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| Weekly Wrap Up |
Despite a dip on Thursday, the markets kept up the good work from the previous week to rise every other day of the week and post a healthy gain
despite there being numerous earnings reports, the focus was on other events, among them the Iraqi elections, Fed policy, and economic reports
among the earnings reports, Amazon perhaps had the greatest impact, its earnings falling below expectations though its revenue numbers were better than expected
however, Google performed better than even the most bullish analyst had expected
on Wednesday, the Fed raised the fed funds target by another quarter point, as expected
January nonfarm payrolls increased by 146k, below the 200k consensus; the number, however, is in line with the 3% real GDP growth
More Market News
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| Economic News |
U.S. employers added just 146,000 jobs in January, the government said on Friday in an unexpectedly weak report on the labor market, while a drop in job-seekers pushed the unemployment rate to its lowest level in more than three years.
The gain in nonfarm payrolls in January came in below expectations for 190,000 new jobs, but was enough to return the nation's employment to where it was before the 2001 recession began. It also erased the jobs lost during President Bush's first term
(Source: Reuters) Full Story
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The Federal Reserve increased a pivotal short-term interest rate that banks use to determine rates for many loans by a quarter-point Wednesday to 2.5 percent. The rate hike -- the sixth since June -- came at the conclusion of a two-day Fed meeting and was widely expected on Wall Street. The Fed's Open Market Committee added in a statement that it plans to maintain a "measured" stance towards boosting rates, which market observers interpret to mean that the Fed is likely to keep raising rates at quarter-point increments as opposed to taking more drastic action to combat inflation. (source: CNN/Money) Full Story
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Growth in U.S. factory output eased in January as companies received fewer orders, although managers showed a renewed willingness to hire. As manufacturers kicked off the new year, the Institute for Supply Management said its index of national manufacturing activity slipped to 56.4 in January from 57.3 in December, below forecasts for a dip to 57.0. "The manufacturing sector hit a bump in the road," said Anthony Chan, senior economist at JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management. (source: ABC News) Full Story
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The pace of U.S. worker productivity growth slowed at the end of 2004 and new claims for jobless aid dipped last week, according to reports raising both job-growth hopes and inflation concerns. Separate reports on Thursday tempered the optimism as growth in the huge U.S. services sector cooled a bit last month while factory orders rose a mere 0.3 percent in December. (Source: Reuters) Full Story
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| Business News |
Can Procter & Gamble's $54 billion merger with Gillette kick-start growth in the consumer-goods industry?
Every industry has its golden age. The makers of packaged consumer goodsquilted paper towels, tinned baked beans and other household essentialsenjoyed theirs around the middle of the 20th century. In the 1950s and 1960s, companies such as General Mills, Unilever and Procter & Gamble were delighting their customers with one innovative new product after another, from fluoride-enhanced toothpastes to fragrant fabric softeners and disposable nappies. But the industry's youthful vigour has ebbed away. Mr Clean, the bald, rugged sailor who fronts a line of domestic-cleaning products for P&G, turns 47 this year. (The chap has had a rejuvenating name change, however: he used to be called Mr Veritably Clean.)
(Source: The Economist) Full Story
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Eastman Kodak said Monday it would buy printing technology firm Creo, a printing technology firm for about $980 million in cash to support its strategy to push more aggressively into commercial printing. Kodak, which has been undertaking a challenging transition to digital products as it shifts focus from its flagging traditional film business, will pay $16.50 a share for Creo, whose systems manage images and convert computer files into plates used to print books, magazines and other products. (source: USA Today) Full Story
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Oil powerhouse ExxonMobil (XOM:NYSE - news - research) keeps shattering its own records. The world's leading super major on Monday barreled past Wall Street expectations with quarterly operating profits of $8.42 billion -- up 90% from a year ago and the highest ever in the history of the company. Fourth-quarter earnings of $1.30 a share came in well above the $1.07 consensus estimate. For the full year, high energy prices helped push earnings up 52% to a record $25.3 billion. (source: The Street) Full Story
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SBC Communications Inc. Tuesday said it expects to cut around 10,200 jobs as a result of its $16 billion acquisition of AT&T Corp.
The company said in a slide presentation prepared for an analyst meeting Tuesday that 5,125 jobs will be cut as a result of network efficiencies. Another 1,700 will be trimmed from the combined sales department and 3,400 jobs will be cut from business operations.
(source: CNN Money) Full Story
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| Technology Focus |
A molecular replacement for the transistor?
SMALL may be beautiful, but it is also hard. This is the reality faced by those trying to make ever-smaller transistors, one of the key components of virtually all modern electronic devices. The laws of physics place a limit on how small they can become.
This, then, is a tricky problem for those hoping to build future generations of computer chips that are vastly more powerful than today's. (The slow speed of electrical signals means that smaller components make for faster computers.) So the search has been on for
(Source: The Economist) Full Story
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Googles Internet-leading search engine fueled a sevenfold increase in fourth-quarter profits to soar past analyst expectations. The Mountain View-based company said Tuesday that it earned $204.1 million, or 71 cents per share, during the final three months of 2004. That compared to net income of $27.3 million, or 10 cents per share, at the same time in 2003. (source: MSNBC News) Full Story
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| Your Money |
Did 2005 start out on the right -- or wrong -- foot for equity investors? The market may be in for a down year after stumbling in the first month, according to the January Barometer. The Barometer, made famous by the Stock Trader's Almanac, states that the S&P 500 index's performance during the month of January is indicative of how it'll fare for the remainder of the year. (source: BusinessWeek) Full Story
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If you believe in insurance to protect your life, your health, your home, your carwhy don't you also believe in marriage insurance?
In a nation that seems to be split down the middle on so many issues, it amazes me how united we all are when it comes to prenuptial agreements. By some estimates, anywhere from 90 to 99 percent of married couples in the United States do not have a prenup.
I think that's a huge mistake
(Source: Yahoo!) Full Story
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| Market Overview |
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| DJIA |
10,716.13 |
2.77 |
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1,203.03 |
2.7 |
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7,217.43 |
2.64 |
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2,086.66 |
2.5 |
| 10Yr |
4.073% |
4.138 |
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84.79 |
83.45 |
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