Paul Krugman Says Markets Will ‘Never’ Recover From Trump; Dow Hits Record High
Posted: November 9, 2016 Filed under: Economics, Global, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Donald Trump, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Eastern Time Zone, Hillary Clinton, Nasdaq Composite, Percentage, S&P 500 Index, Share price, Stock market, Time Warner 2 Comments
‘When will markets recover? Never.’
Blake Neff reports: New York Times opinion writer and economist Paul Krugman predicted early Wednesday morning that the stock market will “never” recover from Donald Trump’s presidential victory, only to be proven spectacularly wrong in less than a day. Instead of collapsing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to an all-time high shortly before the closing bell.
“It really does now look like President Donald J. Trump, and markets are plunging. When might we expect them to recover? If the question is when markets will recover, a first-pass answer is never.”
Futures markets imploded Tuesday night as soon as it became apparent Trump was likely to win. At their nadir, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average had dropped 750 points.
“We are very probably looking at a global recession, with no end in sight. I suppose we could get lucky somehow. But on economics, as on everything else, a terrible thing has just happened.”
— Paul Krugman
At that point, Krugman chose to release a blog post in which he predicted these jitters represented a new permanent reality in the U.S. economy. Read the rest of this entry »
Fear & Loathing: S&P 500’s 9-Day Losing Streak Longest Since December 1980
Posted: November 4, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Economics, Mediasphere, U.S. News | Tags: AT&T, Donald Trump, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Eastern Time Zone, Federal Reserve System, Hillary Clinton, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 Index, Stock market, Time Warner Leave a comment
The S&P 500 index finished lower on Friday for the ninth-straight session, its longest stretch of declines since December 1980. Stocks rose after the open as investors digested a strong report on October jobs growth. But they soon erased their gains as uncertainty surrounding next week’s presidential election rattled markets.
The S&P 500 SPX, -0.17% fell 3.44 points, or 0.2%, to 2,085.22, with consumer staples shares seeing the largest drop. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 41.84 points, or 0.2%, to 17,888.83, with Procter & Gamble Company PG, -1.76% and Travelers Companies Inc. TRV, -0.99% emerging as the biggest losers on the blue-chip gauge. Read the rest of this entry »
Debt Distress Level at Highest Since Recession
Posted: December 28, 2015 Filed under: Economics, Politics, White House | Tags: Dow Jones Industrial Average, Economy of the United States, Federal Reserve System, Janet Yellen, Motion of no confidence, Nasdaq, Nasdaq Composite, Percentage, Standard & Poor's, Wells Fargo Leave a comment
The number of companies with the lowest credit ratings and negative outlooks jumped to 195 in December, the highest level since March 2010, says Standard & Poor’s.
Matt Krantz reports: Nomura Head of U.S. Rates Strategy George Gonclaves discusses Fed policy and the U.S. economy. He speaks on “Bloomberg Surveillance.” Bloomberg
Higher interest rates are about to hit companies – just when many are ill prepared to handle them.
The Federal Reserve this month took interest rates up for the first time in nearly a decade – ending the days of free money. It might take a few years for higher rates to hit companies – as they look to refinance debt. But the troubling part is many companies aren’t in great shape to eat the higher costs.
The number of companies with the lowest credit ratings and negative outlooks jumped to 195 in December, the highest level since March 2010, says Standard & Poor’s. The biggest culprit for the jump in these so-called “weakest links” is the oil and gas sector, which accounts for 34 of them. But financial companies are close behind, representing 33 of the weakest links, says S&P….(read more)
Source: USAToday
Dow, Nasdaq Plunge 3% into Correction
Posted: August 21, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Economics, Global, Mediasphere, U.S. News | Tags: Dow Jones Industrial Average, Federal Reserve System, Global Panic, JPMorgan Chase, Nasdaq, Nasdaq Composite, NetApp, New York Stock Exchange, S&P 500, UBS, Wall Street Leave a comment
The Dow Jones industrial average closed at session lows, off nearly 531 points and in correction territory for the first time since 2011 as all blue chips declined. The last time the index closed more than 500 points lower was on Aug. 10, 2011. In the last five years, the index has only had four instances with closing losses of more than 400 points.
“For investors the momentum and the drive of the market is now lower (than) it used to be because there’s no place to hide,” said Lance Roberts, general partner at STA Wealth Management. “Every time we hit the major technical points we kept selling.”
A trader noted that investors stopped looking at technicals and were plowing through them.
“It’s an expiration day and it looks like they’re to have for sale on the close maybe as much as a billion dollars,” said Art Cashin, director of floor trading for UBS.
The Nasdaq Composite lost 3.5 percent, also closing in correction territory and joining the other major averages in negative territory for the year.
Apple declined 6 percent, in bear market territory, and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) plunged 3.1 percent.
“Right now there is a feeling of fear in the marketplace and all news is interpreted negatively and it’s interpreted indiscriminately,” said Tom Digenan, head of U.S. equities as UBS Global Asset Management…(read more)
U.S. Stocks Drop on Media Meltdown
Posted: August 6, 2015 Filed under: Economics, Entertainment, Mediasphere | Tags: Cable TV, cord cutting, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Federal Reserve System, Global Panic, Nasdaq, Nasdaq Composite, Network TV, S&P 500, Television Leave a comment
Fears of ‘cord-cutting’ jolt stocks of traditional media firms.
Austen Hufford And Saumya Vaishampayan report: Stocks slumped on Thursday in a selloff led by shares of media companies, which have reported a flurry of disappointing earnings amid concerns about the shift away from traditional television.
“Media stocks are getting slaughtered. It’s been the long-running fear that we would eventually see cord-cutting. Everyone thought it would be a slow-moving train wreck, but Disney’s comment woke people up.”
— Aaron Clark, a portfolio manager at GW&K Investment Management
A 15% decline in Viacom Inc. dragged down the Nasdaq Composite Index, which was 1.9% lower at 5044. Before the opening bell, the media giant reported a decline in second-quarter profit and revenue, fueling worries that more consumers are cutting the cable cord and turning to the Internet for their viewing.
Shares of Walt Disney Co. tumbled for a second day after Chief Executive Robert Iger late Tuesday noted subscriber losses at ESPN.
That again weighed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which declined 154 points, or 0.9%, to 17386.77. The S&P 500 fell 1% to 2079.
Disney was down 4.8% on Thursday after falling 8.4% Wednesday. 21st Century Fox Inc. declined 11% after lowering its expectations for full-year profit for fiscal 2016.
“Media stocks are getting slaughtered,” said Aaron Clark, a portfolio manager at GW&K Investment Management, which manages $25 billion in assets. “It’s been the long-running fear that we would eventually see cord-cutting. Everyone thought it would be a slow-moving train wreck, but Disney’s comment woke people up.”
[Read the full text here, at WSJ]
Thursday’s losses come against the backdrop of tepid growth in the U.S. and around the world. Many investors are also concerned that elevated valuations on some stocks aren’t supported by earnings growth.
As well, investors are skittish ahead of the July U.S. jobs report, due out Friday, as they try to gauge the path of interest rates in the U.S. Read the rest of this entry »
PANIC: U.S. Stocks Lose Sense of Humor
Posted: January 5, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Economics, U.S. News | Tags: Associated Press, Blue chip (stock market), Chevron Corporation, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Economic data, Information technology, Intel, MarketWatch, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 Leave a comment
The decline in oil prices has proved a mixed blessing for stocks in recent months. Though it has led to lower gasoline prices and boosted the fortunes of ordinary consumers, the slide has also curbed profits within the once-booming energy sector, which makes up a growing piece of the U.S. economy amid resurgent domestic oil production.
The Dow industrials tumbled more than 300 points Monday, kicking off the new year on a sour note as a renewed slide in oil prices sent energy shares sharply lower.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 329 points, or 1.9%, to 17504 in late afternoon trading. The S&P 500 index slid 37 points, or 1.8%, to 2021.
“Oil is first and foremost on everybody’s mind. People are thinking if it’s going to $40, where does that leave the economy?”
— Jesse Lubarsky, senior vice president and equity trader at Raymond James in New York
The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 73 points, or 1.6%, to 4654.
Monday’s losses began at the opening bell and picked up steam as oil prices plumbed new lows, with beleaguered shares of energy companies leading the push lower. U.S. oil prices fell below $50 a barrel for the first time in nearly six years Monday, sending shares of S&P 500 energy companies tumbling nearly 4%.
The euro tumbled to a nine-year low Monday as new worries flared over Greece, where a woman in Athens passed a currency-changing business. Associated Press
“It seems like everyone is taking a step back instead of running into the new year,” said Viren Chandrasoma, managing director of equity trading at Credit Suisse . “There hasn’t been a real buying-on-the-dip mentality today.”
The decline in oil prices has proved a mixed blessing for stocks in recent months. Though it has led to lower gasoline prices and boosted the fortunes of ordinary consumers, the slide has also curbed profits within the once-booming energy sector, which makes up a growing piece of the U.S. economy amid resurgent domestic oil production.
“Oil is first and foremost on everybody’s mind,” said Jesse Lubarsky, senior vice president and equity trader at Raymond James in New York. “People are thinking if it’s going to $40, where does that leave the economy?”
Despite Monday’s rout, Wall Street trading desks said activity was relatively light given the scale of the move lower. Rather than sell en masse, many investors started the new year with a more cautious posture following double-digit gains in major indexes last year. Read the rest of this entry »
pundit from another planet 