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Stocks Drop on Deep Recession Fears
Tags: Commodities, Corporate News, Currencies, Economic Calendar, Foreign Markets, U.S. Futures
Foreign Markets
Stocks fell in Europe in Asia, extending losses from poor profit outlooks and a drop in commodity prices after rallying on Monday. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 1.6%; in Japan, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 272.13 points, or 3%. Germany’s DAX was 2.0% while France’s CAC-40 index was down 1.9%.
U.S. Futures
$2 trillion dollars in emergency funding has been lent out by the U.S. treasury; however the Fed isn’t handing out names as to whom the recipients are. Wall Street looks to open to the downside. U.S. futures are down 2% as the Dow trades in the middle of the ban we have formed since mid-September with continued volatility.
Currencies and Commodities
Crude for December delivery dropped 3.5% to $60.24 in electronic trading on slowing global demand. Gold retreated $7.70 or 1.03% while silver lost it luster with a 3.13% decline. The dollar weakened 0.2 percent to 97.82 yen as declines in stocks damped demand for purchases of higher yielding currencies funded by loans in Japan. The euro was 0.2% higher at $1.2774.
Corporate News
Circuit City Stores Inc.(CC), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, becoming the biggest retail casualty of the slowing U.S. economy and frozen credit markets.
Nortel Networks Corp. posted a third-quarter loss of $3.41 billion, or $6.85 per share, down from a profit of $27 million, or 5 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier .In response, the company plans to eliminate about 1,300 positions starting this year and ending in 2009
Before the opening bell today, we will see earnings reports from 10 companies, including T.J. Maxx (TJX)
Economic Calendar
No reports in observance of Veteran’s Day, giving the markets a nice breather. Yields on two-year notes fell to an almost eight-month low as greater demand for U.S. securities drove up the price, which moves inversely with the yield.
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The question is not whether or not the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank will cut its benchmark lending rate today, but if in fact the cut will have any impact on our wounded economy.
Whether the cut is .25 or .75 points – either of which would bring the rate to an all-time low, economists fear that the benefits simply won’t trickle down the consumer. Recent rate cuts have done nothing to boost the consumer credit market because given current economic conditions, the banks that aren’t going under find that issuing consumer loans at anything else than a premium is far too risky.
A great example of this is the current market for auto loans. Typically influenced by the prime rate, which was roughly 4%, Monday, the interest for a 48-month new car loan is 6.8%.
With Americans now hoarding their money and growing increasingly content with simply not losing their hard-earned greenbacks, the Fed may need to expend some of its “extra ammunition” in addition to its imminent rate cut to get consumers to start spending again.
So, what happens when the rate hits zero and its back to the drawing board for Big Ben and his crew? Here’s a great report written by Ben Bernanke himself on potential strategies for monetary policy when the key rate hits zero.
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