US stocks slide, capping off only its second losing week since the big rally began 10 weeks ago, after report on consumer prices showed little in inflation pressures, but GM began the painful task of cutting its dealer network in half.
DJIA loses 63 (0.8%) to 8269, down roughly 3.5% on the week; S&P 500 drops 10 (1.1%) to 883, Nasdaq Comp loses 9 (0.5%) to 1680. S&P dips as low as 878.88, which is a low for the recent pullback, but manages to hold support around the 880 level.
NY Times (NYT) already failed once trying to charge for online content. Now it looks like it’s going to try the same mistake again.
NY Observer has the details, but the Times is essentially considering two strategies: one is similar to the Financial Times in which a certain amount of content is free and everything after that limit requires a paid subscription. The second option leaves Web content free, but paid “members” are given access to merchandise, Times events and other goodies. From the Observer:
It'll never get this bad again, right?
The only conclusion we can draw is that Richard Fisher has a debilitating lack of imagination. How else to interpret the Dallas Fed president’s statement today, that the so-called worst-case scenario described in the Fed’s so-called stress tests is “unimaginable.”
Fisher must have some alternative definition of unimaginable that isn’t in our dictionary, or the Fed must have some alternative scenario it’s not sharing with us, because what’s been publicly relayed as the “more adverse” scenario, the purported worst case scenario, far from being unimaginable, actually looks quite plausible.
Perhaps Fisher should take a creative writing class, or stare at clouds, or do something to engage the right side of his brain, because the nation needs leaders who can do a little creative visualization, or at least look at the window and acknowledge reality.
Got to have a J-O-B if you wanna grow the econ-o-me.
We keep harping on the state of the job market, even as some of our bullish readers keep reminding us unemployment is a lagging indicator. Businesses are slow to start hiring new workers once a recovery is underway; they’ll wait to make sure it’s for real, so as not to get stuck with a bigger staff than they need.
We understand that, and we understand the notion that the stock market usually recovers before the economy as well, given that investors will start buying once they sense an economic upturn coming. But that doesn’t change the fact that the employment picture in this nation is getting worse daily, and the ramifications of that spread out in all directions.
Too bad they didn't sell recession insurance.
We haven’t, yet, but we might as well. Seems like everybody else is sticking their hand out these days and getting cash stuffed in it.
“Troubled” insurers, after months of lobbying and struggling amid the recession, have finally been let into the TARP club, the Wall Street Journal reports, to the tune of $22B. If your first reaction to that story was, wait a minute, isn’t the insurance business’s entire business built around managing risk?, know that you are not crazy.
We have long since passed through the looking glass.
Early tone for US stocks looks a little soft, but doesn’t necessarily indicate any clear direction when markets open. We’ve seen this set up in prior sessions this week, and final outcome probably washes out in final hour of trading.
S&P futures down 3.60; DJ futures down 18. Ten-year higher, yield at 3.12%. Crude down more than a dollar, trading around $57.50.
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