The probably bankruptcy of CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) could have major implications on the retail and manufacturing sectors this week, as many related companies are reliant on the financing giant.
Documents brought to light by key by congressional investigators hightlight real disagreement between top-level U.S. Federal Reserve officials about how it should address the Bank of America Corp.(NYSE:BAC) acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. are almost certain to fuel the ongoing congressional debate over the central bank’s push to expand its authority over the U.S. financial system.
Corporate earnings will take center stage again this week as certain financials hope to follow last week’s upbeat announcement by banking giant Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) with some decent earnings reports of their own.
The economic calendar wastes no time getting off to a busy start in the first full week of 2009. The Construction Spending report for November this morning leads off the week, and carrying over from last year, it should show a continued slowdown. Until the housing market stabilizes, and the credit markets unfreeze, money simply won’t be spent on new construction. Since neither of those options looks likely to occur anytime soon, 2009 could be another long year for the construction industry.