Financial Headline News for Thursday 6/30

The day I have been waiting for has finally come-Adios QE2! A good article below sums up the effects of this ill-begotten program. This bogus stock rally will fizzle now that government intervention has ended. Anyone investing in the market starting tomorrow is investing in fools gold-count me out as many regular investors will sit on the sidelines with me.

The first time unemployment filers fell only 1,000 when it was projected to fall 9,000. It shows the job situation continues to sputter.

The financial headlines for today are:

1) Stocks rise as Greece clears final bailout hurdle-From the AP

 Four days, 480 points.

That's how the Dow Jones industrial average closed the final four days of June. The Dow added more than 150 points on Thursday alone after Greece cleared the final hurdle needed to receive its next installment of emergency loans. A pickup in manufacturing around Chicago also pushed indexes higher.

The weeklong rally began Monday when Nike Inc. reported quarterly results that showed that consumers were spending more than expected. The stock market's gains put it on track for the best week since July of last year.

It was a stunning reversal from the beginning of the month, when the Dow dropped nearly 280 points in one day. The first day of June, reports showed that auto sales fell sharply in May and that private companies were hiring far fewer people than expected. The late surge was not enough to turn the broader stock market positive for the month, but it brought the Dow up 0.8 percent for the quarter. The Standard and Poor's 500 index and Nasdaq composite each lost about 0.3 percent for the month.

Thursday's gains came after Greek lawmakers passed a cost-cutting bill that had to be approved before international lenders would release $17 billion in rescue funds to Greece. The country needs the money to avoid defaulting on its debt. A default by Greece could disrupt financial markets and lead to a widespread European financial crisis.

Traders were also reassured by encouraging signals about the U.S. economy. A trade group reported that manufacturing in Chicago sped up unexpectedly in June. Analysts had forecast a decline. Earlier in the week, Nike Inc. reported earnings that were better than analysts had predicted. That led many investors to believe that high gas prices haven't stopped consumers from spending on non-necessities.

The Dow rose 152.92 points, or 1.3 percent, to 12,414.34. The S&P 500 added 13.23, or 1 percent, to 1,320.64. The Nasdaq composite gained 33.03, or 1.2 percent, to 2,773.52.

2) Jobless Claims Still at High Level-From The Wall Street Journal 

Fewer Americans started the process of collecting unemployment checks last week, but the drop was too small to suggest a change in the persistently weak job market.

Initial jobless claims fell by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 428,000 in the week ended June 25, the Labor
Department said Thursday. The prior week's figure was unrevised at 429,000.

The data was worse than expected. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast claims would fall by 8,000.

The four-week moving average of new claims, considered a more reliable indicator because it smooths out volatile weekly data, rose by 500 to 426,750.

Economists generally think the economy is adding more jobs than it is shedding once the weekly claims figure falls below 400,000. Claims have been above that level since the week that ended April 9.

A Labor Department official said there was nothing unusual in the latest claims data.

The Federal Reserve last week downgraded its assessment of the U.S. economy, predicting it will grow by less than 3.0% this year while the unemployment rate is likely to fall only slightly from May's 9.1% level by the end of 2011. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke pointed to stubbornly high jobless claims as an indication of the labor market's weakness.

The Labor Department said that the number of continuing unemployment benefit claims -- those drawn by workers for more than a week -- fell by 12,000 to 3,702,000 in the week ended June 18. Continuing claims are reported with a one-week lag.

The unemployment rate for workers with unemployment insurance edged down to 2.9% in the week ending June 18, compared to the previous week's revised rate of 3.0%.

The state-by-state breakdown, which is also reported with a lag, showed the biggest rise in claims the week ended June 18 was in California, where they rose by 4,393, due to more layoffs in the service industry. The largest drop in claims that week was in Ohio -- 2,769.

3) As QE2 Sets Sail, Bond Rally Sinks-From The Wall Street Journal 

Just as the Federal Reserve is about to step away from the market, the months-long Treasurys rally is showing signs of pulling back.

For the third consecutive session, Treasury investors on Wednesday balked at buying new bonds at a large government-debt auction, sending prices lower and yields higher.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year note reached 3.11%, its highest since May 25. Yields on the 10-year note have risen every day this week, adding about 0.24 percentage point since Friday and sparking speculation that the bull run in the bond market may have passed its peak.

The Treasurys on sale on Wednesday were $29 billion of seven-year notes. That followed sales of two- and five-year notes, all of them showing low levels of demand in the private sector and among foreign buyers.

The poorly received auctions raised eyebrows ahead of Thursday's official finish of the Federal Reserve's second bond-buying initiative, a $600 billion "quantitative easing" program widely known as QE2.

And some see signs that the 20 primary dealers, who trade directly with the Federal Reserve and are obligated to bid on Treasury bond auctions, are getting gun shy about bidding aggressively in auctions, knowing the Fed won't be there as a guaranteed buyer to take unwanted Treasurys off their hands.

"It's really the dealer community who, to some degree, is stuck absorbing that extra supply in Treasurys," said Fidelio Tata, head of U.S. interest-rate strategy at Société Générale in New York. "And they're not happy about it."

And there will be plenty of extra supply to swallow.

Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:

Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong. — Theodore Roosevelt

Financial Headline News for Wednesday 6/29

One day to go until QE2 goes the way of the Edsel. One more day until companies and foreign governments stop buying up stock due to the devalued dollar as the everyday investor sits it out. This article says it all about the bogus 2011 stock market rally:

http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/113037/market-boom-real-story-marketwatch?mod=bb-budgeting

If Wall Street is supposedly doing so great,why are investment firms planning for layoffs?

With rioting and chaos on the streets of Greece going on, its Parliament passed an austerity bill.

The financial headlines for today are:

1) Stocks rise as Greece nears debt solution-From the AP

 Stocks closed higher for the third day in a row Wednesday after Greece cleared a hurdle toward getting more emergency loans. Financial stocks rose after Bank of America reached a settlement with investors over failed mortgage securities.

Greek lawmakers passed an austerity bill that brought the country closer to getting a financial backstop it needs to avoid defaulting on its debt. A default by Greece would shock global markets and freeze lending to other heavily indebted European countries.

The $17 billion relief package from international lenders does not eliminate the possibility that Greece will default, but it does buy Greece and other European countries more time to repair their budgets.

"The hope is that through the passage of time and slow improvement of finances, markets will become a little more forgiving," said Wasif Latif, a vice president at USAA Investment Management.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 72.73 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 12,261.42 Wednesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 10.74, or 0.8 percent, to 1,307.41. The Nasdaq composite rose 11.18, or 0.4 percent, to 2,740.49.

Financial companies in the S&P 500 rose 2.1 percent after Bank of America Corp. reached an $8.5 billion settlement with investors over claims it sold them bad loans. The investors said Bank of America violated agreements with them by selling them low-quality mortgage-backed securities that lost value when the housing market collapsed. Much of the losses stem from BofA's 2008 purchase of the troubled lender Countrywide.

Bank stocks also got a lift from news that the Federal Reserve plans to limit the fees banks can charge retailers for swiping debit cards to 21 cents. That's higher than the 12 cents the Fed first proposed.

 2) Wall Street Wielding the Ax - From The Wall Street Journal

The trading slump on Wall Street has battered profits and is about to cost some people their jobs.

Credit Suisse Group AG started laying off investment-banking employees Tuesday, and the cost-cutting push could claim 400 to 600 jobs, according to people familiar with the situation.

This month, Barclays PLC has eliminated 100 jobs in its investment bank, including some stock-trading employees. The latest cuts are on top of 600 layoffs in January, a person familiar with the situation said.

And at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the annual survival-of-the-fittest culling of 5% of the securities firm's employees won't be enough in 2011, according to someone familiar with the New York company's plans.

Deeper cutbacks will be made throughout Goldman, this person said, especially in the U.S. Goldman still plans to add more employees in Singapore, Brazil and India.

"Banks are chopping a lot of wood, both deadwood and live wood," said Michael Karp, managing partner at executive-search and consulting firm Options Group.

The cutbacks are coming largely because of sluggish revenue growth on Wall Street's trading desks.
Regulators have clamped down on trading strategies that once generated huge profits but then backfired with staggering losses during the financial crisis.

Meanwhile, bread-and-butter trading clients from hedge-fund managers to mom-and-pop investors are doing less buying and selling, depriving firms of commissions and fees.

"There's definitely apprehension," said Roger Freeman, an analyst with Barclays Capital. On a recent visit with Goldman, Mr. Freeman discussed with executives how some hedge funds with small trading gains preferred to lock in those gains from earlier this year rather than risk losing them on new trades.‬‪

3) Greek parliament passes key austerity bill- From the AP

Greece's lawmakers approved a key austerity bill Wednesday, paving the way for the country to get its next vital bailout loans that will prevent it from defaulting on its debts next month.

The unpopular euro28 billion ($40 billion) five-year package of spending cuts and tax hikes was backed by a majority of the 300-member parliament Wednesday, including Socialist deputy Alexandros Athanassiadis, who had previously vowed to vote against. A conservative deputy broke ranks with her party's line to also vote in favor, bolstering the government's majority of five seats in the 300-member parliament.
Another bill detailing measures to implement the measures goes for a vote Thursday.

The European Union and International Monetary Fund have demanded both bills pass before they approve the release of a euro12 billion loan installment from last year's rescue package.
Greece has been relying on the euro110 billion ($157 billion) bailout loans for the past year, and without the next installment it faces becoming the first eurozone country to default next month.

The vote took place as clashes between police and protesters broke out outside Parliament, with the booms of stun grenades and tear gas resonating across the square outside the building.

In the run-up to the vote, violence engulfed the square outside. Riot police fired volleys of tear gas at swarms of young men who were hurling rocks and other debris as well as setting fire to trash containers.

Police with truncheons occasionally charged the demonstrators, but pulled back just as quickly.

Police stun grenades boomed and flashed, often drawing jeers and boos from the crowds.

Most of the anti-government protesters who marched to the square stayed clear of the fighting, but they vented their anger at the political establishment with chants and insults.

Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:

Again and again, the impossible problem is solved when we see that the problem is only a tough decision waiting to be made. — Robert Schuller

Financial Headline News for Tuesday 6/28

With 2 days left until QE2 ends, investors are gobbling up stocks before the devalued dollar ends. I predict on July 1st that this mini stock rally will go the way of the current falling oil price correction.

Greece is on fire as riots broke out and workers walked off of their jobs today.

The Cola wars are heating up as Pepsi is trying a new strategy of not emphazing in marketing their higher profit margin less healthy products but rather targeting a new healthier minded consumer.

The financial headlines for today are:

1) Strong Nike earnings help lead stocks higher-From the AP

Maybe the global economy isn't in such bad shape after all.

After weeks of worries about the economy pulled stocks down, indexes have risen sharply for two days in a row.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 140 points Tuesday, thanks in part to signs that concerns of a global slowdown may be overblown.

Quarterly results from Nike Inc. bested analysts' expectations and sent its stock up 10 percent. That helped lead to a rally in stocks of clothing stores, restaurants and jewelers. Such companies tend to do well when consumers are less worried about things like high gas prices and are willing to spend on themselves.

Other industries that do well during periods of economic expansion led the stock market higher. Caterpillar Inc., one of the 30 stocks that make up the Dow, gained the most, rising 3 percent. Industrials gained 1.5 percent overall. Consumer discretionary companies gained 1.9 percent.

Both sectors are still well below their highs for the year. Industrials and consumer companies have lost 5.8 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively, since peaking on April 29.

The Dow gained 145.13 points, or 1.2 percent, to 12,188.69. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 16.57, or 1.3 percent, to 1,296.67. The Nasdaq composite index added 41.03, or 1.5 percent, to 2,729.31. All three indexes are down more than 3 percent for the month.

Signs that the housing market is improving helped lift Home Depot Inc. It's sales benefit when consumers spend money on home improvement. Home Depot gained 2.4 percent following a report that home prices rose in April in 13 of the 20 cities tracked by the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index. The index rose for the first time in eight months thanks to an annual push to buy homes in the spring.

2) Greece grinds to a halt as general strike gets underway-From the Drudge Report

Workers across Greece walked off the job on Tuesday, kicking off a crippling 48-hour strike with a mass protest in the capital, Athens, as parliament debated a new austerity plan. Police fired tear gas in clashes with protesters.

Greece ground to a halt Tuesday as angry workers launched a 48-hour general strike against an austerity drive ordered by its bankruptcy-threatened government in exchange for a European bailout.
Crowds converged early on Syntagma Square, where parliament will vote on sweeping spending cuts as planes, ships and most public transport came to a halt.

Europe's economic tsar Olli Rehn in Brussels warned that Greece faced "a critical juncture" and the austerity programme was the "only way to avoid immediate default."

But that view was not shared by protestors, determined to block passage of the package.

"We don't want your money Europe," Iamando, 36, told AFP on the square where police were already out in force at 11:00 am (0800 GMT). "Leave us alone -- please, please, please."

3) PepsiCo Wakes Up and Smells the Cola-From the Wall Street Journal 

The snack-food and beverage giant is launching the first new advertising campaign for its flagship Pepsi-Cola in three years—offering one of the most visible signs PepsiCo is throwing new weight behind its biggest brand after it sank to No. 3 in U.S. soda sales last year, trailing not only Coke but Diet Coke.

Ceding the top two spots to rival Coca-Cola Co. marked a huge embarrassment in a cola war that traces its roots to the 19th century.

With summer in full swing, many Pepsi bottlers, who rely on soda for much of their profit, are anxious for the campaign to get off the ground.

"Would I have liked to have it 30 days ago? Yes," said Keith Reimer, chief executive of Pepsi Bottling Ventures LLC, who said he is excited PepsiCo is putting more money again behind cola.


Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:

There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem. — Harold Stephens

Financial Headline News for Monday 6/27

Three days before the end of QE2 and the bulls were out on Wall Street devouring stocks before the program that devalues the dollar comes to an end on Thursday.

The Greek soap opera saga goes on and on yet another day.

A rarity-a professional sports team filing for bankrupcy. That's what happened today to one of baseball's legendary franchises, the Los Angeles Dodgers.  

Today's leading financial stories are:

1) Euro debt news lifts stocks after last week's loss-From AP

Signs that a widespread European debt crisis could be averted helped send stocks up Monday.

French banks agreed to accept slower repayment of Greece's debt, giving Greece more time to meet its other financial obligations. French banks hold $21.3 billion in Greek government debt. Greek lawmakers also began debate more budget-cutting measures. Greece's parliament needs to pass the new austerity plan this week before the country can receive a $17 billion installment from a rescue package arranged last year.

The U.S. government, meanwhile, said that spending by consumers decreased in May, after adjusting for inflation. April's figures were also revised downward, revealing the first decline since January 2010.

Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.

Gas prices nearing $4 per gallon in late April and early May curtailed spending on retail goods such as televisions and clothes. Since then, gas prices have fallen to a national average of $3.57 per gallon. Oil prices have declined steeply over the last few weeks, which should eventually translate into even lower pump prices. Analysts say lower gas prices could help boost consumer spending in other areas in the coming months.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 108.98 points, or 0.9 percent, to close at 12,043.56. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 11.65, or 0.9 percent, to 1,280.10. The Nasdaq composite index rose 35.39, or 1.3 percent, to 2,688.28.

2) Greek Debt Talks Widen-From The Wall Street Journal

Talks about how to get private investors to contribute toward a new bailout for Greece widened Monday to include a possible buyback of Greek government bonds—but people at a meeting in Rome discussing the issue said there were no guarantees the ideas wouldn't lead to a default by the heavily indebted nation.

The Rome meeting was the first gathering of Greece's official and private creditors, together with Greek government officials, since the country's debt crisis began more than 18 months ago. Greece was promised €110 billion ($156.08 billion) in aid last year from the International Monetary Fund and European Union, the first of three bailouts to euro-zone nations. But that money won't be enough to finance it until mid-2013 as originally planned.

The efforts to get a meaningful private-sector contribution to a fresh bailout, as demanded by Germany and other euro-zone governments, face a tight deadline.

Finance ministers from the rest of the 17-nation euro zone are to discuss a new Greek rescue on Sunday—assuming the Greek parliament agrees to a package of austerity measures this week. Governments are trying to reduce the amount they need to lend to Greece by seeking a framework of how to prevent investors in Greek government bonds just cashing bonds as they come due.

People familiar with the discussions said the meeting's main focus was provided by an "umbrella proposal" by French banks to reinvest 50% of Greek government bonds that mature in the next three years into new 30-year bonds. A further 20% would be set aside to provide guarantees of ultimate repayment—and holders of the bonds would expect to benefit from higher returns if Greece's economy performs well.

 3) Dodgers file for bankruptcy — and arrange for $150-million loan-From The Los Angeles Times

 The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, a move that owner Frank McCourt said would stabilize the financial future of the team. The move also could extend the battle for ownership of the Dodgers well beyond this season.

McCourt has obtained $150 million in interim financing, according to the court filing in Delaware. If the bankruptcy court approves that financing Tuesday, McCourt would meet Thursday's payroll deadline and could remain in control of the club throughout the bankruptcy proceedings, with the intention of negotiating a television rights deal within 180 days that would satisfy the court by paying off all creditors in full.

Major League Baseball is expected to challenge McCourt's move at Tuesday's hearing in Delaware, where McCourt will seek approval of about $40 million in funding to pay current and deferred salary obligations.

"The action taken today by Mr. McCourt does nothing but inflict further harm to this historic franchise," Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.

Under the MLB constitution, the act of filing for bankruptcy enables the commissioner to strip McCourt of ownership. But bankruptcy court proceedings generally override MLB rules. If McCourt secures a favorable decision, he could keep the team and attempt to secure a lucrative, long-term television contract that would allow him to pay his bills.

Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shall reap in the harvest of action. — Meister Eckhart

My Favorite Retweeted Articles of the Week 6/20-6/26

1) Dr. Doom Professor Roubini's commentary on the economy:
 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/roubini39/English

2) Good article about the places where you will get more house for your money:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-10-most-affordable-us-home-markets-2011-06-15

3) Newly created jobs reach a fork in the road:
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/112981/jobs-employment-fork-marketwatch?mod=bb-budgeting

Recommended Book Reading-Economic Crisis 2008

I came across Greetchen Morgenson of The New York Times on Fox and Friends yesterday talking about her new book which details the economic collapse and its origins going back to the 1990's with Fannie Mae. This book is entitled Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon by Greetchen Morgenson.

I definitely want to check this out of the library!

Product Description from Amazon:

The New York Times's Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist reveals how the financial meltdown emerged from the toxic interplay of Washington, Wall Street, and corrupt mortgage lenders
In Reckless Endangerment, Gretchen Morgenson, the star business columnist of The New York Times, exposes how the watchdogs who were supposed to protect the country from financial harm were actually complicit in the actions that finally blew up the American economy.

Drawing on previously untapped sources and building on original research from coauthor Joshua Rosner—who himself raised early warnings with the public and investors, and kept detailed records—Morgenson connects the dots that led to this fiasco.

Morgenson and Rosner

Character-rich and definitive in its analysis, this is the one account of the financial crisis you must read.

Financial Headline News for Friday 6/24

 All three indexes were down big all day. The stock market skid has now been negative for the seventh out of the last eight weeks. The continuing Greek saga dragged on the market.

The housing market continues to suffer as banks are rightfully tightening borrowing after their lending free for all led to the financial collapse of 2008.

Only 6 more days left for QE2-do you know how much longer your dollar will be devalued?

 Today's leading financial stories are:

1) Stocks end another week lower on Europe worries-From the AP

If weak financial results from big tech companies are a sign of what's to come, stock indexes are in for a tough summer.

Stocks fell Friday, giving the market another losing week, after poor earnings reports from two major technology companies suggested that companies invested less in new technology as the economic recovery slowed.

Fears of a spreading European debt crisis also weighed on markets. Italian bank stocks plunged and trading in some of them was halted after Moody's warned that it might downgrade their credit ratings.

"I think it spooked a lot of people," said Frederick Rizzo, who analyzes European banks for T. Rowe Price. "The markets are really emotional right now."

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 115.42 points, or 1 percent, to 11,934.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 15.05, or 1.2 percent, to 1,268.45. The Nasdaq composite fell 33.86, or 1.3 percent, to 2,652.89.

The decline erased all of this week's gains for the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P index. The broad stock market has now fallen for seven of the last eight weeks, largely because of concerns that the U.S. economy is slowing and that Europe's debt problems may lead to another financial crisis. The S&P 500 is down 7 percent since it hit a high for the year on April 29.

Technology stocks were broadly lower. Micron Technology Inc. fell 14.5 percent after the company said lower sales of computer chips hurt its earnings, which were far less than analysts had expected. Oracle Corp. fell 4 percent after its sales of computer hardware fell sharply. Cisco Systems Inc. fell 3.5 percent, and Microsoft Corp. lost 1.3 percent.

Government bond prices rose to their highest level of the year as investors favored lower-risk assets. The yield on the 10-year Treasury dipped to 2.86 percent.

2) Tighter Lending Crimps Housing - From The Wall Street Journal

The percentage of mortgage applications rejected by the nation's largest lenders increased last year, spotlighting how banks' cautious lending practices are hampering the nascent housing market recovery.
In all, the nation's 10 largest mortgage lenders denied 26.8% of loan applications in 2010, an increase from 23.5% in 2009, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal of mortgage data filed with banking regulators.

Although lenders were expected to pull back from the freewheeling conditions that helped inflate the housing bubble, some economists argue they are now too conservative, and say that with the U.S. economy still wobbly, mortgages need to be easier to obtain for qualified borrowers, not harder.

"As the noose on credit availability tightens, credit is being choked off at a time when the housing market is extremely fragile," says Laurie Goodman, senior managing director at Amherst Securities Group LP.
Christopher Thornberg, a housing economist at Beacon Economics in Los Angeles, counters that "banks are doing what they need to do" to change lending standards in the wake of a "crazy bubble. "

He adds, "You had decades where credit standards were tougher than they are even now."

3)Why Austerity Doesn't Matter: Greece Is Still Going to Default-From CNBC

This is how quickly the European debt crisis devolves: Austerity, viewed by markets as saving grace for Greece just a day ago, has quickly moved into irrelevance as banks and insurers continue to find a path around default.

No doubt cutbacks are an integral part of the Greek future.

Violent street protests aside, the county’s financial standing simply won’t allow it to continue along the path of bloated government, massive public giveaways and the debt-on-top-of-debt strategy it has employed for too long.

But without some type of structural default on its current obligations, all the austerity in the world won’t make Greece’s problems go away.

“Greece and a number of other European countries cannot repay their debt. In fact they will never be able to repay their debt under current conditions because their economies are not competitive globally,” banking analyst Dick Bove at Rochdale Securities wrote in an analysis. “Therefore, these countries must, and in my judgment will, repudiate their debt.”

Indeed, looking at Greece’s onerous debt maturity schedule, it is almost impossible to imagine another alternative.

Starting with a 2.4 billion-euro repayment on July 15, Greece then has to pay, in euros: 900 million on July 19, 1.5 billion on July 20 and 1.6 billion on July 22. August doesn’t get much better, when the nation has a 1.6 billion-euro payment due on Aug. 19 and 9 billion euros due to the next day.

Inspirational Quotes from Twitter @Inspire_Us

It is not what happens to you but how you respond to what happens to you.

Financial Headline News for Thursday 6/23

It was a wild and willy day on Wall Street. All 3 sectors started way down, the Dow being as low as negative 200 in the early morning after more bad job numbers came out for first time filers of unemployment.

As the day advanced, things started picking up as President Obama announced the US and other nations will release 60 million barrels of oil from emergency reserves.

The roller coaster continued as the Dow rallied in the late afternoon on positive news on Greek austerity.

The top financial news for today were:

1)Stocks dip as job market worries continue-From the AP

What began with a steep drop in the stock market ended with a modest decline Thursday. The Dow Jones industrial average lost just 60 points after being down nearly 240 points earlier in the day.

A jump in the number of people applying for jobless benefits and plummeting oil prices drove stocks lower at the market open. By 11 a.m., the Dow was down 234 points. Then came late afternoon reports that Greece may have reached a deal for a new austerity plan. The Dow made up nearly 100 points between 2:45 and 3 p.m. alone.

The Dow finished with a loss of 59.67 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,050. The Standard & Poor's 500 index, down as many as 24 points, closed down just 3.64, or 0.3 percent, to 1,283.50.

Since late April, reports on manufacturing, retail sales, home sales and other economic indicators have come in weaker than economists anticipated. Europe's debt problems and a slowing growth rate in China have also raised concerns about the global economy. On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said problems plaguing the economy may last longer than previously thought.

As a result, the stock market has fallen six of the last seven weeks. The S&P 500 is down 5.9 percent from its high for the year of 1363.61 in April.

"This is no longer looking like a small soft patch. It's beginning to look more like quicksand," said Lawrence Creatura, a stock portfolio manager at Federated Investors.

The continued rise in first-time claims for unemployment benefits indicated little improvement in the job market since May, when there was a drop in the number of new jobs created. New applications for unemployment benefits rose to 429,000 last week, from 420,000 the week before.
"400,000 is the magic number and we've been above it for 11 weeks," Creatura said.

2)Oil sinks after IEA moves to release reserves-From Marketwatch

Crude futures slumped Thursday after the U.S. and other members of the International Energy Agency said they will release 60 million barrels of oil into world markets in the coming month to counter lost production in Libya.

The United States will release half of the 60 million barrels of oil. The product will come from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which stands at capacity and at its highest level ever holding 727 million barrels.
This is the third time in the IEA’s history that its members have decided to release stocks, the latest time being the aftermath of hurricanes Rita and Katrina in 2005.

3)EU Stops Greek Backtracking-From The Wall Street Journal 

 European Union leaders fended off an effort by Greece to water down an austerity and privatization package that is the price for new aid, and EU President Herman Van Rompuy said they were nearing approval on a new rescue program to take Athens until the end of 2014.

"Very important decisions have been taken," Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said in a statement at the end of the first day of a two-day summit. "We have secured the support of our [EU] partners and this is not just a green light, it's a positive sign for the future of Greece."

EU leaders were confronted earlier in the week with an effort by Greek officials to soften the austerity plan, which would have left a €5.5 billion ($7.9 billion) shortfall.

But on Thursday, a negotiating team in Athens, comprising officials from the EU and the International Monetary Fund, secured an agreement covering the gap, according to a Greek official.

"We have a deal after the Greek government agreed to more spending cuts and some higher taxes," said the official.

The official said the deal was reached after Greece agreed to lower the minimum taxable income for Greek taxpayers to €8,000 ($11,500) from €12,000, and agreed to a special crisis levy on all taxpayers, ranging between 1% and 5%, depending on income. The government had previously expected to cap that levy at 3% or 4%.

News of an agreement helped the euro rally. In a joint statement, officials from the European Commission, the IMF and the European Central Bank—the so-called troika—said they had reached with the Greek authorities "a satisfactory agreement on a set of measures to close the fiscal gap for the years 2011-2014."

Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. You don't fail overnight. Instead, failure is a few errors in judgment, repeated every day. — Jim Rohn

Financial Headline News for Wednesday 6/22

Stocks were down all day today as the countdown to the end of QE2 continues. Only 8 more days until the Fed and  Ben Bernanke stop printing money and devaluing the dollar.

Bernanke also spoke today and said economic and job growth will be slow in 2011.

The Greek crisis goes on and on...

Here are the top financial stories of the day:

1) Wall Street falls after 4 up days on Fed's comments-From Reuters

Stocks dropped on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve acknowledged the sluggish pace of the U.S. economic recovery without hinting at further plans for stimulus.

The Fed said the recovery was proceeding more slowly than it had expected. In his news conference, Fed

Chairman Ben Bernanke offered nothing to motivate investors to buy equities.

Without new information from the Fed, investors were left to take profits after a four-day rally that lifted stocks from three-month lows. Some analysts see range-bound trading ahead, with 1,295 among the S&P 500's first targets of resistance.

"The comments offered a pretty strong indication that the economy is not growing as fast as a lot of people hoped it would," said Bryant Evans, investment advisor and portfolio manager of Cozad Asset Management, in Champaign, Illinois.

"For three months, we could go sideways or down because it could take some time before the economy can build on what we have here."

Expectations about a second round of Fed stimulus last fall helped ignite an extended rally in stocks. There is some hope the Fed will conduct another round of asset buying, but most economists see it as unlikely at this time.

The Dow Jones industrial average (DJI:^DJI - News) slid 80.34 points, or 0.66 percent, to 12,109.67 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^SPX - News) dropped 8.38 points, or 0.65 percent, to 1,287.14. The Nasdaq Composite Index (Nasdaq:^IXIC - News) tumbled 18.07 points, or 0.67 percent, to 2,669.19.

The S&P 500 is down 5.6 percent since its early May highs.

2)Fed dims outlook for jobs and growth for 2011-From the AP

Federal Reserve officials are more pessimistic about prospects for economic growth and employment than they were two months ago.

In an updated forecast, the Fed estimated Wednesday that the economy will grow between 2.7 percent and 2.9 percent this year. That's down from its April estimate of between 3.1 percent and 3.3 percent. The downgraded revision is an acknowledgement that the economy has slowed, in part because consumers have been squeezed by higher gasoline prices.

Growth at the rate the Fed is projecting won't be enough to significantly lower unemployment, now at 9.1 percent. The Fed estimates that unemployment will still be around 8.6 percent to 8.9 percent by the end of the year.

The Fed's downward revisions were in line with private economists, who have also been scaling back their forecasts to reflect a batch of weaker-than-expected reports in recent weeks. The latest poll of top economists surveyed by The Associated Press showed they expect the unemployment rate will be 8.7 percent at year's end, within the Fed's new estimate, and that the economy will grow 2.6 percent this year.

Growth would need to pick up in the second half of this year to meet even the reduced estimates of the private economists and the Federal Reserve. The economy grew at an anemic 1.8 percent annual rate in the first three months of the year. Many economists believe the economy is expanding only slightly more in the current quarter.

The Fed trimmed the top range for overall inflation in the new forecast. That reflects the fact that the spike in energy prices earlier this year has begun to recede.

The central bank now sees inflation rising 2.3 percent to 2.5 percent this year, as measured by a price gauge tied to consumer spending. That compares with an April forecast that showed a higher upper range of 2.8 percent.

The Fed estimates that "core" inflation, which excludes energy and food, will increase 1.5 percent to 1.8 percent. That's slightly higher than its April forecast of an increase of 1.3 percent to 1.6 percent. The revised estimate is still within the Fed's comfort zone for inflation.

Economists closely watch core inflation, because food and energy prices are volatile.

3) Euro-Zone Governments Start Greece Talks With Banks-From The Wall Street Journal 

European governments have begun sounding out their banks on ways to share the burden of the latest bailout package for Greece.

In both Germany and France, finance-ministry officials met representatives of their respective countries' leading banks and insurers on Wednesday to discuss how a possible rollover of Greece's debts could work, people familiar with the matter said.

German officials held private, informal talks with bankers in Frankfurt to discuss a voluntary participation in the planned Greek aid package, these people said. Meanwhile French officials held talks in Paris with their countries' leading financial institutions. Similar consultations have started with financial institutions in the Netherlands, according to a person familiar with the matter.

No decisions on the method for involving banks in the Greek bailout are expected before a planned July 3 meeting of euro-zone finance ministers, when governments are hoping to come to an agreement on the best way to proceed.

Latest figures from the Bank for International Settlements show that France's banking sector has the largest overall exposure to Greece, totaling $56.7 billion, compared with German banks' considerably lower exposure of $33.97 billion. But in terms of sovereign debt exposure, French banks have $14 billion, significantly lower than the $22.65 billion held by German banks.

Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:

Are you bored with life? Then throw yourself into some work you believe in with all your heart, live for it, die for it, and you will find happiness that you had thought could never be yours. — Dale Carnegie

Financial Headline News for Tuesday 6/21

All three financial sectors were up big all day. With 9 more days until QE2 expires, it looks like investors are buying up stocks as the devalued dollar is coming to an end once the program ends on 6/30.

Americans are still rightfully negative on new jobs and house buying.

The financial headlines for today are:

1) U.S. Stocks Rise on Hopes for Greece - From The Wall Street Journal

U.S. stocks rose sharply Tuesday as investors bet Greece will take the appropriate actions toward averting a sovereign-debt default.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average recently was up 132 points, or 1.1%, at 12212. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index gained 18 points, or 1.4%, to 1296. Economically sensitive sectors such as materials, tech and energy shares led the gains. Consumer staples was the only sector trading in negative territory.

The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 56 points, or 2.1%, to 2685.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou faces a crucial vote of confidence in parliament late Tuesday. Investors are closely watching how the Greek government attempts to drum up support for its economic reforms aimed at tackling the country's financial problems.

The confidence vote, which is expected at 5 p.m. ET, comes just days after a mass protest over new government cutbacks shook Greece's political establishment.

2) Americans Perceive Quality Jobs as Harder to Get in June-From Gallup

Americans' assessments of the job market have soured in June after showing modest improvement in the spring, with 86% saying now is a "bad time" to find a quality job. This ties February's reading for the worst of 2011. Eleven percent say now is a "good time" to find a quality job.

Americans gave their most upbeat 2011 measure of job market conditions in April, when 81% rated it a bad time and 17% a good time to find a quality job.

Gallup has asked Americans this question monthly since 2001. On several occasions in 2009 and 2010, as many as 90% of Americans rated it a bad time to find a quality job. The percentage saying it is a good time peaked in January 2007 at 48% -- prior to the recent recession.

3)Home sales fall to 2011 low; few 1st-time buyers-From The AP

Fewer people bought previously occupied homes in May, lowering sales to their weakest point of the year.

Home sales sank 3.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million homes, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. That's far below the roughly 6 million annual sales rate typical in healthy housing markets.

Since the housing boom went bust in 2006, sales have fallen in four of the past five years. Analysts say they expect sales to level off at about 5 million a year. That's not much better than the 4.91 million homes sold last year, the worst showing in 13 years.

The depressed housing market has weighed on the broader economy. Declining home prices have kept people from selling their houses and moving to find jobs in growing areas. They have also made people feel less wealthy. That has reduced consumer spending, which drives about 70 percent of economic activity.

One sign of the housing industry's struggles is that fewer first-time buyers are entering the market. The number of first-timers ticked down to 35 percent of sales last month. In healthy times, they drive about half of sales.


 Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through. — Rosalynn Smith Carter

Financial Headline News for Monday 6/20

Everything was up today across the board including oil and gold. For the 3rd consecutive day, the Dow advanced by gaining 76.02. Investors came back to the NASDAQ today as it was up 13.18. The S&P gained 6.86.

Stocks rallied today mostly because of the Supreme Court decision in favor of Walmart. Larry Kudlow just tweeted on this as being a "great victory for all biz and huge defeat for frivolous class action lawsuits. Bullish.Drove up stocks."

Only 10 more days before QE2 ends-let's see what inpact that will have on stocks and oil in July after it expires on 6/30. In my opinion stocks and oil will lower and the dollar will strengthen.

The financial headlines for today are:

1) Stocks post third straight day of gains-From the AP and Marketwatch

 U.S. stocks rose Monday, led by Dow components Caterpillar Inc. and Microsoft Corp., as European markets finished lower on concerns over Greece.

The downturn brought the S&P 500 close to its average level over the prior 200 days. So long as the index doesn't sink far below that level, many technical traders see it as a sign to start buying stocks again. The S&P is now 6 percent below the 2011 high it reached on April 29.

"In the short term, stocks have been oversold, and you're going to get some sort of bounce, whether justified or not, just for technical reasons," said Paul Simon, chief investment officer for Tactical Allocation Group, which has $1.5 billion in assets under advisement.

2)Wal-Mart wins Supreme Court sex-bias ruling-from Reuters

The Supreme Court threw out on Monday a massive class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the biggest ever such case, in a major victory for the world's largest retailer and for big business in general.

The justices unanimously ruled that more than 1 million female employees nationwide could not proceed together in the lawsuit seeking billions of dollars and accusing Wal-Mart of paying women less and giving them fewer promotions.

The Supreme Court agreed with Wal-Mart, the largest private U.S. employer, that the class-action certification violated federal rules for such lawsuits.

It accepted Wal-Mart's argument that the female employees in different jobs at 3,400 different stores nationwide and with different supervisors do not have enough in common to be lumped together in a single class-action lawsuit.

The ruling was cheered by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce business group as the most important class action case in more than a decade but denounced by women's groups.

3)EU strives to contain Greek debt storm-From the AP

Europe tried to set up a firewall on Monday between the financial turmoil ravaging Greece and the destinies of Ireland and Portugal, the two other bailed-out eurozone countries, and increased pressure on Athens to pass new austerity measures in exchange for saving it from default.

Eurozone governments agreed to reinforce their bailout funds to boost confidence in their ability to stop the crisis from taking down other countries and to help Ireland and Portugal emerge from their debt holes.
Greece's financial life support from Europe, meanwhile, depends on it taking new deficit-cutting measures.

After days of political chaos, the government in Athens has to survive a confidence vote and then get its austerity plan through parliament. To make sure that happens, eurozone ministers have delayed crucial new loans until after the parliamentary vote.


Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
Most people have no idea of the giant capacity we can immediately command when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives. — Tony Robbins

My Favorite Retweeted Articles of the Week 6/13-6/19

1) Dave Ramsey led with this article at the beginning of his radio show on Friday June 17th:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/As-bank-fees-escalate-prepaid-apf-4024304087.html?x=0

2) Prepaid Debit Cards now being used instead of Bank Debit Cards:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/As-bank-fees-escalate-prepaid-apf-4024304087.html?x=0

3) As the Housing Crisis continues, Renters are now in the cross hairs:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43315486/ns/business-personal_finance/t/renters-are-next-victims-housing-market/

Recommended Book Reading-John Wooden

I saw Pat Williams, the Orlando Magic Basketball executive, yesterday on Fox and Friends talking about a book that he wrote which is so timely with Father's Day being tomorrow.

It is called Coach Wooden: The 7 Principles That Shaped His Life and Will Change Yours.

Coach Wooden's Seven Principles were given to him by his father and stand the test of time:
1) Be true to yourself
2) Help others
3) Make friendship a fine art
4) Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible
5) Make each day your masterpiece
6) Build a shelter against a rainy day by the life you live
7) Give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day

Out of 36 reviews on Amazon, each one received a 5 star out of 5 star rating. Just for that I am going to either buy this or get it from my library.

Hope you get better Pat Williams and thank you for sharing these valuable Principles from Coach Wooden with us.

 

Financial Headline News for Friday 6/17

The Dow rose 42.84, shaking off a six-week losing streak which was the longest since 2002. The S&P also gained 3.86 but the Nasdaq fell 7.22 as investors are clinging to safe blue chip stocks due to the Greece debt crisis.

Things continue to look gloomy on the jobs front as the Unemployment rate fell in fewer than half the states.

The IMF cut its forecast for US Growth today.

Today's leading financial stories are:

1) Unemployment falls in fewer than half US states-From the AP

Unemployment rates fell in fewer than half of U.S. states, a sign that job growth has slowed in many parts of the country.

The unemployment rates dropped in 24 states, the Labor Department said Friday. Rates rose in 13 states and Washington, D.C, and were flat in 13. That's a significant decline from April, when 39 states reported falling unemployment rates.

The changing trend in state unemployment rates reflect a weaker economy that has been hampered by high gas prices and lower factory output. Nationally, employers added a net gain of only 54,000 jobs in May, compared to an average of 220,000 per month in the previous three months. The U.S. unemployment rate ticked up to 9.1 percent.

Only 22 states reported a net gain in jobs in May, while 27 states lost jobs. That's much worse than April, when 42 states gained jobs.

California, New York and Pennsylvania reported large job losses, partly reversing gains earlier this year.

California said employers cut 29,200 jobs last month, with big losses in professional and business services, which includes accounting, engineering, and temporary services. The construction sector also lost jobs.

New York said employers cut 24,700 jobs and Pennsylvania reported a drop of 14,200 jobs.

Florida, meanwhile, reported the biggest job gains. Employers in the Sunshine State added a net total of 28,000 positions. The state's unemployment rate dropped for the fifth straight month to 10.6 percent. The gains were mostly in education and health services and in leisure and hospitality, which includes amusement parks, hotels and restaurants.

2) Dow Industrials Snap Six-Week Losing Streak-From The Wall Street Journal 
The Dow industrials snapped a six-week losing streak, with investors pushing up shares as hopes intensified for a resolution to the Greek debt crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 42.84 points, or 0.4%, to 12004.36. That left the blue-chip index up 0.4% for the week, though it remains down 6.3% since notching a three-year closing high on April 29.

The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index rose 3.86, or 0.3%, to 1271.50, with the financial, telecommunications and consumer-discretionary sectors leading the advancers. Energy stocks were laggards as crude-oil prices fell $1.94, or 2%, to $93.01 a barrel, a four-month low.

The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 7.22 points, or 0.28%, to 2616.48. That left the index down for nine of the last 11 sessions and extended its weekly losing streak to five, the longest since the six weeks ended July 11, 2008.

Friday's action came after France and Germany displayed unity in working toward a solution on a new aid package for debt-laden Greece. The Dow industrials rose as much as 111 points in early trading but pared that advance throughout the day.

3) IMF cuts U.S. growth forecast, warns of crisis-From Reuters

The International Monetary Fund cut its forecast for U.S. economic growth on Friday and warned Washington and debt-ridden European countries that they are "playing with fire" unless they take immediate steps to reduce their budget deficits.

The IMF, in its regular assessment of global economic prospects, said bigger threats to growth had emerged since its previous report in April, citing the euro zone debt crisis and signs of overheating in emerging market economies.

The Washington-based global lender forecast that U.S. gross domestic product would grow a tepid 2.5 percent this year and 2.7 percent in 2012. In its forecast just two months ago, it had expected 2.8 percent and 2.9 percent growth, respectively.

Overall, the IMF slightly lowered its 2011 global growth forecast to 4.3 percent, down from 4.4 percent in April. Its forecast for 2012 growth remained unchanged at 4.5 percent.

The IMF said it was slightly more optimistic about the euro area's growth prospects this year, but a lack of political leadership in dealing with Europe's debt crisis and the wrangling over budget in the United States could create major financial volatility in coming months.

Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire. — Arnold H. Glasow

Financial Headline News for Thursday 6/16

It was an up and down all day on Wall Street. The Dow broke out in the last hour to post a gain of 64.25 while the S&P also edged 2.22 higher. However the Nasdaq lost 7.76. 1st time unemployment filers came in below the 420,000 projected at 414,000. In addition the pace of new home building increased last month.

The Greek crisis pushed the 10-year Treasury note down to 2.92 percent, the lowest since November, from 2.97 percent late Wednesday. Bond yields fall when prices rise.

After LinkedIn's initial IPO success, Internet Radio Station Pandora experienced a disastrous initial offering today falling 24% from its starting price.

The top financial news for today were:

 

1) Home building, jobs reports push Dow higher-From the AP

Better-than-expected reports on home building and jobs pushed two of the three major stock indexes higher Thursday. The broader market ended mixed.

The pace of new home construction quickened last month and the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits fell last week to 414,000, more of an improvement than economists expected.

Weekly applications for unemployment have been over 400,000 since April, a rate that suggests job growth is still slow.

Worries that Greece's debt troubles could spread continued to weigh on financial markets. The dollar and U.S government bonds rose as traders moved money into safer investments.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 64.25 points, or 0.5 percent, to close at 11,961.52. The Dow is now slightly higher for the week.

The S&P 500 rose 2.22, or 0.2 percent, to 1,267.64. The Nasdaq composite lost 7.76, or 0.3 percent, to 2,623.70. The two are less than 1 percent lower this week.

2) The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.92 percent-From the Wall Street Journal 

Despite this morning’s slightly rosier than expected economic data and the anvil of the debt-ceiling debate still hanging over the market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note is at its lowest level of the year this morning.

The 10-year yield was recently at 2.91%, and briefly dipped this morning below 2.9%, the lowest since last November. We’re still a fair ways from October’s lows of 2.38%, but having a 2-handle on the 10-year note is pretty astounding. It’s pricing in a far more dire economic outlook than the stock market seems to be.

The 2-year note hit a record low of just 0.3% earlier, though it has risen back to 0.36% recently.

The release of Philly Fed data could be a big moment for the Treasury market. If the data are better than expected, the 10-year could sell off a bit. If worse than expected, look out below. And lingering worries about a Lehman-like Greek blowup will probably keep people interested in safe-haven Treasurys no matter what happens.

3) Pandora's stock retreats to below IPO price-From the AP

Buyer's remorse already may be setting in for some investors in Internet radio station Pandora Media Inc.

After intense demand drove up the price for Pandora's initial public offering of stock, the shares lost nearly a quarter of their value their second day of trading.

Thursday's harsh reversal of fortune left Pandora's stock below its IPO price of $16. The shares fell $4.16, or 24 percent, to close at $13.26.

The downturn indicates the earlier euphoria about Pandora Media may have been misguided. The excitement enabled Pandora Media's IPO to sell for twice as much as an $8 target price set two weeks ago.

The misgivings are bad news for investors who paid as much as $26 on Pandora's first day of trading.

But the circumspection is encouraging for those worried about an investment bubble forming around promising Internet services that have attracted large audiences.


Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
The truth is that there is nothing noble in being superior to somebody else. The only real nobility is in being superior to your former self. — Whitney Young

Financial Headline News for Wednesday 6/15

Stocks gave everything back and then some from yesterday's gains. The Dow was down 178.84, Nasdaq sank 47.26 and the S&P was in the red 22.45 due to a violent protest against the Greek government's latest austerity package. One happy news was oil went down 3.99 on the dollar going up in strength against the sliding euro.

The Wall Street Journal reported that some companies who stopped contributions to employees 401K since the recession began in 2008 are now slowly matching up to a certain level.

Yale Professor Robert Shiller predicted all kinds of economic doom today

Here are the top financial stories of the day:

 

1)Stocks slump as Greek crisis turns violent-From AP

A violent protest against the Greek government's latest austerity package hit stocks hard Wednesday and sent the euro sliding over a percent against the dollar.

With hundreds of protesters clashing with riot police and tear gas blanketing Athens' main Syntagma Square, investors are fretful that Greece's debt crisis is spiraling out of control. Reports that the Socialist government, which is led by George Papandreou, has launched power-sharing talks with the main opposition conservatives has only added to the uncertainty.

"Eurozone ministers continue to debate the details of a multi-billion euro bailout package amid a backdrop of protests, police clashes and a general strike," said Will Hedden, a sales trader at IG Index.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.8 percent at 5,758 while Germany's DAX fell 1.1 percent to 7,126. The CAC-40 in France was 1.3 percent lower at 3,816.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.6 percent at 12,007 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell a similar rate to 1,280.

Unsurprisingly, Greek shares took an even bigger battering, closing 1.9 percent lower at 1,243.

2)Retirement Plans Make Comeback, With Limits- From The Wall Street Journal

Many U.S. companies that during the recession cut 401(k) matching contributions—one of the most valuable employee benefits—are beginning to restore them.

But a number of firms are contributing less than before, are linking contributions to profits or are making workers save more on their own before kicking in, say benefits consultants.

UPS reinstated its 401(k) match in January after having suspended it in 2009. But the delivery giant changed the way it doles out the benefit: Instead of matching what employees defer up to 3% of eligible pay, UPS will now match half of what they defer, up to 5%. Its top contribution is now 2.5% of pay, compared with 3% in 2008.

3) Shiller: Housing Could Fall Another 25% But Is Harder to Predict Than the Weather-From The Daily Ticker

The housing bubble of the early 2000s was "unprecedented" and the "biggest in U.S. history," according to Yale professor Robert Shiller.

As a result, he says "it's very hard to forecast" where housing goes from here, now that it has officially fallen into double-dip territory, based on the S&P Case-Shiller Index.

Housing "might fall [another] 10-25% in the next few years," but forecasting housing today is harder than predicting the weather, Shiller says. "I don't see how anyone can quantify a forecast because it's such an unusual event."

In his latest books, The Subprime Solution and Reforming U.S. Financial Markets, Shiller argues the path to recovery is paved with financial innovation; 11 million homeowners under water is proof "they weren't protected and need a way to hedge their housing risk."

But "the economy is sick right now [and] I don't have any miracle cure," he admits.

Best known for his earlier works, Animal Spirits and Irrational Exuberance, Shiller is arguably the world's foremost authority on financial bubbles. So if he can't predict with any certainty where housing is going, what hope is there for the rest of the punditry?

Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
Bad excuses are worse than none. — Thomas Fuller

Financial Headline News for Tuesday 6/14

HAPPY FLAG DAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY US ARMY!

The Stock Market finally soared today after weeks of correction. News on Retail sales and Manufacturing led the charge. The Dow was up 123.14, the Nasdaq hiked 39.03 and the S&P gained a solid 16.04.

CNBC reported that the US housing crisis is now worse than it was during the Great Depression.

Also Bank of America it was reported significantly hindered the foreclosure review.

Here are today's top financial stories:

1) Stocks Notch Broad Gains-From The Wall Street Journal

U.S. stocks closed sharply higher as investors cheered a reading on U.S. retail sales that wasn't as bad as expected and a strong industrial-production report from China.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 123.14 points, or 1.03%, to 12076.11. Home Depot led the blue-chip index higher, up $1.49, or 4.5%, to $34.75, while Caterpillar rose 2.42, or 2.5%, to 97.86 and Boeing gained 1.70, or 2.3%, to 74.64.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 16.04, or 1.26%, to 1287.87, led by energy and material stocks. All 10 of the S&P 500's sectors finished in positive territory.

The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite rose 39.03 points, or 1.48%, to 2678.72.

It marked the second day of advances for the Dow and the S&P 500 following a six-week losing streak.

"We were due for a little bit of a snapback," said Michael Shea, managing partner at Direct Access Partners, especially as the market had reached oversold levels on a short-term basis. Still, he was cautious: "I don't think one day makes a trend."

Investor sentiment turned more cheerful after the Commerce Department said U.S. retail sales dropped only 0.2% last month, smaller than the 0.6% decline economists had expected.

2) US Housing Crisis Is Now Worse Than Great Depression-From CNBC

It's official: The housing crisis that began in 2006 and has recently entered a double dip is now worse than the Great Depression.

Prices have fallen some 33 percent since the market began its collapse, greater than the 31 percent fall that began in the late 1920s and culminated in the early 1930s, according to Case-Shiller data.

3) BofA ‘Significantly Hindered’ Foreclosure Review, U.S. Says- From Bloomberg

Bank of America, the largest U.S. lender, “significantly hindered” a federal review of its foreclosures on loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, the U.S. said.

The bank was slow in providing data and offered incomplete information, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general’s office, which conducted the review.

“Our review was significantly hindered by Bank of America’s reluctance to allow us to interview employees or provide data and information in a timely manner,” William Nixon, an assistant regional inspector general for the agency, said in a sworn declaration.

The filing, dated June 1 and obtained yesterday by Bloomberg News, was submitted as an exhibit in a lawsuit by the state of Arizona against the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank. Arizona, which is seeking to interview former Bank of America employees, accused the bank of misleading homeowners who were seeking mortgage modifications

Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one. — Elbert Hubbard

Financial Headline News for Monday 6/13

The Dow barely snapped its long losing streak by gaining a paltry 1.06 today. The Nasdaq was down a little at 4.04 and the S&P was up a tiny .85. It was a slow day with no earnings being released from any major companies.

There was a substantial withdrawal from stock funds in May as investors went over to bonds and foreign stocks.

Rising Prices are causing stock investors angst for the past six weeks.

Here are the top financial stories for today:

1) Stocks Close Mixed; Dow Still Below 12,000- From CNBC

Stocks ended narrowly mixed in a choppy session Monday, after another downgrade of Greece's credit rating offset gains from a flurry of M&A activity and as investors continued to worry over a slowing global recovery ahead of a handful of key economic news throughout the week.

2) Investors withdraw $3B from stock funds in May-From AP
Investors last month withdrew $2.7 billion more than they deposited into stock mutual funds in May, snapping a four-month string of net deposits that began in January, Strategic Insight said on Monday.

Bond funds and funds buying foreign stocks attracted net deposits, as investors became less confident about the U.S. stock market, amid signs that the economic recovery is weakening, the New York-based fund industry consultant said.

Yet investors have put a net $39 billion into U.S. stock funds during the first five months of 2011. That marks a shift in sentiment after investors began withdrawing more than they deposited each month following the stock market meltdown in 2008, while bond funds attracted net deposits. That trend held up long after stock prices began to recover in March 2009.

But May was the first down month for the Standard & Poor's 500 since August 2010. The stock index fell 1.4 percent as investors reacted to disappointing news about the economy, as well as high gas prices, tornadoes and flooding in the South, and the debt crisis in Europe.

3) Rising Prices a Risk - From The Wall Street Journal
For the past six weeks, stock-market investors have had their eyes trained on the sputtering U.S. economy.

Now, some are also beginning to focus on the prospect of a pernicious sidekick: creeping inflation.

It might seem counterintuitive, but some investors see a growing risk that prices will keep rising, even if the economy slows. That is significant because it could dent corporate profits by crimping consumer spending while prices are rising. It also may make it less likely that the Federal Reserve would step in to further help the economy, some investors say.

The rise in inflation has been driven in part by the surge in commodity prices but also extends more broadly into imports from emerging economies like China, India, Brazil and elsewhere, which are still red hot. The prices of a variety of imported goods, including household tools and equipment, housekeeping supplies and apparel, have been rising, due to both commodity and wage inflation in these countries. While many economists expect commodity prices to ease, inflationary pressures may still remain in the system.

Quote of the Day from Dave Ramsey.com:
Disgust and resolve are two of the greatest emotions that lead to change. — Jim Rohn

Financial Headline News for Tuesday 6/7

Wall Street shed early gains after Fed Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a gloomy economic outlook to continue its losing streak. The Dow was down 19 and the S&P and NASDAQ were down slightly at around 1 each.

NBC retains the Winter and Summer Olympics until 2020 beating out ESPN/Disney and Fox.

Consumers borrowed more in April for the 7th consecutive month but thankfully credit card borrowing fell.

The top financial stories today were:

1)Bernanke's Talk Kills Stock Rally-From The Wall Street Journal
A gloomy economic assessment from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke erased an earlier stock rally, sending major indexes in the final minutes of Tuesday's session to their fifth consecutive drop.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 19.15 points, or 0.2%, to 12070.81. The blue-chip index has dropped 4% during its five-day skid, its longest losing streak since August. The Dow rose as much as 89 points Tuesday afternoon prior to Mr. Bernanke's comments, but turned negative during the remarks and finished at its lowest closing level since March 22.
The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index dropped 1.23 points, or 0.1%, to 1284.94, led lower by the technology and telecom sectors. The index, which has dropped 4.5% during its five-day losing streak, hit its lowest closing level since March 18.

2) NBC retains the Olympics-From The Wall Street Journal
NBCUniversal continued its Olympic sweep, winning the rights to televise the next four Olympic Games through 2020, according to people familiar with the matter.

The International Olympic Committee is scheduled to announce the deal later on Tuesday.

The media company offered more than $4 billion for the rights to four consecutive Olympic Games beginning in 2014, according to one of the people familiar with the matter, beating out News Corp.'s Fox, which also bid for four games, and ESPN.

3) Consumers borrowed more in April for the 7th consecutive month-From AP
Americans borrowed more money in April for the seventh straight month, but they cut back on using their credit cards.

Consumer borrowing rose by nearly $7.2 billion, fueled by greater demand for school and auto loans, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday. A category that measures credit card use fell for the second time in three months. It has risen only twice since August 2008, the height of the financial crisis.

The 3.1 percent overall increase pushed consumer borrowing to a seasonally adjusted annual level of $2.43 trillion, just above the nearly four-year low of $2.39 trillion hit in September.

The report includes auto loans, student loans and credit cards, but excludes mortgages and loans tied to real estate. The Fed will give a more complete picture of Americans' debt on Thursday when it issues its quarterly report on household net worth.

Households began borrowing less and saving more to cope with the recession, which ended in June 2009. Credit card use has plummeted nearly 19 percent over the past 20 months and it has dropped 5 percent over the past year.

Inspirational Quotes from Twitter@Inspire_Us .

You never achieve success unless you like what you are doing. -Dale Carnegie

Financial Headline News for Monday 6/6

It was another day of losses across the board in the stock market today as the Dow fell 61, the Nasdaq was off 30 and the S&P was down 14. Even oil and gold were down.

Steve Jobs took a break from his medical leave to show up at Apple this afternoon with his trademark black mock turtle neck and jeans.

State and Local Governments are laying off workers causing more job growth concerns.

1) Stocks down across the Board-From the Wall Street Journal
Stocks dropped for a fourth straight day, as concerns over an economic slowdown continued to weigh on investor sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 61.30 points, or 0.5%, to 12089.96, led lower by Bank of America, which shed 45 cents, or 4%, to $10.83, and J.P. Morgan Chase, which dropped 1.04, or 2.5%, to 40.53.

The blue-chip index has shed 479.83 points over the past four sessions, for its largest four-day point drop since May of last year.

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index lost 13.99 points, or 1.1%, to 1286.17, as financials and energy sank, with all sectors finishing in the red. It was the first time since March 23 the index dipped below 1300.

The technology-oriented Nasdaq Composite lost 30.22 points, or 1.1%, to 2702.56.
Investors focused their economic-growth worries on financial stocks amid concerns a stalled economic recovery could make it harder for banks to work troubled loans off their balance sheets. Financials have been the worst-performing sector this month, down 5.9%.

2) Steve Jobs shows up at Apple-From CNBC
CEO Steve Jobs strode back into the spotlight on Monday to unveil the iCloud, a music-streaming service that the company hopes will power its next stage of growth and popularize Web-based consumer services.

A still thin-looking Jobs walked out to a standing ovation from the more than 5,000 Apple faithful at its Worldwide Developers' Conference in downtown San Francisco's Moscone Center, making opening comments for just a few minutes before ceding the stage to marketing chief Phil Schiller.

The Silicon Valley icon emerged from medical leave to launch an Internet-based service for consumers called the iCloud, which lets users play their music and get access to their data from any Apple device — a crucial capability for users increasingly accustomed to performing tasks on the move.

3) Local and state governments, normally job creators, are weighing on the national economy-From AP

In a healthy economic recovery, states and localities start hiring, expand services and help fuel the nation's growth.

Then there's the 2011 recovery.

The U.S. economy is moving ahead, however fitfully. Yet state and local governments are still stuck in recession. Short of cash, they cut 30,000 jobs in May, the seventh straight month they've shed workers.

Rather than add to U.S. economic growth, they're subtracting from it.

And ordinary Americans are feeling it -- from reduced services to fewer teachers, police officers and firefighters.

Inspirational Quotes Twitter @Inspire_Us .

Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. -Golda Meir

Financial Headline News for Friday 6/3

More bad news on the economic front today. The Unemployment rate ticked up to 9.1% from 9.0% when it was expected to go down to 8.9%. Only 54,000 jobs were created in May far short of the 150,000 expected.

The Stock Market posted its fifth straight week of losses as the Dow was down 97 points, the S&P fell 13 and Nasdaq was down 4.

Finally, more Americans think the economy will never recover. However, I believe we are down but we are not out. The US came back after the 1920 Recession, Great Depression, and 9-11 and we will come back again once better fiscal free market policies are installed in Washington.

Here are the lead financial stories today:

1) Jobless Rate Rises as Pace of Hiring Slows-From the Wall Street Journal 
Hiring by U.S. companies slowed dramatically in May and the unemployment rate kept rising, adding to concerns the jobs market will still take years to heal as the economy's recovery remains weak.
Nonfarm payrolls rose by 54,000 last month, much less than economists anticipated, as the private sector posted the smallest job gain in nearly a year, the Labor Department said Friday in its survey of employers. Payrolls increased by 232,000 jobs in April.

2) Stocks post fifth straight week of losses-From AP
Evidence is piling up that the economic recovery has lost some of its vigor. That has deflated a stock market rally and pushed indexes down for five straight weeks, the longest losing streak since mid-2008.
So, what's next? Don't hold out hope for more help from the government, analysts say. Another round of stimulus spending isn't in the cards, the Fed has already slashed interest rates near zero and has said it will end its bond-buying program on schedule at the end of this month.
With high gas prices crimping consumer spending and companies still reluctant to hire, investors may have to settle for a stock market and an economic recovery that plod slowly along.

3) More Americans Think Economy Will Never Recover-from CNBC
The mixed signals regarding the economy's health are taking a toll.Americans are growing increasingly doubtful about direction of the US economy, according to the latest survey from business-advisory firm AlixPartners.In fact, an increasing number, some 61 percent, say they don't expect to return to their respective pre-recession lifestyles until the spring of 2014, if ever.
What's worse, a full 10 percent said they expect they will never return to pre-recession spending.

Inspirational Quotes Twitter @Inspire_Us .

Ninety-nine percent of the failures comes from people who have the habit of making excuses. -George W. Carve

Financial Headline News for Thursday 6/2

Another busy day in Financial News...the most important of which being Moody's warning that the US Credit Rating may be downgraded if the debt limit debate between the White House and Congress isn't resolved.

Ist Time Unemployment claims came in at 422,000 which was a little more than expected.

Coming on the heels of LinkedIn's incredible IPO a few weeks ago, the coupon website Groupon announced they will also file to go public.

1) 1st Time Unemployment claims up from the projected 415,000- From CNBC

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, but not enough to assuage fears the labor market recovery has taken a step back.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 422,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday, less than economists' expectations for a fall to 415,000.

2) Moody's Threatens to slash the US Credit Rating- From Yahoo Finance

A credit rating agency is warning the U.S. government that it could lose its sterling debt rating if Congress and the Obama administration don't reach an agreement to raise the nation's borrowing limit.

Moody's Investors Service said Thursday that if the parties fail to make progress soon, it would put the U.S. rating under review for a possible downgrade. That's because there's a "very small but rising risk" that the government will default on its debts.

Standard & Poor's, another major credit rating agency, issued a similar warning in April.
The U.S. government hit its $14.3 trillion borrowing limit on May 16. The debt limit is the amount the government can borrow to help finance its operations.

3) Groupon Files for IPO- From The Wall Street Journal

Coupon website Groupon Inc. filed Thursday to go public, looking to raise up to $750 million, in what would be one of this year's most high-profile initial public offerings.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303745304576361631817311972.html#ixzz1O9jIUscp

Inspirational Quotes Twitter @Inspire_Us .

All dreams come true if we have the courage to pursue them.

Financial Headline News for Wednesday 6/1

After today there are no more mixed signals, the economy has hit a brick wall like Stuart Varney said this morning on Fox News. Only 38,000 private sector jobs were created in May.

Tomorrow first time unemployment filers are released at 8:30 am EST with 419,000 being estimated. Friday the Unemployment Rate for May will be released with an estimated 8.9% expected.

Any negative deviations from these numbers should send the stock market stumbling just like today when the Dow was down  279.65 and the Nasdaq was negative 66.11.

Here are the leading financial stories for today:

1) Only 38,000 jobs were created in the private sector for May- From Bloomberg
Companies in the U.S. added fewer workers than forecast in May, a sign that job growth is struggling to gain momentum, data from a private report based on payrolls showed today.

Employment increased by 38,000 last month, the smallest increase since September, from a revised 177,000 in April, according to figures from ADP Employer Services. The median estimate in the Bloomberg News survey called for a 175,000 advance for May.

Such gains in employment are insufficient to help the world’s largest economy accelerate after a surge in food and fuel costs earlier this year. Businesses added 207,000 jobs last month after a 268,000 gain in April and the jobless rate dipped to 8.9 percent from 9 percent, economists project a Labor Department report to show in two days.

2) Stocks Plunge- From CNBC
Stocks sank more than 2 percent Wednesday, following several economic reports that confirmed a struggling recovery and after Moody's downgraded Greece's bond ratings deeper into junk status.

The Dow plunged 279.65 points, or 2.22 percent to close at 12,290.14. 

The Dow and S&P have seen the biggest drops since August 11, 2010 and are now on pace for a fifth straight week of losses. The Nasdaq saw its worst first day of the month since October 2009. All 10 key S&P 500 sectors dropped, led by financials, materials and industrials.

3) Manufacturing falls to 53.5 ISM index in May-from CNBC

The pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector tumbled in May, slackening more than expected to its slowest since September 2009, according to an industry report released Wednesday.

The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity fell to 53.5 in May from 60.4 the month before. The reading missed economists' expectations for 57.7.

A reading below 50 indicates contraction in the manufacturing sector, while a number above 50 means expansion.

Inspirational Quotes from Twitter @Inspire_Us .

One of the secrets of life is that all that is really worth the doing is what we do for others. -Levi Strauss