Page Perry's Market Monitor - December 12 , 2008
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:
• On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 299 points.
• On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 243 points.
• On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 70 points.
• On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 196 points.
• On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 65 points and closed the week at 8629.68.
• The price of gas hit a five-year low last week at $1.70 per gallon.
• The Tribune Co. filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday. Tribune owns eight daily newspapers including the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. The company also owns the Chicago Cubs and over 20 television stations in major markets.
• Dow Chemical is closing 20 plants and laying off 5,000 employees.
• Wyndham Worldwide is eliminating 4,000 jobs. This is approximately 13% of its work force.
• Anheuser-Busch is cutting 1,400 jobs.
• Office Depot announced that it is closing 112 stores. The firm is also eliminating 2,200 jobs.
• Bank of America now plans to cut up to 35,000 jobs over the next three years.
• Stanley Works, a tool maker, plans to close three plans and cut 2,000 jobs.
• U.S. Steel announced plans to idle three plants.
• At least 100,000 jobs have been lost in the first twelve days of December.
• The number of people delinquent on credit card debt jumped 7.7% in the third quarter of 2008 compared to the same quarter in 2007. Moreover, the number of persons more than 60 days delinquent on their credit card debt has increased 24% since August.
• Many companies, including Page Perry, LLC, have cancelled holiday parties and opted to make contributions to charities instead.
• The Federal Government is making up to $40 billion available to support credit unions that have suffered financial reversals.
• Delta Airlines announced plans to reduce its capacity by 6 to 8% in 2009.
• Hotel rooms nationwide are becoming cheaper and more plentiful.
• Wells Fargo is expected to take a $40 billion charge as a result of its acquisition of Wachovia.
• Costco announced flat first quarter earnings and weakening sales.
• Citadel Investment Group froze redemptions in its two largest hedge funds until at least March 31, 2009.
• Certain analysts predict that Goldman Sachs could post a loss of as much as $2.7 billion in the fourth quarter.
• KB Toys filed for bankruptcy protection.
• The average net worth of U.S. households fell 4.7% in the third quarter.
• The Fed has refused a request by Bloomberg News to identify the recipients of more than $2 trillion of emergency loans being funded by U.S. taxpayers. Why is the Fed afraid of transparency?
• The Treasury Department sold $30 billion of four week T-bills at 0% interest.
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.
