Stocks fall on energy shares, consumer worries
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Dow industrials six-day winning streak came to a halt on Thursday as a drop in oil prices pulled energy stocks lower and a guarded outlook from Wal-Mart fanned worries about consumer spending.
Stocks were also undermined by a U.S. dollar rally, as its safe-haven appeal rose after several policymakers around the world warned the economic recovery was fragile.
With earnings season coming to a close, and looking beyond the Federal Reserve’s meeting last week, investors searched for new catalysts to determine the market’s direction.
“As the S&P 500 has gone above 1,100, it has had a hard time holding on to gains,” said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Shelton, Connecticut.
Both the Dow industrials and the S&P 500 hit 13-month closing highs on Wednesday.
Oil futures settled down 3 percent below $77 per barrel as data confirmed crude and refined product inventories rose last week. T
New skills strategy ‘marginalises employers’
The Government’s new skills strategy has been accused of opening the door to quangos that will marginalise employers, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Announced in the wake of yesterday’s unemployment figures, which showed that joblessness among 18-24-year-olds had reached record levels, the Government’s Skills for Growth national skills strategy is geared towards a self-proclaimed “bold new ambition”: to see 75% of the population either go to university or achieve an advanced technical qualification before the age of 30.
Business Secretary Lord Mandelson stressed the “real world outcomes” of the policy, which is designed to see a dramatic expansion of advanced apprenticeships and ‘empowerment’ of learners, while simplifying how the skills policy is delivered. Read all post…
Dow hits 2009 high
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A broad U.S. stocks rally sent the Dow industrials to a 13-month high on Monday, after the Group of 20 pledged to keep aid flowing to the world economy, strengthening investors’ desire for risk.
The agreement by G20 finance ministers and central bankers over the weekend to keep stimulus in place boosted global stocks on the expectation of prolonged low interest rates.
The U.S. dollar briefly fell to a 15-month low, bolstering commodity prices and materials stocks. Freeport MacMoRan Copper & Gold Inc (FCX.N) shares shot up 4.6 percent to $83.20 and the S&P materials sector index (.GSPM) gained 3.2 percent.
“Central banks around the world are continuing to prop up the economy and support risk taking. T
Advanta Bankruptcy May Hurt Small Business
Another blow to small businesses came in the form of Advanta’s bankruptcy filing this week. This news coupled with CIT’s bankruptcy means that getting credit lines and loans that small businesses need will just get harder and harder.
Advanta is a small business credit card lender. They filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this past Sunday CNN reports. Its lending arm called Advanta Bank Corp. was not including in this filing.
News of the Advanta bankruptcy is not surprising. It had stopped giving out new loans earlier this year. It has also seen a very sudden rise in defaults on the loans it had already given out to small businesses. Advanta had listed out its assets as valuing $363 million while its debts are $331 million.
Just this past September, Advanta had its defaults rise up to 24%. That
Stocks eye retailers as jobless ranks swell
NEW YORK (Reuters) – As unemployment in the United States edges above 10 percent, anxious investors will look to earnings reports from major retailers for signs of life in the beaten-up consumer.
Comments from Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), the world’s largest retailer, as well as from a host of smaller stores, will be of vital importance to investors trying to judge the recovery’s pace.
“The best way of gaining an insight into the consumer is from hearing from the companies that sell to them,” said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York.
Stocks are up 50 percent since the lows in March, but the market has languished recently as investors try to determine the strength of the economic recovery.
“Fundamentals and valuation pretty much fully reflect reality so now we have to rely on liquidity, momentum and psychology to help guide the direction,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago.
Unsurprisingly, discount retailers are expected to do better. W
System to measure office fit-out sustainability
A system claimed to rate the total environmental impact of office fit-outs has been launched by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Comprising 99 measures – and claimed to assess 100% of a project’s sustainability – the ‘Ska’ rating covers good practice across a range of categories, including energy and carbon dioxide (CO2), waste, water, pollution, transport, materials, and wellbeing.
Scores for each categories are weighted for their relative significance towards achieving sustainability, and combined for a gold, silver or bronze ranking. The rank relates only to changes created by a fit-out process, as opposed to existing conditions. Read all post…
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