| Stocks Cede Early Gains
Stocks in the U.S. started the session higher Friday, but the major averages slipped into the red and closed with losses as investors lightened up on some of their recent buys ahead of next week's earnings and Federal Reserve meeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 171.44 points, or 1.38%, to 12,207.17, and the S&P 500 was off 21.46 points, or 1.59%, at 1330.61. The Nasdaq Composite was off 34.72 points, or 1.47%, to 2326.20. Despite the decline, blue chip indices ended the holiday-shortened week ahead. The Dow tacked on 0.9% for the week, and the S&P 500 added 0.4%. The Nasdaq lagged, losing 0.6% for the week after a near 20% drop in shares of Apple AAPL. "The big question is if this is a short-term correction in a bear market or are we still in a volatile bull market," said Art Hogan, chief market analyst with Jefferies.
The BIG Immigration Debate
Regarding the migration to the north from the south, its only natural that if you teach me that all that is good is in the north, why will i not like to experience it first hand. It becomes a problem in the north based on 2 main issues 1. When the immigrant becomes successful ( economically or literally= jealousy e.g. Al Fayed ) 2. Unsuccessful ( economically or literally= crime, destitute, social welfare benefits e.g. a Jamaican rude-boy) In other words, immigrants are just not wanted in the north. What then is the essence of Globalization? .
Barnes County wind project would be ND's largest
Days after North Dakota's biggest wind farm began operating, a developer has filed plans to build a larger one in eastern North Dakota. The company hopes to finish the project by year's end.North Dakota's Public Service Commission was notified this week of FPL Energy's intention to build a 200-megawatt Barnes County wind farm, which would include 133 turbines. It will cost $350 million to build, company project director Scott Scovill said in a letter to the agency.FPL Energy developed a project in northeastern North Dakota, with Minnkota Power Cooperative of Grand Forks and Otter Tail Power Co. of Fergus Falls, Minn. It has 106 turbines capable of generating 159 megawatts of power. The turbines are about 10 miles south of Langdon in Cavalier County.The Langdon wind farm became operational last Saturday, and FPL Energy plans to add 27 turbines, capable of generating 40 megawatts, to the project.FPL Energy, which is based in Juno Beach, Fla., also operates wind farms near Kulm and Edgeley in southeastern North Dakota, and in Wilton, in the west-central part of the state.The Public Service Commission will be in charge of approving the site for the Barnes County wind project east of Lake Ashtabula.
Govt: RP budget deficit lowest in a decade
Revenue in 2007 totaled 1.135 trillion pesos, up 15.8 percent from the previous year. Expenditures totaled 1.144 trillion pesos, 9.5 percent more than total spending in 2006.
Increased spending in infrastructure last year helped boost economic growth in the Southeast Asian nation to 7.3 percent, the highest in 31 years.
Taxes collected by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the government's main revenue-generating agency, were 7.1 percent short of the target of 765.9 billion pesos.
But revenue from other offices, including proceeds from asset sales, surged to 144.7 billion pesos, more than double the target of 71.2 billion pesos and 166 percent higher than the previous year's 54.3 billion pesos.
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Greenspan says economy on the edge of recession
Washington: Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the US economy is on the verge of its first recession in six years as falling home values hurt consumer spending. "We are clearly on the edge," Greenspan told a group of energy-industry executives on Thursday at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates' 27th annual CERAWeek conference in Houston. He reiterated comments from last month that the odds of an economic contraction are "50 per cent or better." Greenspan's view has evolved from a year ago, when he saw a one-in-three chance of a recession, citing slowing profit growth and becoming one of the first economists to warn of the risk. Now, Wall Street firms including Merrill Lynch & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are forecasting a contraction in the aftermath of the worst housing downturn in a quarter century.
Nasdaq Leads As Indexes Post Solid Gains
The market rallied sharply Wednesday on solid January retail sales, a raft of earnings wins and the signing of an economic stimulus package. The NYSE composite ended up 1.2% while the Nasdaq soared 2.3%. Telecoms and computer makers yanked the Nasdaq higher. The small-cap S&P 600 bolted 2.1%. The S&P 500 put up a 1.4% win, just behind the Dow's 1.5% performance. According to preliminary figures, volume was 7% lower on the NYSE and up 1% on the Nasdaq. If the volume increase is confirmed, the Nasdaq would have logged a follow-through. That's a confirmation signal that the broad market is in a new uptrend. The Energy-Other industry group posted an 8% rise on gains by solar power stocks and coal producers. The Food and Dairy Products group ran a close second with a 5% gain.
Nasdaq Rises While Others Sink
Stocks traded in split fashion early Friday with tech issues showing some strength. At 9:54 a.m. EST, the Nasdaq gained 0.4%, thanks to strength in Internet and big-cap tech stocks. The Dow and NYSE composite each lost 0.3%. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% Volume was tracking lower on both exchanges. Research In Motion RIMM climbed 1.63 to 86.58. That pushed the BlackBerry smart phone maker back above its 200-day moving average. DRS Technologies DRS gapped up and gained 3.70, or 7%, to 55.77 in brisk trading. The maker of thermal equipment reported fiscal Q3 earnings of $1.01 a share, up 15% from a year ago and 6 cents ahead of views. Sales grew 23% to $836.6 million, also above views. DRS pegged full-year earnings in a range of $3.24 to $3.31 a share vs.
Australian stock market closes lower after US dip and inflation ...
At the 4.15pm AEDT close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 1.6 points lower at 5980.0 while the All Ordinaries index fell 13.5 points to 6040.9. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the March share price index futures contract was down 23 points to 5981 on a volume of 21,062, according to preliminary calculations. Today, the monthly inflation gauge prepared by TD Securities-Melbourne Institute rose by 0.6 per cent in December, and by 3.7 per cent in the 12 months to December. The annual reading was the highest since December 2006. On the local bourse, the big miners and major banks were weaker. In the resources sector, global miner BHP Billiton was down six cents at $38.24, and Rio Tinto was off 60 cents at $125.00. Takeover target Allegiance Mining slipped 0.5 cents to $1.045 as it said a recent vote of support from its largest shareholder, China's Jinchuan Group, was a sign of the strength of the relationship between the companies.
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