[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] While blue-chips declined, most US stocks closed marginally higher Wednesday, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to the highest level since Oct 2007 as investors compared slowing retail sales with slightly upbeat earnings report. Before markets opened, data released by the Census Bureau showed US retail sales rose at a seasonally adjusted pace of 0.1 …
Market Indexes Inch Upward As Dow Hits Five-Year High; Europe Gains on Barclays
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] US equities edged up Tuesday sending benchmark indexes to five-year highs, as earnings topped street estimates and investors looked ahead to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address in the evening. In economic news, the US Treasury reported a budget surplus of $2.9 billion for January, beating estimates of a $2 billion deficit. Overseas, finance …
Indexes Drift Lower In Lackluster Trading; Novo Nordisk Puts A Drag On Europe
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] The major index ETFs finished marginally lower Monday on the lightest volume trading day of 2013 as investors took a breather after the recent rally and reassessed the markets that have pushed the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones near all-time highs. With no significant economic and corporate-earnings news to chew on, markets took a pause …
David Stockman: Housing Boom Is Not Sustainable; Another Bubble Waiting To Burst
Many believe the robust housing data signals a long-term recovery in the struggling housing market and is a bright spot in the overall broader domestic economic recovery. The euphoria is not without a basis as data supplied by the National Association of Realtors show existing home sales in December shot up 12.8 percent over the same period in 2011 while …
Stock Indexes Lose Steam; Europe Drifts Lower On Draghi
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] After a two-day advance, US stock indexes drifted lower today as investors lost risk appetite following the release of mixed economic reports, and European policy makers warned a strong euro could hamper the region’s recovery. On the economic front, applications for weekly jobless benefits dropped to 366,000, down 5,000 from the previous week but above forecasts, …
Equities Rally On Buyout Hopes; Europe Bounces Back On Data
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] US stocks rebounded Tuesday to recoup much of the previous day’s biggest loss of the year for benchmark indexes as investors found confidence in robust corporate earnings and PC-maker Dell Inc’s decision to go private in the biggest leveraged buyout deal since the financial crisis. Shares found some support in today’s economic data. The Institute for …