Wild Wednesday

Today the stocks rallied! This is the fifth largest gain this year in the markets! There are several reasons for this increase. The rally was led by the technology and financial stocks. Also, Intel posted a very optimistic outlook. After earnings were so grim, they are expecting great things this quarter. In addition, credit card issuers posted big gains as well while delinquency rates fell. Overall, it was a great day in the markets. DJIA +256.72 S&P 500 +26.84 NASDAQ +63.17

Monday's Recap

Today has been a great day for the markets and economy. I am very anxious to hear that in today's economic crisis, divorce rates are down! People are delaying divorces and being forced to stay in unpleasant situations because they are afraid of being alone in this time of crisis. I guess this is good and bad! Also, today the Dow rose 2.3%. This increase was fueled by gains posted in the banking components. Banks had some favorable returns this period. So, people are slowly starting to gain confidence in the markets again. DJIA +185.16 S&P 500 +21.92 NASDAQ +37.18

Thursday's Scoop

In the world today, it was a drab day. Some people are saying there needs to be yet another economic stimulus package. The previous one is working like they planned, just not a quickly as they thought or hoped it would. However, now economists are claiming there doesn't need to be another stimulus package. The debt taken on is already too large! On a good note, GM is expecting to emerge from bankruptcy protection tomorrow. One of the things that made today sluggish is the retail posting. Earnings are a good bit less than expected. However, things have to be picking up because everywhere I go to eat or shop, people are lined up. So, I feel like we are coming out of this recession, slowly. DJIA +4.76 S&P 500 +3.12 NASDAQ +5.38

A New Quarter Begins

I know it has been a few days since you all have heard from me. It has been very busy around here at New Perspectives! It is quarterly report time! The big news lately, of course, is the Michael Jackson Memorial. However, in the economy, we are expecting stocks to be a little sluggish during the summer just like our weather. Today, the stocks have been on a rollercoaster. The DOW was down around 75 points at one point today but made significant gains. The other major indexes only had minor gains or losses. DJIA +14.81 S&P 500 -1.47 NASDAQ +1.00

2nd Quarter Comes to a Close

Stocks ended the second quarter with a broad decline. However, the U.S. stock market's gains since March were so strong that the S&P 500 finished with its biggest gain since the 4th quarter of 1998. Fannie Mae and the dollar is to blame for today's fall. Fannie reported a big increase in mortgage delinquencies. We can also blame a rising dollar for pushing commodity prices. Even with this close, the Dow ended the second quarter up 11%--its best quarterly gain since 2003!! Just some other tidbits of information...Madoff has officially been sentenced to 150 years. Also, Starbucks release that they were fixing to start offering much healthier options. They aim to change current recipes to include more fruit and remove additives. DJIA -82.38 S&P 500 -7.91 NASDAQ -9.02