Equity indexes tacked on minor gains as back-and-forth trading prevailed throughout most of Thursday. Investors on Wall Street shrugged off worse-than-expected jobless claims data on the home front as encouraging debt auction news from overseas stole the spotlight. Euro zone woes cooled off as investors rejoiced over the successful bond auction of Spanish and Italian debt, perhaps signaling that the currency bloc is slowly inching closer and closer to financial equilibrium [see ETFs To Play AAA Europe].
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Equity markets hit the ground running last week as investors came back from the holiday weekend with a fairly optimistic outlook for 2012. U.S. stocks started off the year with a solid rally as investors’ confidence was bolstered by multiple better-than-expected economic data reports; consistent improvements in the housing market coupled with a downtick in [...]
Bearish pressures took hold of Wall Street on Monday after leading microchip manufacturer, Intel, cut its revenue forecast while Moody’s rating agency said it would have to review the rating on all Euro zone member nations. Last Friday’s summit in Brussels proved to be a pivotal step in restoring investors’ confidence, although Moody’s noted that [...]
Last week shaped out to be yet another range-bound trading frenzy, dominated by fear induced selling in the early part of the week, and ending with a modest rally on Friday as investors cheered on the developments at the summit in Brussels. Gold drifted lower towards $1,700 an ounce amidst the uncertain backdrop. The precious [...]
Domestic equity indexes snapped out of their loosing streak last week as investor confidence in the markets improved after a robust start to the holiday shopping season. The bulls charged through Wall Street on Wednesday after a global central bank initiative to lower the cost of dollar funding through swap arrangements sent a wave of [...]
Last week was a slow period for U.S. markets, with exchanges taking some down time for the Thanksgiving holiday. With investors returning from the long weekend away, the upcoming week has historically been a busy one; there is additional data to digest, especially since international markets plowed ahead as Wall Street took a few days [...]
With the holidays quickly approaching, the retail sector of the U.S. economy is gearing up for a short stretch that could make or break profitability forecasts and the mid-term outlook for companies that have exhibited surprising strength over the past 12 months. Retailers are already preparing for blow-out sales, Black Friday mania, and the oncoming [...]
After another up-down week dominated by Euro zone debt drama, domestic equity indexes managed to clinch a gain amidst the volatility. Investor sentiment swayed wildly as the anticipation of Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi’s resignation coupled with ongoing Italian debt woes sparked sell-offs one day and rallies the next, across virtually every corner of the global [...]
Equity markets fluctuated between positive and negative territory on Thursday as investors’ sentiment swayed. On the home front, the U.S. economic recovery continues to slowly, but surely, progress as new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to the lowest level since April of 2011, suggesting that the labor market condition are indeed improving. Tensions remains high [...]
After a record-setting October gave investors hope that 2011 would finish on a strong note, the first couple weeks of November have effectively taken any wind out of those sails. The culprit–surprise, surprise–has been the cash-strapped PIIGS economies of Europe, with Italy now grabbing the spotlight as a serious credit risk and a grave threat [...]
Stocks lost steam on Thursday after investor confidence in the markets took a hit as JPMorgan’s earnings missed analyst expectations, sparking a sell-off in the financials sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both finished the day in slight red territory, while the NASDAQ inched a bit higher in anticipation of Google’s earnings [...]
