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 9820 and, on Monday, fell 41 points.
- On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 51 points.
- On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 81 points.
- On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell another 41 points.
- On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 42 points and closed the week at 9665.
- General Motors announced that it would rehire as many as 3,000 employees that had previously been laid off.
- The SEC has settled charges against Alabama-based Regions Bank arising out of Regions’ alleged involvement in charging excessive fees and commissions to Latin American investors. The Bank agreed to pay $1,000,000 to settle the charges.
- Data from Equifax, the credit bureau, revealed that 7.58% of homeowners with mortgages were more than 30 days delinquent. This is a record high for mortgage delinquencies.
- Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moodys.com, predicts that housing will remain weak as long as unemployment remains high. Recent statistics report that the unemployment rate nationwide is 9.7% while the underemployed rate is approximately 17%.
- Realpoint LLC, a credit rating company, reported that loans on more than 1,500 hotels, many secured by luxury hotels, may be in danger of default.
- Smith Travel Research says that hotel chains with the costliest rooms achieved average occupancy rates at 60% of capacity during the first half of 2009.
- USA Today reported that “more Americans found housing unaffordable last year, even though home prices across the U.S. have taken a major fall.”
- Existing home sales fell in August.
- The Federal Reserve reported that growth had returned to the U.S. economy and announced its intent to keep interest rates low.
- Doomsayer Marc Faber claimed that the recent economic crisis has been just an appetizer for a bigger crisis in the future. Farber contends that world leaders have not addressed the fundamental problems that caused the recent downturn.
- MSNBC reports that consumer confidence has reached the highest level since January, 2008.
- UBS is eliminating approximately 200 jobs in its Wealth Management Division. The layoffs generally involve new financial advisers and recent trainees.
- Citigroup announced that it is refocusing its retail operations on six major metropolitan areas ? New York, Chicago, Miami, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco.
- The Bureau of Economic Analysis has reported that the ten largest metro economies in the U.S. are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Washington, D.C., Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, and Atlanta.
- Forbes Magazine identified North Carolina, Georgia, Colorado, Virginia, Utah and Washington as the top six states for businesses.
- Moody’s Investors Service said that write-offs on U.S. credit card charges rose to 11.49%, the highest level on record.
- The Georgian Bank in Atlanta became the 95th bank closed by banking regulators this year. It was also the 19th Georgian bank closed this year.
- The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is considering a loan from the U.S. Treasury to bolster sagging reserves.
- USA Today reported that many skilled immigrants educated in the U.S. are returning to their home countries to pursue careers. Perhaps many of our esteemed universities would be well advised to focus on educating American students.
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.