[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Just as the major market indexes were about to violate their psychologically important milestones, that is 13,000 for the Dow and 1,400 for the S&P 500, news broke that there will be another fiscal cliff meeting forthcoming, as the House told their members to show up for work Sunday night at 6:30 pm. That’s all it took, and …
US Equities Slide Third Day In A Row On Budget Talk Concerns And Weak Retail Numbers
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] It was combination of weak retail numbers, showing that consumers spent less during this holiday season than last year, the ongoing fiscal cliff saga followed by low volume in the markets that provided neither upside ammunition nor any motivation for those left on Wall Street to get involved during the last few trading days of 2012. …
Indexes Slip As Fiscal Cliff Reality Looms; Food For Thought On Who Is Guilty
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Fears about the looming fiscal cliff are taking on a new dimension as there is exactly one week left for the President and Congress to come together and avoid the mandatory spending cuts and tax increases. On extremely low trading volume, the equity indexes gave up ground for the second day in a row during today’s shortened session. …
One Man’s Opinion: Can We Live On Stimulus Forever?
The Federal Reserve is clearly in this difficult situation where it needs to express its message more forcefully, because it’s not about how much quantitative easing it does, but the message behind it, says Kenneth Rogoff, an economics professor at Harvard. So, he certainly welcomes their change towards focusing on final outputs like employment and inflation, though he would have …
Equities Advance On Fiscal Cliff Hopes; Europe Little Changed As Optimism Fades
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] US equities firmed up Thursday with the S&P 500 rebounding from its worst slump in five weeks, as House Speaker John Boehner expressed optimism about reaching a deal with President Obama. Sentiment also got a boost after third-quarter economic growth was revised higher at an annualized pace of 3.1 percent, much higher than the 1.3 percent …
Fiscal Cliff Regression As Negotiations Stall; Europe Rises On German Data
[Chart courtesy of MarketWatch.com] Stocks turned lower after a two-day rally, pulling the S&P 500 down from a two-month high, as negotiations to avert deep spending cuts and tax hikes hit a rocky patch, fuelling concerns the economy may go over the so-called fiscal cliff next year. White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said President Obama would veto a tax …