There have been various developments over the past several weeks which investors may consider relevant in allocating their resources or evaluating alternatives that are available to them. Some of the more significant developments include, but are not limited to, the following:
- The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened the week at 10,023 and, on Monday, the market soared 204 points.
- On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20 points.
- On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 44 more points.
- On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 94 points.
- On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 73 points and closed the week at 10,270.
- Sprint announced that it was cutting up to 2,500 jobs.
- Adobe Systems is cutting 9% of its workforce. Approximately 680 jobs will be lost.
- Applied Materials plans to eliminate approximately 1,500 jobs.
- Lloyds Banking Group Plc plans to eliminate approximately 5,000 jobs. Lloyds is the largest mortgage lender in Britain.
- The high unemployment rate and the ongoing elimination of jobs continues to undermine consumer confidence as consumer sentiment falls.
- The number of American filing first-time claims for jobless benefits has dropped its lowest level since January.
- Electronic Arts, the maker of “Madden NFL,” plans to cut 1,500 jobs and close several facilities.
- A New York based compensation consultant reports that bonuses at Wall Street banks and other financial firms will average 40% higher this year.
- GMAC, a major financier of the automobile industry, is seeking more bailout money from the Federal Reserve.
- According to a recent survey conducted by Time magazine, 75% of Americans believe that Wall Street firms haven’t learned anything from their recent travails and are simply returning to business as usual. In the same survey, 58% of Americans thought that Wall Street had too much influence over the government’s economic policy.
- Jurors in New York acquitted two former Bear Stearns’ hedge fund managers of fraud charges.
- Many states are facing serious fiscal problems as a result of falling revenues, rising unemployment, and large budget deficits. Collectively, the states face a $51 billion budget deficit this year. Arizona, Florida, California, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Oregon are the states with the most serious fiscal problems.
- CNBC reports that “commercial real estate is somewhere between an orderly massacre and a disaster” according to William Mack, chairman of a real estate investment fund.
- Foreclosure filings in the U.S. exceeded 300,000 for the eighth straight month.
- Hewlett-Packard announced that it would acquire 3Com for $2.7 billion.
- Citigroup announced plans to sell stock in its Primerica affiliate and gradually dispose of its interest in the company.
- Gold has risen to a record price of $1,119 per ounce.
- The CDC says that this flu season is unprecedented. Since last April, swine flu has hit an estimated 22 million Americans and killed an estimated 3,900.
- Banking regulators closed three more banks this week. The number of banks closed this year now stands at 123.
- A federal appeals court handed a setback to investors injured in the Stanford Financial Ponzi scheme who were hoping to recoup part of their losses from earlier investors who got back all of their monies before the scheme imploded.
- Jefferson County, Alabama has sued JP Morgan for fraud arising in connection with the sale of debt and derivatives investments to the county.
Page Perry’s Market Monitor is published periodically to give investors an overview of certain recent developments impacting the economy and/or the investment markets.