| Market Summary |
Stocks closed mixed on Friday following the rally generated from upbeat expectations from both Wednesday and Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 49.91 points, closing at 11,496.57. The Standard & Poor's 500 index increased by 0.36 points before closing at 1,260.68. The Nasdaq, however, decreased by 29.52 points before settling at 2,282.78. Among the declines in the Nasdaq today came reports from tech giants, Google (GOOG: Charts, News, Offers), Microsoft (MSFT: Charts, News, Offers), and Advanced Micro Designs (AMD: Charts, News, Offers) where the weakening economy has affected these companies. For Advanced Micro Designs, the announcement of their CEO stepping down marked difficult times indeed. Other stocks in the news included Citigroup (C: Charts, News, Offers) having beat investor expectations, yet still posting a Q2 loss. The US dollar responded today by closing slightly higher against the euro and the yen, relative to light sweet crude closing slightly higher for the weekend. Gold prices edged lower today despite oil’s slight increase.
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| Market News |
In the last three days oil prices have fallen by roughly $10 a barrel. Many analysts say slackening demand, or the threat of it, is the main culprit. But another force could be at work in the background. Last week various analysts said there was talk that Mexico, the world's fifth largest oil producer, was hedging its bets - the country was said to be signing contracts to deliver oil several years into the future at today's prices. Essentially, it was betting oil prices have peaked. (Source: Yahoo! Finance) Full Story
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California, Florida and Texas, the U.S. states with the most Starbucks Corp (SBUX: Charts, News, Offers) stores, will see the most shuttered as the coffee chain axes more than 600 underperforming outlets in the coming year. Starbucks is closing 88 locations in California, a loss of 5 percent based on store counts as of the end of March. According to a list of store closures released on Thursday, Florida will lose 59 stores, or nearly 14 percent of overall outlets, while the coffee seller's move to shutter 57 Texas locations will lower store counts there by 11 percent. (Source: Reuters) Full Story
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Stock prices wavered Friday but failed to hang onto gains as oil prices swung back up. Disappointing earnings reports from tech companies outweighed positive news from Citigroup (C: Charts, News, Offers). About three hours into the session, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite was sharply lower, falling 1.6%. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped less than 0.1%, and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 0.4% from Thursday's close. (Source: CNN Money) Full Story
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| Market Analysis |
This article first appeared in Kiplinger's. Talk about a fall from grace. Legg Mason Value managed by the once-revered Bill Miller, has performed so poorly the past 2.5 years that Morningstar now gives the fund 1 star, our lowest rating. This year, the fund has lost an atrocious 35% of its value. We took the fund off our Analyst Picks list in 2003 when it was still riding high because its high expense ratio was way too steep even with his record. Still, we've remained positive about Miller and his approach despite the dismal returns since then. Should it really come as a surprise that Miller, who was once the talk of the investing world because he beat the stock market 15 consecutive calendar years, has hit a rough patch? No. The streak merely masked Miller's bold approach to stock-picking, a strategy that was sure to run out of steam at some point. Not that one would have expected this steep a drop. (Source: Yahoo! Finance) Full Story
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"Legacy'' has acquired a different meaning at some of Wall Street's largest firms: Whatever we are stuck with that's dragging down our earnings. This definition isn't found in Webster's New World College Dictionary. The fourth edition offers two alternatives: "money or property left to someone by a will; bequest'' and "anything handed down from, or as from, an ancestor.'' Citigroup Inc. (C: Charts, News, Offers), the biggest U.S. bank by assets, began the trend two months ago by introducing a legacy classification for about $500 billion of securities and units. The phrase "legacy assets'' was headlined in the company's second-quarter earnings release, which showed a smaller loss -- $2.5 billion -- for the period than most analysts had estimated. (Source: Bloomberg) Full Story
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A day and a half’s stock rally of 350-plus points (it is 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time as I write this) does not a rebound make. Plenty of weary investors are itching to sell on these little spikes. I will, however, point out some good news. The good news is, nobody believes in good news anymore. Four newspapers hit my driveway each morning: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Financial Times, and USA Today. (Source: Forbes.com) Full Story
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