Sunday, November 30, 2008

MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Rise On Black Friday To Post Strong Weekly Gains

By Nick Godt

U.S. stocks ended higher Friday, leaving the market with monthly losses but with large gains for a holiday-shortened week that saw investors increasingly confident that much of a dire economic outlook already has been priced in.

The market gained on so-called Black Friday, marking its fifth-straight session of gains, with grim prospects for retailers failing to dent optimism at the traditional start of the U.S. holiday-shopping season.

"With the market [having its] fifth day of gains in a row, there's a bit of confidence returning," said Peter Cardillo, market economist at Avalon Partners. "This market has discounted a lot of negative news."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 102 points, or 1.2%, to 8,829, with 23 of its 30 components ending higher. While the blue-chip average fell 5.3% for the month of November, it jumped 9.2% over the past week.

"Even though it was abbreviated, this is one of the biggest gaining weeks in a long, long time," Cardillo added. With the market falling so far and so quickly over the past few months, "the picture has gotten technically strong here, which is another reason investors are coming in."

MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Look To Further Recent Gains In December

By Nick Godt

Stocks will enter the month of December with a sense of optimism that much of the dismal environment for corporate profits has already been discounted by the market, even as upcoming reports, including the key jobs report on Friday, are expected to show the economic picture is still worsening.

Next week, "we'll have a slew of economic numbers, including what I expect to be a rise to 6.7% in unemployment in November," said Peter Cardillo, market economist at Avalon Partners.

However, "the market has already priced in another quarter or two of real bad economic news, and that things could start to stabilize in the second quarter" of next year, he said.

Dow's best 5-day gain ever

Friday, November 28, 2008

MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Turn Mostly Higher On Black Friday

By Nick Godt

Stocks managed to turn mostly higher on "Black Friday," the traditional start of the U.S. holiday shopping season, with subdued prospects for retailers, and an overall dire economic environment somewhat already factored in by investors.

A day after the Thanksgiving holiday, the market will close early at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

"With the market [on track] for the fifth day of gains in a row, there's a bit of confidence returning," said Peter Cardillo, market economist at Avalon Partners. "This market has discounted a lot of negative news."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) gained 12 points at 8,714, with 11 of its 30 components opening higher.

Auto sales somewhat less anemic

Auto sales posted a small rebound in November, but few analysts are taking it as a sign that the economy has finally turned a corner.

The latest figures from Edmunds.com show that new vehicle sales in November are expected to be 850,000 units, representing a 1.9 percent increase over October's figures.

However, most major automakers continued to see a substantial decrease over last year's sales figures. Two of the American "Big Three" automakers, Chrysler and Ford (F), led the decline with a respective 41.7 and 33.1 percent drop since November of 2007.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

ASIA MARKETS: Resource, Technology Shares Spur Rally

By V. Phani Kumar

Asian stock markets advanced early Thursday, with technology shares such as Kyocera Corp. and Hynix Semiconductor among gainers after Wall Street stretched a rally into a fourth straight session, while resource stocks jumped on a sharp rise in crude-oil prices.

The Nikkei 225 Average jumped 2.1% to 8,388.01 and the broader Topix index added 1.7% to 831.24.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 2.6% to 3,630.40 and New Zealand's NZX 50 index gained 1% to 2,665.13, while South Korea's Kospi climbed 2.1% to 1,051.37.

Technology shares advanced on hefty gains on Nasdaq overnight, with Kyocera ( KYO) jumping 4.3% and Toshiba Corp. rising 3.6% in Tokyo.

In Seoul, shares of Hynix (HXSCF) surged 7.9% and Samsung Electronics Co. ( SSNLF) added 2.5%.

On Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite rose 4.6% to 1,532.10 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 2.9% at 8,726.61, while the S&P 500 index added 3.5% to 887.68.

LATIN AMERICAN MARKETS: Telecoms Help Lead Brazil Higher; Argentina Shares Rise

By Carla Mozee

Brazil's equity index climbed Wednesday, with telecom stocks gaining on speculation of a deal involving a key mobile-phone company.

In Brazil, the Bovespa index finished 4.8% higher, to 36,469.61.

Shares of Tim Participacoes (TSU) jumped after Il Sole 24 Ore, an Italian financial newspaper, reported that Telecom Italia (TI) is mulling the sale of its Brazilian wireless services unit.

The shares soared 18%, leading overall advancers.

Shares of rival Vivo Participacoes (VIV) rose 3.4%. Telesp (TSP) rose 3.8%, Oi (TNE) picked up 0.9% and Brasil Telecom Participacoes (BRP) reversed losses to end 7.2% higher.

Meanwhile, Dow Jones Newswires, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that Telecom Italia won't put Tim Participacoes up for sale as it considers the company a core asset.

ASIA MARKETS: Shanghai, Hong Kong Rally On China Rate Cut

By V. Phani Kumar

Asian markets advanced Thursday, with Shanghai- and Hong Kong-listed shares pacing gains a day after the Chinese central slashed interest rates.

Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese shares also posted strong gains, with technology stocks such as Elpida Memory and Hynix Semiconductor among gainers after Wall Street stretched a rally into a fourth straight session. Resource stocks jumped in Australia on a sharp overnight rise in crude-oil prices.

Indian markets were closed for the day in the wake of synchronized terrorist attacks overnight in nine or more locations in the financial capital Mumbai, which left at least 87 people dead and 250 wounded.

China's Shanghai Composite jumped 4% to 1,972.82, after the People's Bank of China Tuesday slashed its lending and deposit rates by as much as 1.08%, in addition to cutting banks' reserve requirements sharply, in the central bank's strongest response yet to a recent slowdown in economic growth.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 3.9% to 13,893.73, while the Hang Seng China Ente

Monday, November 24, 2008

LATIN AMERICAN MARKETS: Region's Stocks Soar As Commodities Strengthen

By Carla Mozee

Stocks across Latin America's major markets zoomed higher Monday, bolstered by a jump in commodity stocks and a multibillion-dollar funding commitment from the U.S. for one of the country's biggest financial-services firms.

Stocks also held their ground after U.S. President-elect Barack Obama introduced his economic team, including New York Federal Reserve chief Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary.

Obama has stepped up efforts to contain the financial and economic crisis, reducing fears of a 2-month-long vacuum, analysts at BMO Capital Markets said.

Brazil's Bovespa jumped 9.4% to 34,188.83, its largest percentage gain since Nov. 13.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

MARKET SNAPSHOT: Stocks Trim Weekly Losses On Word Geithner Will Head Treasury

By Kate Gibson

U.S. stocks on Friday surged on a report President-elect Barack Obama would nominate New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary. The leap higher in the final hour of trade came on the heels of a two-session freefall and halved the market's weekly decline.

After a volatile session, equities rocketed higher in the wake of an NBC report that Obama would appoint Geithner to head the Treasury Department.

Of the trio, Geithner is "the one people in the market wanted to see," said Owen Fitzpatrick, head of the U.S. equity group at Deutsche Bank. The choice is particularly important in light of Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's comments earlier in the week "of being done with Tarp," said Fitzpatrick of the Paulson's decision to let the next administration decide how to spend the remaining roughly $350 billion of $700 billion bailout package.

"The comfort level is there with Geithner," said Fitzpatrick.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) surged more than 500 points before finishing at 8,046.42, up 494.13 points, or 6.5%. The blue-chip index lost 5.3% for the week.

LATIN AMERICAN MARKETS: Argentina OKs Pensions Takeover; Brazil, Mexico Mixed

By Carla Mozee

Argentine stocks fell Friday following a widely expected decision by the government to nationalize pension funds, and Brazilian stocks dropped more than 6%, with commodity stocks driving the decline.

Meanwhile, Mexican shares finished slightly higher after a better-than- expected report about quarterly economic growth and a rally on Wall Street on news that President-elect Barack Obama has made his choice for the nominee for Treasury Secretary.

Latin American markets finished lower for the week, led by a 5.8% fall by Brazil's Bovespa index.

"Unfortunately events this past week were once again driven by these words: credit crunch, recession, deflation, stagnation, demand slump, etc.," said analysts at Saxo Bank in a weekly commodity update.

Argentina's Merval equity index fell 4% to 828.94 in the wake of Thursday night's vote in the Senate that gives the Kirchner administration control of $24 billion in assets that had been managed by 10 private pension funds, ending a 14-year run of the system

MARKET SNAPSHOT: U.S. Stocks Look For Respite In Holiday shortened Week

By Nick Godt

U.S. stocks will start next week with investors looking for some respite after reports of key nominations to the administration of President-elect Barack Obama helped stem heavy selling that had slammed the market to 11 year lows.

In particular, the nomination of Tim Geithner, currently the head of the New York Federal Reserve, as the next treasury secretary, seemed to find immediate approval from Wall Street, judging by a market rally that saw the Dow industrials jump nearly 500 points Friday.

"That's good news," said Robert Pavlik, market strategist at Oaktree Asset Management. "Now we have a team that can come together and start coming up with a plan. The foundation has been laid to start addressing the situation."