The earnings season beginning today (Tuesday) is shaping up to be an important one, as it could have a significant impact on a struggling stock market rally.
The major indices may be in negative territory today, but it is a good day for Wall Street. If the nation’s largest companies are buying, consumers cannot be too far behind.
Monsanto Corp. (NYSE: MON), the world’s largest seed maker, says it’s on track to more than double its 2007 profit by the year 2012 and is expecting a “technology explosion” to provide even stronger products going forward. But while Monsanto continues to build on its reputation as a cutting edge agricultural business, it is also under siege by competitors and advocacy groups who claim the company is a monopoly.
Employers cut 539,000 jobs in April, the lowest total in six months, but the Labor Department said the unemployment rate still soared to 8.9%, from 8.5% in March. While some analysts viewed the latest report as a sign of a nascent economic recovery, the unemployment numbers are almost certain to head higher before the recession is declared over.
Bellwethers Report Disappointing Earnings; Morgan Stanley on the Hunt for Regional Banks; NYT Reports Loss; Pentagon Computers Hacked; FDIC Ready to Replace Pandit; TARP Faces Fraud; Financial Institutions Lost $4.1 trillion; India Cuts Rates
If you save for retirement through a 401(k) plan, or have large IRA or Keogh Plan assets, you probably hurled your last statement in the bin. If you’d been making contributions consistently over the last decade, your last annual or monthly statement probably showed that the current value of your plan was well below the amount you had actually invested.
At this point, the temptation to work as long as possible, and then blow what remains of your savings on a round-the-world cruise and a suicide pill is considerable.
However, such despair is unwarranted.
Unless you have already given up all paid employment, or absolutely have to retire in the next year or two, the current bear market may have made your eventual…
There is a full economic calendar this week, but all eyes will be on the two-day FOMC meeting and the rate decision on Wednesday.
It will be interesting to see how the FOMC approaches this meeting. The current Fed Funds target rate is 0-0.25%, which in and of itself is rather strange. It is a moving target, not a fixed rate. Who determines which rate is used? My guess is this meeting will be used to clarify what the rate is. The Fed will either officially reduce it to 0% in a continued effort to resuscitate the economy, or lock it in at 0.25%. This would at least leave the Fed with one perceived bullet in the gun.
The rest of the…
Tribune Files for Bankruptcy; Dow Cuts 5,000 Jobs; Pay Cut for Morgan Stanley Execs; Sen. Reid Scolds Thain’s Bonus Request; AB InBev to Cut 1,400 U.S. Jobs; China Offers Petrobas $10 Billion Loan; McDonald’s November Sales Soar
AT&T Disconnecting 12,000 Jobs; Credit Suisse Announces 5,300; Capital One Puts Chevy Chase in Its Wallet; Argentina Announces $3.9 Billion Stimulus, Jobless Benefits at 26-year High; Dupont Cuts 2,500 Employees; Williams-Sonoma Beats Estimates; Oil Falls 5%
Home Prices Still Dropping; Chrysler Chases GM; Oil Slides Back; Lennar Loss Beats Estimates; Kullman to Helm DuPont; ImClone Plays Hard to Get; France and Britain Nuclear Match?