Page Perry's Market Monitor - July 17, 2009
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 8146 and, on Monday, jumped 185 points.
• On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 28 points.
• On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 257 points.
• On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average went up 96 points.
• On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose another 32 points and closed the week at 8744.
• Pennsylvania announced that it is withholding the pay of 69,000 state workers as the state struggles to approve a state budget.
• The unemployment rate in fifteen states has topped 10%. Michigan, Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina and Tennessee are the states hardest hit.
• Harley-Davidson, the motorcycle company, announced that it was laying off another 1,000 employees.
• Cisco Systems, the computer networking company, is expected to eliminate between 600 and 700 additional jobs.
• Regulators closed four more banks last week. Fifty-seven banks have now been closed since the first of the year.
• Construction of new homes rose to the highest level in seven months.
• Bank of America, Citigroup, JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs all announced better-than-expected earnings.
• The Federal Reserve projects that the national unemployment rate will reach 10.1% in the fourth quarter of 2009.
• Government officials rejected CIT Group’s request for federal assistance forcing the company to consider bankruptcy. CIT provides financing to many small to mid-sized businesses in the retail and manufacturing sectors.
• SEC Chairman Mary Shapiro indicated her support for changes that would make it easier for injured investors to sue credit-rating agencies.
• Preliminary reports suggest that efforts of restaurants to increase traffic by offering discounts are falling short of expectations.
• Foreclosure proceedings are up 15% in the first six months of 2009. Foreclosures issues affected over 1.5 million homes during that period.
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.
