Earnings from blue chip companies are helping drive the Dow higher today. Indeed, the surprising earnings have been helping blue chip stocks, while the Nasdaq drops and the S&P 500 struggles. Of course, it is worth noting that the Dow Jones Industrial Average only includes 30 companies. If those companies are all reporting pretty decent earnings, it is bound to help matters.
This is happening even as unemployment continues to rise. But, with earnings in focus, it is little surprise that unemployment isn’t doing much to slow down the Dow. The fact that there are fewer works to be paid is …read more

After two straight sessions closing above 10,000, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 67 points, or 0.7 percent, to close under the level that has long been a psychological milestone for investors. The first part of the week had been very positive for investors, but General Electric and Bank of America’s disappointing quarterly results were enough to keep investors at bay.
The S&P 500 index fell 9 points, or 0.8 percent, while the Nasdaq composite fell 16 points, or 0.8 percent, signaling a disappointing end to a promising week, one that saw stocks rise to year-high levels, and then some.
Analysts say …read more

Traders on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange have been unable to go about business as usual because of a power outage, one that has halted trading on the floor since around 12:30 PM EDT. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange is an options exchange owned by Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. and its traders have been unable to operate for most of the day today due to what has been described as a “technical glitch.”
Nasdaq describes the glitch as a floorwide outage and has expressed its concern over the unfortunately-timed event, one that comes right as October options are expiring. Expiration events generally cause …read more

Everyone likes a good profit story. And Intel is providing one. As the Dow and the S&P 500 head lower this morning, Intel has the Nasdaq hanging on in the black. Intel announced that its forecast for third-quarter revenue beats the Wall Street expectations. This is a sign that things are improving for the large chip maker, and it could mean that the technology sector is ready to move out of its slump.
Technology is one of those things hit hard by drops in consumer spending. When consumers are not confident about the economy, they often decide that technology projects are …read more

Wall Street didn’t have a very good Monday. In fact, stock indexes were hit harder than they’ve been hit in the last month and a half. The reason? Investors are worried about the lack of growth in consumer spending.
One of the leading culprits for lowering the confident in consumer spending was Lowe’s. The home improvement giant released a second quarter report on Monday that came in low on both profit and revenue. As a result, Lowe’s stock dropped more than 10% and soured many investors.
Most stock indexes were down between two and three percent. The Dow Jones industrial average was …read more

Many investors were waiting for the Federal Reserve to weigh in on the current economic climate of the United States. After the Federal Reserve said that the nation’s economy is leveling out, that news was good enough to cause stocks to jump on Wednesday.
While the Federal Reserve “leveling out” comment doesn’t sound like high praise, it was actually about as good as could have been expecting. Many market experts thought that it was possible that the Federal Reserve could still say the U.S. is still looking for the bottom of the current economic hardship.
The major stock indexes were up between …read more

On Friday, the stock market showed more signs of improvement. With the stock indexes all on the rise, it is apparent that investors are really starting to feel confident.
The Dow Jones industrial average was up to 9,370.1 — a jump of more than 1%. The Nasdaq index was up almost 1.5% to finish Friday over, 2,000. The Standard & Poor’s 500 was up 1.3% to finish the week at 1,010.5. The best news was seen on the Russell 2000, which rose to 572.4 — a jump of more than 2.5%.
The most common reason given for the improvement on the stock …read more

The stock market didn’t have a good day on Thursday. Almost every major index was down. Investors obviously felt uneasy and it showed in the indexes.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell about 2.6% to finish at 8,280.7. The S&P’s 500 dropped 2.9% to land at 896.4. The Russell 2000 was down almost 4% to 497.2, while the Nasdaq index was down 2.7% and finished at 1,796.5.
Why did the stock market suffer? Many experts are pointing squarely at the unemployment numbers. The United States Labor Department said that more than 465,000 jobs were lose in the month of June. With experts …read more

The rally on Wall Street seems to have hit a bit of a lull. On Monday, stocks took a big hit. In fact, the Dow Jones industrial average took its biggest hit in nearly two months.
When all was said and done, the Dow Jones fell to 8,612.1 — a drop of more than 2%. The Nasdaq composite index was down 2.3%, while the S&P’s 500 index dropped 2.4%. The Russell 2000 index, which takes a broad look on the market, was down almost 3%.
The struggles in the United States weren’t too big of a surprise, especially after Europe and Asia …read more

For the fourth straight day, the stock market finished the day in the positive. However, compared to the previous three days, Tuesday’s gains were minimal.
While strong news from the national housing industry helped some stocks, a number of financial institutions saw their stock prices drop substantially. For example, Goldman Sachs fell $1.20, American Express dropped nearly $1.30 and JP Morgan was down by more than $1.60.
Overall, the stock indexes showed that the market moved in the right direction. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.2% to finish Tuesday at 8.740.9. The S&P’s 500 was also up 0.2%, while the …read more