Posts Tagged ‘economy’

(Michael Schwartz) - Let’s recap some of the good news last week: The Commerce Department said the economy grew in the fourth quarter at its fastest pace in more than six years; The Institute for Supply Management-Chicago said its index of Midwest business activity rose more than expected in January; Consumer sentiment in January as measured by The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers hit its highest level in two years; and Of the 220 companies in the S&P 500 index that have reported fourth quarter earnings, 78% of them exceeded analysts' expectations, according to Thomson Reuters. In a typical quarter, only 61% of companies beat Wall Street targets. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? So, how does the stock market respond?

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(Michael Schwartz) - Could November go down in history as a major turning point in the U.S. economy? The shocking (in a positive way) unemployment report released last Friday by the Labor Department showed the economy lost only 11,000 jobs in November. The markets were bracing for a number well in excess of 100,000, according to CNBC. On top of that, revisions to the previous two months showed 159,000 fewer jobs were lost than initially reported. And, to complete the trifecta, the unemployment rate dropped to 10.0% in November, down from 10.2% in October. On the surface, this is extremely good news for the economy as it suggests the economy is healing nicely.

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(Shaun Eddy) - The economy and the investment markets have historically had great successes and great hardships. The year 2008 represented a very challenging economic and investment environment. During these times it is important to reflect on the positives. We have much to be thankful for in this country. It is also a time to reinforce the value of living within our means and putting aside money for emergencies.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks futures are indicating a flat opening, on comments from Ben Bernake that is strengthening the dollar. The stronger dollar is causing commodity prices to drop as well in early trading.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks rallied big yesterday, as Wall Street is still buzzing about Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments. The Fed chief announced that this recession is "likely" over. Recent economic data has suggested that the economy is stabilizing, but the question is how much growth we can expect in the short-term? The good news is at least the economy should not contract any further.

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(Lee Siler) - A better than expected jobs report, has stock futures trading slightly higher on the open. Also helping matters, the continued weak dollar is pushing energy and mining stocks to the upside, which are boosting the major averages.

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(Lee Siler) - Yesterday, the market broke a four-day losing streak, as Wall Street was waiting for this morning's jobs report. Despite much speculation, the Labor Department reported that unemployment rose to 9.7% compared to an estimate of 9.5%. However, the news wasn't all bad, as U.S. employers cut a fewer-than-expected 216,000 jobs. The hike in the unemployment rate came from revisions the Labor Department did for June and July.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks got hit yesterday, as we start the worst period for the market. It's no secret that based on history the stock market performs its worst during the month of September. So it should've been a surprise when the major averages sold off from start to finish on the first day of the month. I've been expecting this pullback for several weeks now. But, investors continued to buy shares despite and economy that is still on unsure footing.

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(Mark Rogers) - On August 21, 2009 Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke declared that the U.S. economy is on the verge of recovery following the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

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(Lee Siler) - Stocks look to build on last week's gains, on comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke. Bernanke said on Friday that the economy is on the verge of recovery. Obviously, this has been a long painful process that started with the decline in housing. The good news is that also on Friday, a report showed that existing home sales came in better than expected. According to some economists, this is an element necessary to make a full rebound.

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