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Around the Street: Week of 5/05/2008
- The democratic primary race is slowly tilting in Barack Obama`s favor as he won the North Carolina primary last night and has furthered his lead in the race despite Clinton`s win in Indiana.
- Yahoo! (YHOO) led markets lower on Monday morning after Microsoft (MSFT) retracted their takeover bid for the company.
- The ISM Services index rose in the month of April, marking an expansion in the non-manufacturing sectors of the U.S. economy as the figure came in at 52%, up from 49.6% in March.
Around the Street: Week of 4/28/2008
- The economy skirted the possibility of textbook recession once again this week as first quarter GDP growth came in at a positive 0.6%; though economists warned that this number may be inflated due to rising inventories and not the actual flow-down of goods to consumers.
- In attempt to raise new capital, struggling bank giant Citigroup (C) announced that it will raise roughly $4.5 bln through issuing new shares at a discount. CFO Gary Crittenden stated that the move will optimize the company`s capital structure and strengthen their balance sheet.
- As expected the Fed cut rates by a quarter point on Wednesday afternoon. Investors believe that this will be the last rate cut in the near future as markets begin to rebound. The Fed funds rate now sits at 2%, down from 4.25% at the beginningof the year.
- Dow component Exxon Mobil (XOM) made headlines on Thursday as the oil giant grew profits by 17% over Q1 a year ago, but was met with skepticism from investors as analysts predicted stronger results.
Around the Street: Week of 4/14/2008
- The labor department released their CPI and PPI results for the month of March this week. CPI saw a gain of 0.3% and a core rate increase of 0.2%, as higher energy prices were the main driver of the index’s move. PPI also jumped higher as it posted a gain of 1.1% and 0.2% rise in the core rate. Climbing food and energy prices were key contributors to the results.
- Wachovia (WB) added further concern to financials on Monday morning as the company announced its plans to raise $7 bln in capital and slash its dividend after reporting a Q1 loss of $350 mln. This news sent shares of the 5th largest U.S. bank slumping 10% in early trading.
- Also causing some concern to kick off the week is Goldman Sachs (GS) after the investment bank announced that it sold 100 mln euros of senior debt at 65 cents on the euro. This sale marked the largest discount offered by a bank since the beginning of the credit crunch.
- Blockbuster (BBI) added some M&A activity to the market on Monday as the company offered to purchase retailer Circuit City (CC) for a 54% premium over Friday`s closing price.
Around the Street: Week of 4/07/2008
Around the Street: Week of 3/31/2008
Around the Street: Week of 3/24/2008
- Standard & Poor`s put a damper on the Street after the ratings service downgraded Lehman Brothers (LEH) and Goldman Sachs (GS) after stating that it believes revenue could decline between 20% and 30% this year.
- Bear Stearns (BSC) shareholders breathed a much needed sigh of relief on Monday after it was reported that J.P. Morgan (JPM) will raise the firm`s buyout price from $2 to $10 per share.
Around the Street: Week of 3/17/2008
- Visa (V) launched its record setting $17.8 bln IPO Wednesday morning as the company saw shares open at $59.50, up 35% from initial pricing of $44 per share.
- During their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday the Fed cut rates by 75 basis points, leaving the Fed funds rate at 2.25% and the discount rate at 2.5%. The bulls were able to use this relief from the Fed and better than expected earnings from the banks to propel the Dow 420 points higher, marking its largest single day gain since July 2002.
- The street breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday after banking mainstays Goldman Sachs (GS) and Lehman Brothers (LEH) beat analyst expectations in their quarterly earnings reports.
- The Fed made an emergency 25 basis point rate cut on Monday morning as concerns over Bear Stearns and the banking system became investor`s primary concern.
- Wall Street giant Bear Stearns (BSC) agreed to be purchased by JP Morgan (JPM) for a mere $2 per share, after liquidity problems slammed the stock on Friday of last week.
Around the Street: Week of 3/03/2008
- Hillary Clinton kept her campaign hopes alive on Tuesday as the Democratic hopeful won key victories in the Texas and Ohio primaries. Clinton and Obama remain in a dead heat for the nomination, as Obama leads Clinton by just under 100 delegates. In a more predictable race John McCain secured the magic number of delegates to clinch his spot as the Republican nominee.
- Private employment fell sharply in the month of February according to Wednesday`s ADP employment report. The report cited a 23,000 loss in private sector jobs for the month.
Around the Street: Week of 2/25/2008
Around the Street: Week of 2/18/2008
- Stocks plummeted early Wednesday morning after consumer prices rose higher than analysts expected. CPI rose by 0.4% in January, with core CPI rising 0.3%.
Around the Street: Week of 2/11/2008
- Poor economic data pulled futures lower on Friday morning as the Empire State Index came in at a disappointing -11.7, compared to a consensus of 6.5.
- Retail sales lifted the markets Wednesday morning as the January report showed a 0.3% gain on the month, lead by vehicle and gasoline sales.
- The Dow was reconfigured for the first time in a few years this week and Altria (MO) and Honeywell (HON) were replaced by Bank of America (BAC) and Chevron Corp. (CVX).
Around the Street: Week of 2/04/2008
- Super Tuesday voting did little alter the current position of the Presidential election frontrunners. John McCain reaffirmed his position as the clear Republican favorite; while on the Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton remain in a virtual deadlock as we approach the final primary elections.
- Recessionary fears once again took the forefront of investor sentiment on Monday as the Dow tumbled over 300 points on the day. The majority of the blame was directed at the ISM Service Index, which plummeted to 41.9%, down from 54.4% in December. Many economists believe that this poor economic indicator may be the clearest signal yet of a looming recession.
