stock market with gusto, with some saying stocks had been driven down to fire-sale prices.
The surge came as executives from leading banks were summoned by the Bush administration to Washington to work out a plan to get loans, the lifeblood of the economy, moving again. And it followed signals that European governments would put nearly $2 trillion on the line to protect their own banks.
The Dow gained more than 11 percent, its biggest one-day rally since 1933, and by points it shattered the previous record for a one-day gain of 499, during during the waning days of the technology boom in 2000.
Stocks Extend Rally As Oil Prices Continue Fall
Stocks Extend Rally on Lower Energy Prices
NEW YORK (AP) – Wall Street surged Thursday, extending its rally into a second session as tumbling energy prices bolstered an already upbeat mood that followed stronger-than-expected quarterly reports from big names like JPMorgan Chase and United Technologies.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 150 points.Investors got a double dose of good news after weeks of angst about the economy. Light, sweet crude fell $5.31 to settle at $129.29 a barrel after dropping more than $10 in the previous two sessions.