Global economic crisis

[cycloneye]

Another bulls day.The dow closed +174 and the NASDAQ closed the highest this year at 1587.0.



DOW=7924.56 +174.75 +2.25%
NASDAQ=1587.0 +58.05 +3.8%
S&P 500=832.85 +18.97 +2.33%

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29899097

[cycloneye]

Profit taking today after a nice rally to the upside this week.

DOW=7776.18 -148.38 -1.87%
NASDAQ=1545.2 -41.80 -2.63%
S&P 500=815.94 -16.92 -2.03%


The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost about 150 points, or nearly 2 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq dropped more than 2 percent.

This came after a two-day rally that pushed the Dow up 21 percent fron its recent bottom, the index's fastest recovery of that magnitude since 1938, and left the Nasdaq in positive territory for the year.

Still, for the week, all three indexes gained, with the Dow up about 100 points since last Friday.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29918594

[cycloneye]

After a big upswing in the dow for most of March,its now the bears turn.As of this post at 10:35 AM EDT the dow is -265 points.Lets see how low the dow closes today.

[Derek Ortt]

still questioning me, destruction?

I wish we had a politics forum... as I'd love to go off on a rant right about now...

[RL3AO]

Isn't it great that the main tool that is used to measure how the overall economy is doing is an index of 30 companies?

It makes no sense at all.

[cycloneye]

Here are the closing numbers of mondays trading day that was bearish from the opening bell to the close.



DOW=7522.02 -254.16 -3.27%
NASDAQ=1501.8 -43.40 -2.81%
S&P 500=787.53 -28.41 -3.48%

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29959783

[zaqxsw75050]

Isn't it great that the main tool that is used to measure how the overall economy is doing is an index of 30 companies?

It makes no sense at all.

That's why some people look at S&P 500.

+1 on political forum.

[MGC]

The market today reacted to the government's ouster of the GM CEO. What company is next on the government's radar? The gov now controls insurance, banking and auto manufacturing. It has eyes on medical care next. We are seeing the destruction of capitalism before our very eyes. I expect to wake up one day and be like our buddies in France......MGC

[Stephanie]

As long as my money is being used to keep them in business, I think that I should (we should) have a say as to who stays and who goes. I think a lot of those CEO's are living in a fantasy land. Heck, they're rich enough to survive, even if they are dumb or crooked, and/or both.

[Squarethecircle]

The market today reacted to the government's ouster of the GM CEO. What company is next on the government's radar? The gov now controls insurance, banking and auto manufacturing. It has eyes on medical care next. We are seeing the destruction of capitalism before our very eyes. I expect to wake up one day and be like our buddies in France......MGC

It's not like the government is forcing its own standards on everything produced, or distributing the cars themselves. Not all companies are even controlled by the government, meaning that, essentially, it would be impossible for the government to regulate the manufacturing and design of cars, as this method has produced terrible cars from every single communist or socialist country. All people purchasing US-produced cars would switch to Ford or others. When the government doesn't let Ford compete with it, then capitalism will be gone.

What's wrong with France? It works, no?

[Skyhawk]

As long as my money is being used to keep them in business, I think that I should (we should) have a say as to who stays and who goes. I think a lot of those CEO's are living in a fantasy land. Heck, they're rich enough to survive, even if they are dumb or crooked, and/or both.

Well, I paid a chunk of change to the IRS last April 15th and will be doing the same this coming April 15th. So I could say that my money is being used to keep them in business. What happens if my ideas about who stays and who goes differ from your ideas? The fact is that ideas held by the government are not necessarily the same as those held by the tax payers. Note that tax payers are not the same as voters. Approximately 35% of the population pay no federal income tax at all. What does the government know about running an auto company? What has government run successfully? the post office? social security?

The government should stay out of the automobile business, and let the car companies declare bankrupcy and break the union contracts. GM has become a health care provider that only incidently makes cars and trucks.

[cycloneye]

The Dow Jones closed on a positive note the first quarter of 2009,but was down 13% in the quarter.

DOW=7608.92 +86.90 +1.16%
NASDAQ=1528.59 +26.79 +1.78%
S&P 500=797.87 +10.34 +1.31%


Stocks closed out a tough quarter on a positive note, helped by gains in technology and big banks.

A day after Monday's sound drubbing, the three major indexes rebounded more than 2 percent. But as the first quarter came to a close with the bell, it was clear that the market has not fared well so far this year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down over 13 percent for the first quarter, while the S&P 500 was off nearly 12 percent. Only the Nasdaq came close to breaking even, falling just over 3 percent.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29972212

[Stephanie]

Well, I paid a chunk of change to the IRS last April 15th and will be doing the same this coming April 15th. So I could say that my money is being used to keep them in business. What happens if my ideas about who stays and who goes differ from your ideas? The fact is that ideas held by the government are not necessarily the same as those held by the tax payers. Note that tax payers are not the same as voters. Approximately 35% of the population pay no federal income tax at all. What does the government know about running an auto company? What has government run successfully? the post office? social security?

The government should stay out of the automobile business, and let the car companies declare bankrupcy and break the union contracts. GM has become a health care provider that only incidently makes cars and trucks.

I really don't believe that the government is looking to be in the auto business. I don't know where this thought even came from to begin with. Has anyone said specifically, somewhere that this is what the government wants to do? They don't know how to run the auto business and I don't think that they are pretending to either. Also, corporations are also run by a board of directors that represent the shareholders. The board is voted in by the shareholders. The board also approves the hiring/firing of CEO's, who often chair the board. We, the taxpayers are now shareholders of this company. I'm sure that there are plenty of shareholders that do not agree with who's voted in, hired, etc. The bottom line though is always the ROI.

I don't mind helping to bail out a rather essential piece of our country's economy, to a point. I kind of look at it as those people that work in the auto industry (from GM to part makers, repair stations, etc.) are seeing their (and our) tax money help them keep a job, for now at least. Their tax dollars are working for them. That's what I want my government to do for me, be their when I need them, especially in times like these, where, by no fault of my own, I suddenly lose my job, can't make the monthly payments on my mortgage, car loan and other bills that I was able to do, ON TIME, every month in the past. My debt is not out of control and I could probably payoff everything, with the exception of my total mortgage if I had to right now. The point is that I want the government to be there to solve problems like these and ensure that people that are out to deceive others in order to make a buck, cannot do so. If that means more regulations, then so be it.

I'm glad that now we're seeing that the checkbook is being closed because GM and Chrysler couldn't/wouldn't make the necessary changes to keep them viable without more handouts. Ford Motor Company should be their roll model. It at least shows that making the difficult decisions can be done. That's how a company should work - with no help from the government.

[Nimbus]

The Dow Jones closed on a positive note the first quarter of 2009,but was down 13% in the quarter.

The quarterly reports will show a very strong March. Seems as though all the world markets have reached a temporary top.

The Dow Jones needs to retreat a little and make a credible double bottom somewhere before advancing beyond 8000. We still don't even know if our nations auto manufacturers are going to go bankrupt yet. I doubt that the Dow will go below 6600 again, but I'm not sure what the mid April economic news will be.

[cycloneye]

The bulls came out roaring in the start of the 2nd quarter.



DOW=7761.6 +152.68 +2.01%
NASDAQ=1551.6 +23.01 +1.51%
S&P 500=811.08 +13.21 +1.66%


http://www.cnbc.com/id/29990243

[cycloneye]

A big rally is underway today with the dow over 8,000 at +295 at the time of this post.Lets see how high it closes.

[cycloneye]

Once again,the bulls ran the day.The question is if the dow came out of the real bottow?



DOW=7978.08 +216.48 +2.79%
NASDAQ=1602.63 +51.03 +3.29%
S&P 500=834.38 +23.30 +2.87%

Stocks spiked higher Thursday as investors began to believe in a rally that sent the Dow industrials to their highest four-day winning streak in more than 75 years.

A long-awaited change in mark-to-market accounting rules spurred the rally, while a surge in factory orders also hoped stoke enthusiasm that Wall Street was winding its way out of a protracted bear market.

Though they closed well off their highs for the day, financials led the charge, while industrial, metals and material stocks also joined in.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/30009929

[cycloneye]

The dow closed above 8,000 and up this week over 3%,in other words the bulls ran wild.



DOW=8017.59 +39.51 +0.5%
NASDAQ=1621.87 +19.24 +1.2%
S&P 500=842.58. +12 +0.97%


http://www.cnbc.com/id/30028274

[cycloneye]

The dow closed this thursday another positive week (5th in a row) of gains.No trading on Friday.In other words,the bulls were again wild.



DOW=8083.38 +246.27 +3.14%
NASDAQ=1652.54 +61.88 +3.89%
S&P 500=856.56 +31.40 +3.81

http://www.cnbc.com/id/30141216

[lurkey]

GM, Citigroup Replaced in Dow Industrials by Cisco, Travelers
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By Elizabeth Stanton

June 1 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. and Citigroup Inc. were removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replaced by Cisco Systems Inc. and Travelers Cos., after the first global recession in 70 years crippled their earnings and sent their shares down more than 90 percent.

GM, which filed for bankruptcy protection today, and Citigroup, which was found by the Federal Reserve to require $93 billion in additional common equity at the end of 2008, became the first companies since American International Group Inc. in September to leave the 30-stock average. GM’s ouster was expected after John Prestbo, Dow Jones Indexes editor and executive director, said in early May the automaker would come out in the event of a bankruptcy filing.

“The parlous state of GM has left us with no choice but to remove it from the Dow,” said Robert Thomson, managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, in a statement announcing the change. The newspaper’s editors decide the makeup of the average. News Corp., the media company headed by Rupert Murdoch, has been its publisher since acquiring Dow Jones & Co. in December 2007.

Citigroup has traded below $5 since mid-January and is in the process of converting preferred stock into common shares, giving the U.S. government a 34 percent stake.

“We were reluctant to remove Citigroup at the height of the financial frenzy, but it is clear that the bank is in the midst of a substantial restructuring which will see the government with a large and ongoing stake,” Thomson said.

Considered Again

Thomson said Citigroup may be considered for the index again after it has “refashioned itself,” according to the statement.

Kraft Foods Inc. was named to replace AIG in the average on Sept. 18, the day after the nation’s biggest insurer was taken over by the U.S. government to avert its collapse.

GM, which had its last profitable year in 2004, was the worst-performing company in the average last year, losing 87 percent, and 77 percent this year through May 29. Its shares fell below $1 on May 29, putting them below the minimum normally required to trade on the New York Stock Exchange. GM entered the 113-year-old index in 1915, replacing preferred shares of U.S. Rubber.

GM, the fourth-biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Washington Mutual Inc. in September and WorldCom Inc. in 2002, had been the lowest-priced company in the average for most of the past year. Citigroup closed at lower prices than GM on 27 days this year, mostly in March. The Dow average is price-weighted, meaning the lower a company’s share price, the less influence it has.

Global Dow

GM and Citigroup were removed from News Corp.’s 150-stock Global Dow in April, less than five months after that index was introduced.

“The issues facing GM have been widely known and disseminated for some time,” said Jonathan Armitage, head of U.S. large-cap equities at the American unit of Schroders, the U.K.’s largest independent money manager. “It was less a question of if but of when” this day would come.

The Dow average was devised in 1896 by Charles H. Dow, co- founder of Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. Originally containing 12 stocks, it expanded to 20 companies in 1916 and to 30 in 1928.

There are no rules for inclusion in the gauge, according to the Dow Jones Web site. Usually, a stock is added only “if it has an excellent reputation, demonstrates sustained growth, is of interest to a large number of investors and accurately represents the sectors covered by the average,” the Web site says.

Rare Moves

Changes in the composition of the average “are rare, and generally occur only after corporate acquisitions or other dramatic shifts in a component’s core business,” the site says. “When such an event necessitates that one component be replaced, the entire index is reviewed,” and “multiple component changes are often implemented simultaneously.”

Three companies left the Dow last year, including AIG. Altria Group Inc. and Honeywell International Inc. were replaced by Bank of America Corp. and Chevron Corp. Those changes were the first since 2004.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Stanton in New York at estanton@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 1, 2009 09:44 EDT