This morning ADP, which releases a jobs report ahead of the Labor Department’s number every month, said jobs surged 189,000 in November. Even employment in construction and finanacial activities related to housing and mortgage lending held up well, according to the report (ADP…
“We expect writedowns in fixed income inventory and a slowdown in M&A and origination activity to negatively impact results for all the brokers.” – JP Morgan Analyst Kenneth Worthington (subscription required), in a note this morning downgrading the brokers “In sum,…
With today being the first trading day of December, it is worth keeping in mind that historically December has been one of the best months for stocks. One reason December is a good month for stocks is that many money…
“Now the bets are turning to that they will cut 50 basis points, instead of 25 basis points. If we get really bad economic figures, it might not be a bad bet.” – Steve Van Order (subscription required), Fixed Income Strategist, Calvert…
Dell reported earnings after the close last night and investors appear not to have liked what they heard. While revenue was up 8.5% and net income 27%, gross margins were a bit below where analysts expected them, US Consumer PC…
“Economic forecasting is always difficult, but the current stresses in financial markets make the uncertainty surrounding the outlook even greater than usual. We at the Federal Reserve will have to remain exceptionally alert and flexible as we continue to assess…
“Now the market smells a move by the Fed in two weeks.” – Jim Swanson, Chief Investment Strategist, MFS Investment Management. Quoted in “Fed’s Hints of a Rate Cut Cheer Markets” (subscription required). Today was actually a pretty positive day…
“It’s more of a technical correction of oversold conditions. There’s no fundamental reason that today should [bring a] rally.” – Tom Higgins (subscription required), Chief Economist, Payden & Rygel In a speech this morning, Fed Governor Donald Kohn said the Fed…
Markets were down big yesterday on news that HSBC was taking $45 billion worth of mortgage backed securities from some of its SIVs onto its balance sheet and speculation that other banks, like Citigroup, might have to do the same….
Citigroup (C) just announced that they are selling a $7.5 billion stake to the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab Emirates. The stake is in the form of equity units which are “mandatorily convertible” into…