Foreign Markets
Asian markets gained as the U.S. House passed President Obama’s $819 billion stimulus. Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average rose 144.95 points, or 1.8 %, to 8,251.24. After being closed this week for the Lunar New Year, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng leaped 575.83 points, or 4.6 %, to 13,154.43
In Europe, financial pulled back after having massive gains the last few sessions. Britain’s FTSE 100 plunged 2.1 % to 4,206.20, Germany’s DAX lost 1.2 % to 4,464.26, and France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.3 % to 3,034.77.
U.S. Futures
Ahead of today’s economic data, Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 66, or 0.79 %, to 8,256. Standard & Poor’s 500 index futures fell 8.30, or 0.95 %, to 863.30, while Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 11.25, or 0.91 %, to 1,220.00.
Currencies and Commodities
Oil rose 45 cents, a 1.08% gain to $42.03 per barrel. As the dollar strengthened, gold lost ground. The precious metal lost $11.50, or 1.28% to $888 an ounce. The dollar jumped 1.73% to 90.50 yen while the euro was 0.61% lower at $ 1.3132. The pound gained 0.697% to $ 1.4229.
Corporate News
Ford (F), lost $5.5 billion dollars in the 4th quarter, down from the $7.7 billion in the prior quarter. The loss was $2.46 per share, compared with a loss of $2.8 billion, or $1.13 per share, for the 4th quarter of 2007. Revenue fell to $29.2 billion from $45.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007 as sales slumped in a weak economic environment. In addition, 1,200 jobs would be cut at the company’s credit arm to cut costs. That is a 20% reduction.
Economic News
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Durable goods orders: Measures the month over month change in orders placed with domestic manufacturers for immediate and future delivery of factory hard goods. Usually durable goods orders follow the trend in consumer spending, and therefore, a measure of strength in the economy. The consensus estimate is for a decline in December of 2%.
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Jobless Claims: New unemployment claims for the week of January 24th, to show the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time. The fewer people filing for unemployment benefits, the more have jobs, the more income in the consumer’s pocket, as well as a forecast on the strength of the economy. The consensus is for an increase of 575,000 for first time jobless claims.
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New Home Sales: Measure the number of newly constructed homes with a committed sale during the month of December. The level of new home sales indicates trends in the housing market. Don’t expect new home sales to pick up until we can unclog the inventory of existing homes. For December, new home sales are expected to be at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 400,000.
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