8/29/08 - Market Drops on Broad Based Pessimism

The Dow plunged 169.76 to close today at 11,545.42 while S&P 500 lost 17.77 to close at 1,282.91. NASDAQ closed at 2,367.52 down 44.12. Oil was down .13 to close at 115.46 per barrel and the 10 Year Treasury Note was down .56 driving the yield up to 3.85. The Dollar gained .003 against the Euro so one Euro buys $US 1.4677. The markets dropped today despite a decline in oil prices due to an overall pessimism in the markets especially in the financial sector. For the week, the Dow was down 83, the S&P was down 10 and NASDAQ was down 44. Have a safe holiday weekend, signing off from Atlanta.

8/28/08 - Stocks Trade Higher as Oil Drops

The Dow was up today 212.18 to close at 11,714.69 while the S&P 500 gained 18.86 to close at 1,300.52. NASDAQ was up 9.18 to close at 2,411.64. Oil fell $2.56 to close at $115.59 per barrel. The 10 year treasury Note was down .19 to close at 101.75 increasing the yield to 3.78%. The US dollar gained .00152 so that one Euro buys $US Dollar 1.47037. Trading was light as expected heading into a holiday weekend. Increased inventories of oil drove oil down and boosted the market. That's it for today from the new south.

8/27/08 Market Up on Expected Good Economic News

The Dow gained 89.64 today to close at 11,502.51 while the S&P was up 10.15 to close at 1,281.66. NASDAQ closed at 2,382.46 up 20.49. Oil closed at 118.15 per barrel up 1.88. The ten year treasury note gained .09 to close at 101.94 driving the yield down to 3.76. The dollar slipped against the Euro by .0077 so that one Euro will buy $1.47297 U.S. The market was up today because it is anticipating tomorrow's good GDP numbers that are expected to be up to 2.7% from 1.9%. Also the jobless claims for the week ending 8/23 is expected to be down a bit to 425,000. That's it from the sunny south.

8/26/08 - Market Mixed on Light Trading

The Dow had a modest gain today of 26.62 to close at 11,412.87 while the S&P 500 gained 4.67 to close at 1,271.51. NASDAQ closed at 2,361.97 down 3.62. Oil was up 1.16 to close at 116.27 per barrel. The Euro lost .01 against the dollar so one Euro will buy $1.46542 US. Ten yr. note was up 1.16 to 116.27 driving the yield down to 3.78. Trading was light. The lackluster day was partly due to the FDIC saying problem institutions had bad assets of $78 billion which was an increase from $26 billion. That's it from Atlanta for today.

8/25/08 - Market Down on Bad Housing, Auto & Oil News

The Dow dropped 241.73 today to close at 11, 386 while the S&P 500 lost 25.33 to close at 1266.87. NASDAQ closed down 49.12 at 2365.59. Oil was up .52 to $115.11 per barrel. The Ten Yr. Treasury Note gained 7.2 to close up to 101.75 to decrease the yield to 3.78. The Dollar lost .003 against the Euro. One Euro will buy 1.47471 US Dollar. Besides the increase in oil the market was down because of fears that there are increased housing inventories even though July home sales were up a bit. It looks like auto sales for August will be down as well. The techs were pulled down by Apple, Research in Motion & Qualcom. Have a good evening from a rainy Atlanta.

8/22 Market Enjoys Big Gain as Oil Drops

The Dow closed up 197.85 at 11,628.06; the S&P 500 closed at 1292.20 up 14.48 and NASDAQ was up 34.33 to close at 2414.71. Oil dropped 6.59 to $114.59 per barrel. For the week the Dow was down 31 points or .3% while NASDAQ was down 1.5% and the S&P was down .5%. The 10 year Treasury Note was down .34 at 101.03 yielding 3.87%. The U.S. Dollar was up slightly against the Euro and a dollar would buy .67670 per Euro and one Euro will buy $1.47776 US. The financial sector and the tech sectors both had good days with the energy sector being today's laggard. Volume was light today, less than 900,000 shares were traded on the NYSE. Lehman Brothers (LEH 14.41 up .69) was up on news that the Korea Development Bank may buy it. Drop in airline helped airline stocks.Have a great weekend from Atlanta.

8/21/08 Dow Up A Bit on Mixed News & Oil Goes Up

The Dow closed today at 1430.21 up 12.78; S&P was up 3.18 to close at 1277.72 & NASDAQ closed at 2380.38 down 8.70 the bad news is oil closed up 5.62 at above $121.18 per barrel, the highest in 2 weeks. Also the dollar was down 1.1% to buy .67090 of Euros (one Euro buys $1.49054 in dollars). Good news was the initial jobless claim for the week ended Aug 16 was 432,000, which was a decrease of 13,000 from the earlier week. Limted Brands (LTD 20.28 up 2.31) and H.J. Heinz (HNZ 51.99 up .28) exceeded earnings expectations. Financials were weak. Merrill Lynch (MER 24.34 down .07) and Lehman Brothers (LEH 13.72 down .01) had down days as did Goldman Sachs (GS 156.42 down 1.83) and Morgan Stanley (MS 37.06 down .34). Intel (INtC 23.05 down .34) and Apple (AAPL 174.29 down 1.55) also were down. Of course, Exxon Mobil (XOM 80.35 up 1.54) and ConocoPhillips (COP 85.05 up 4.20) had good days. The 10 year Treasury Note was down .28 to push the yield to3.83. That is it today from the deep south.

8/20/08 - Dow Up 68.88 Due to Good Earnings from Hewlett-Packard

The Dow closed today at 11417.43 up 68.88 while the S&P 500 gained 7.85 to close at 174.54. NASDAQ closed at 2389.08 up 4.72. The 10 Year Treasury Note was up .08 resulting in a lower yield of 3.80. Oil was up to $114.98 per barrel. There is still concern that Fannie Mae (FNM 4.47 down 1.54) and Freddie Mac (FRE 3.23 down .94) will need a bailout from Uncle Sam. Hewlett-Packard reported earnings for the quarter of .83 (HPQ 46.20 up 2.51). Volume continues to be light. That's it from Buckhead.

8/19/08 Market Declines Due to Rising Wholesale Prices

The Dow lost 130.84 today to close at 11348.55 while the S&P lost 11.91 to close at 1266.69. NASDAQ closed at 2384.36 down 32.62. The bad day was caused by reports that whoelsale prices rose faster than expected and concerns that AIG and Lehman lost more than 5.9% on estiamtes that more write downs are coming. The 10 year Treasury Note was down .05 increasing the yield to 3.83. That's it from Atlanta.

8/18/08 Market Falls on Light Volume as Profits are Taken

The Dow dropped 180.51 to close at 11479.39; the S&P 500 lost 19.60 closing at 1278.60 and NASDAQ closed at 2416.98 down 35.54. Profits were taken as trading was light today and oil prices increased to 112.97 per barrel. Fannie Mae (FNM down 1.76 to close at 6.15) and Freddie Mac (FRE down 1.46 to close at 4.39) hit their lowest levels in 20 years. The 10 yr. Treasury Bill was up .06 to drive the yield down to 3.81. The dollar snapped a three day run of advances and came off its 6 month high to close at 1.4753 per Euro down from 1.4688. That's it today from the Sunshine State.

8/15 Dow Posts Modest Gaiin Due to Retail News

The Dow gained 43.97 to close at 11,659.90 while the S&P gained 5.27 to close at 1298.20. NASDAQ shed 6.82 to close at 1957.56. Retailers had better than expected earnings per share. Nordstrom (JWN 31.54 up 1.32), JCPenney (JCP 39.94 up 3.11), Kohls (KSS 51.79 up 3.52) & Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF 52.59 up .02) led the retail sector. A strong dollar caused oil to drop to less than 114 per barrel. The week saw the Dow lose .6%, the S&P gain .1% and NASDAQ gain a solid 1.6%. Have a great weekend, reporting from the nation's oldest city.

8/14/08 Market Ends 2 Day Slide with Drop in Oil

The market rallied today with the Dow closing at 11,615.93 up 82.97 while the S&P closed at 2453.67 up 25.05. NASDAQ gained 25.05 to close at 2453.67. The main driver in todays rise was oil closing at 115.01 per barrel down .99 due to decreased demand. The financial sector had a good day driven by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Walmart continued to lead the retail sector. That is it today from the sunshine state.

8/13/08 Markets Falls for Second Day as Oil Rises

8/13/08 The stock market continued its decline as the DJIA shed 109.42 to close at 11,533 and NASDAQ closed at 2,428.62 down 1.99. S&P closed at 1,285.80 down 3.79. The market's drop was caused by a rise in crude to 116.31 per barrel prices resulting from the release of lower refined gasoline inventories. Also, the financial sector fell as Bank of America (BAC 28.93 down 2.20) fell on news that its subsidiary Countrywide Financial was being sued by states, Morgan Stanley (MS 40.17 down 2.33) and Lehman were downgraded by Merrill. Retail sector saw bad news with weak July retail sales data being disappointing. It could have been worse. That's it for today from the land of the peaches.

8/12/08 Stock Market Declines Due to Pessimism in Financial & Retail Sectors

The Dow gave up yesterday's gains dropping 139.96 to close at 11642.39 while NASDAQ (with more tech stocks than the Dow) declined only 9.34 to 2430.61. S&P 500 closed at 1289.59 down 15.73. The Financial Sectors got hit with news that JP Morgan Chase (JPM 37.99 down 3.90) was writing off $1.5 billion and Morgan Stanley's (MS 42.61 down 2.78) debt got downgraded. Wachovia (WB 16.04 down 2.17) and Goldman Sachs (GS 106.79 down 11.21) also took hits due to weakened earnings estimates. UBS (UBS 20.35 down 1.34) announced it was restructuring its operating units. The damage would have been worse but for two good news items: crude oil continued to fall closing at $113.31 a barrel and the trade deficit fell from $43.1 billion (May) to $39.1 billion. That's all from the land of the peaches.

8/11/08 Market Shows Modest Gains as Oil Prices Drop

The trading week got off to a good start as the Dow closed up 47.46 at 11781.78; while NASDAQ gained 25.85 to close at 2439.95 and the S&P closed at 1305.29 up 8.97. Oil dropped .5% to 114.62 a barrel. The financial sector was up due to the Fed announcing that over the past three months domestic lenders have tightened their lending requirements. Retail sector was strong led by Amazon (AMZN) up 7.54 to 88.05 on favorable reports that their electronic book reader, Kindle, had strong sales. Walmart (WMT 58.49 +.63) will be announcing quarterly earnings later this week along with several department stores. That's it for today from the land of the peaches.

8/8/08 Market Closes With Strong Gains Due to Lower Oil Prices

The Dow closed up 302.89 at 11734.32; NASDAQ gained 58.37 to close at 2414.10 & the S&P closed at1296.32 up 30.25 because of several items of good news. Oil dropped below $115 per barrel while the dollar gained as the dollar index was up 1.8%. Financial sector enjoyed a good day with Merrill Lynch (MER) gaining .77 to close at 26.86, Bank of America (BAC) gaining .73 to close at 32.25 and MBIA (MBI) closing at 8.57, gaining .29. An exception was Fannie Mae (FNM) which lost .90 to close at 9.05 due to a wider than expected loss and due to its cutting its quarterly dividend from .25 to .05. Have a great weekend from the land of the peaches.

8/7/08 Market Falls as Unemployment Claims Hit 6 Yr. High

The Dow fell 224.56 to close today at 11431.43 while NASDAQ lost 22.64 to close at 2355.73 and S&P closed at 1266.07 dropping 23.12. For the week ended 8/2 jobless claims rose 1.6% to 455,000. Other bad news included crude oil rising to $119.96 per barrel and AIG (AIG) leading the financial sector decline as it lost 5.25 to close at 23.84 as it announced 2d qtr. losses of $5.4 billion. Citigroup (C) dropped 1.23 to 18.47 on the announcement that it agreed to settle with the NY Attorney Geneal regarding claims that Citi lied to investors by marketing auction rate securities as safe. Wal-Mart (WMT) fell 3.80 to close at 56.96 due to less than expected increase in July same-sale store sales. The only good news was that June pending home sales rose .3% month-over-month, beating the anticiapted decline of 1.0%. That's it for today from the land of the peaches.

8/6/08 Market Gains as Oil Prices Fall for 3rd Straight Day

The Dow gained 40.30 today to close at 11,656.07. NASDAQ was up 28.54 closing at 2378.37 and the S&P 500 gained 4.31 to 1289.19. The good day was caused by large-cap techs, mainly Cisco (CSCO) gaining 1.31 to close at 23.96 and Microsoft (MCFT) gaining .80 to close at 27.01. The other good news was crude oil falling .7% to 118.37 per barrel - this is the third straight day we've seen crude drop. The bad news was Freddie Mac (FRE) falling 1.54 to close at 6.50 on news they were significantly increasing their reserves for bad loans. That is it for today from the land of the peaches.