March 31st, 2009
Automakers have been under scrutiny over the way the billions allotted to them have been spent. The billions already handed out have done little to quell the financial slide GM and Chrysler are experiencing.
The Dow ended down for
the day on the news of the automakers spurning. Dropping nearly 255 points, the Dow slid for a second straight day. Many investors still feel automakers are headed toward bankruptcy, even after the initial bailouts. Obama did say that additional bailout funds are not out of the
question for the automakers, but they must first show their efforts and
intent are going in the right direction.
GM shaved nearly a dollar off its
value yesterday to close at a low of $2.70 a share. While there is no specific plan
set for a future automaker bailout, there is hope that in the coming months GM
and Chrysler will show a decrease in losses. The market will keep a close eye on
the automakers over the next few weeks, and it might not be a surprise for Obama to draft an additional bailout package by summer's end.
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March 27th, 2009
Most investments in the last
month have been very short-term in nature, which says most still
believe the market is not close to recovering.
The near three weeks of
advances on Wall Street are the best the market has seen since September of
1982. The S&P and NASDAQ has also seen substantial increase in the last
month, up about 6 percent each.
More economic reports are due next week
as well as the latest unemployment numbers. These will be signs as to whether
the market will extend its weekly string of positive gains on Wall Street to a
fourth consecutive.
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March 25th, 2009
The Dow fell nearly 116 points to close just above 7,660. Gains
in Asia and Europe could do little to bolster confidence as stocks remained
steady Tuesday, just twice barely inching into positive territory.
While
the Dow had its fair share of troubles on Tuesday, the NASDAQ saw no gains or
losses, closing at 1,516.52.
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March 19th, 2009
This effort, however,
essentially created tens of billions of dollars out of thin air. By buying
long-term government bonds instead of short-term debt that it usually buys
and sells later, the Fed is hoping to control the money supply and encourage
more economic activity that will be beneficial to home owners and those looking
for new or refinanced loans.
The news surprised the Dow, which saw
a marked jump into positive territory to close Wednesday day in positive territory,
nearly 100 points higher than the day before.
The action by the Feds does
come at a clear and obvious risk, however. Pumping so much instant cash
into the economy will undoubtedly dilute the value of the dollar and create more
inflation both now and in the future. Once the news of the instant stimulus
came out, the dollar dropped sharply.
The creation of so much cash will undoubtedly cause increased inflation and comes after months of worrying and
wrestling with the fact that lenders have remained reluctant to lend money and
borrowers have been skeptical or unable to borrow. Will the new money entice
borrowers and lenders and help jump start the economy or will it sit untouched,
as inflation and the devaluation of the dollar continue?
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March 13th, 2009
Monday, the Dow ended lower and reached values not seen since the
mid 1990s. Four days later and the Dow has recovered more than 10 percent of its
value.
Will the streak continue?
Much of Friday's trading saw
seesawing between negative and positive territory. A last-minute rally did just
enough to push the Dow over the top. It's going to take more good news next
week for the streak to continue.
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March 11th, 2009
Having risen from nearly $35 a barrel last month to nearly $46 a
barrel this month, the direction oil prices will take still remains unclear.
An EIA report is scheduled to be released this week that will
proclaim whether crude oil inventories have decreased so far this month. If so, per barrel oil prices are expected to rise again this week. OPEC is set to announce
another production cut next month that will further push down how many barrels
it produces daily.
The expectations by many analysts are that oil prices
for crude will continue to rise modestly over the next few weeks pushing gas
prices at the pump even higher. It's unlikely that prices at the pump will see
summer of 2007 prices, but expect the prices you see this summer to be around 10 cents a gallon higher than today.
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March 11th, 2009
Having its best performance since the fall of 2007, the news
sparked a flurry on Wall street that led to positive gains for the day. Up
well over 380 points, the Dow showed signs of life again as it ended the day with more than a 5 percent gain.
The NASDAQ posted even better numbers, up more than 7 percent on
Tuesday. Foreign markets responded to the U.S. markets by showing similarly
positive gains on Wednesday morning. Those numbers will likely positively
affect the Dow again on Wednesday. The Dow should continue into positive
territory and will likely end the day on Wednesday with its first two-day winning
streak in a month.
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March 09th, 2009
Numbers for December and January were revised to show an
additional 150,000 jobs that were eliminated.
The cuts affected nearly
every industry across America. The biggest cuts were seen in professional and
business services. Jobs continued to be cut in the financial industry as well
as hospitality, retail and food service.
Many analysts see the numbers as
positive, indicating that many employers "trimmed the fat" at the end of last
year and beginning of this year. That could potentially mean that many
employers have done what they could do to streamline businesses to be more
profitable; eliminating positions to consolidate responsibilities and costs.
This could potentially mean an end to cutbacks and downsizing for a number of
small to large sized companies.
The numbers of jobs lost in January and
last month were decreased marginally over the numbers from November and
December. This could signify that the worst is behind us, that unemployment
numbers will taper off and soon fall significantly.
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March 09th, 2009
The financial crisis is now truly a world-wide
problem, leaving nearly no country or economy untarnished. The crisis is likely
to create a multi-billion dollar shortfall for developing nations. That could
translate directly up to $799 billion this year.
The World Bank said only a quarter of countries will be able to address economic concerns
without the aid from other countries.
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March 05th, 2009
Nearly all of the Fed regions showed economic activity had
worsened in the first two months of 2009, affecting nearly every facet of the
economy.
The Fed's survey indicated that faith among businesses in a
quick turnaround was nearly non-existent and most businesses believed no
turnaround was even possible until, at earliest, the end of 2009.
The
survey summarized data collected from businesses given to the Fed's
12 banks. All of the February 23 collected data is used to gauge what is
happening on the ground level economically.
Based on this survey, the Fed
is expected to keep the key interest rate unchanged next month and potentially
throughout the rest of the year. That would make the key rate unchanged for
nearly a year.
Most economists believe the recession will last well into
2010. It is unlikely the key interest rate will be changed before December of
that year.
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March 05th, 2009
Nearly every industry saw
rebounds today as the Dow recovered some 149 points, a 2 percent increase to close just
below 6,900 points.
Oil also increased in value on word that China is
close to a massive initiative to boost its economy with its own economic
stimulus plan.
Investors and experts are unsure whether Thursday trading
will see more positive gains, however. The recent five day market slump has left
many on Wall Street weary, nervous and genuinely confused. Many do believe the
market could see more substantial gains before the closing bell on Friday
though.
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