Ford reported healthy profit gains in the third quarter and announced that its was paying down debt at a faster clip than earlier planned. The U.S.-based auto company reported net earnings of $1.7 billion, or 43 cents per share for the third quarter ending September 10, compared with last year’s profits of 29 cents per [...]
The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales increased 10% in September, but subdued prices and ongoing scrutiny over the foreclosure practices of America’s largest mortgage lenders make it likely the housing market is still scraping along the bottom. September’s seasonally-adjusted reading showed 4.53 million existing home sales on an annual basis, up 10% [...]
Dow Jones industrial average added 7.03 points, 0.06 percent, to 11,153.60. The Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 0.29 percent, 3.45, to 1,183.71. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.34 percent, 8.46, to 2,468.13. The slight gains in the U.S. markets occurred early Friday morning with the third-quarter reporting season showing decidedly mixed results so far. In [...]
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage-finance companies operating under U.S. conservatorship, may need as much as $363 billion in Treasury Department aid through 2013, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said. FHFA, which oversees the government-sponsored entities, offered the estimate as a worst-case scenario in an analysis modeled on the stress tests conducted on the [...]
U.S. stocks drifted between gains and losses as investors awaited more third-quarter earnings reports and speculated about the Federal Reserve’s intentions to protect the economic recovery. Chesapeake Energy Corp. gained 2.5 percent as China’s Cnooc Ltd. agreed to buy part of the company’s Eagle Ford shale oil project. Monsanto Co. rose 2.5 percent as corn [...]
The dollar fell against the euro for a fourth week in the longest stretch of losses in almost two years as bigger-than-expected U.S. job cuts spurred speculation that the Federal Reserve will buy more debt. The U.S. currency dropped yesterday below 82 yen for the first time since 1995 before next week’s release of the [...]
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — U.S. stocks rallied early Tuesday, with all three major indexes gaining 1%. Investors welcomed a surprise move by the Bank of Japan to cut its key lending rate, as well as improved data for the U.S. service sector. The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) jumped 104 points, or 1%; and the S&P [...]
NEW YORK Shares of Microsoft Corp. slid Monday after a Goldman Sachs analyst downgraded the software company, saying it needs to change its course for the shares to release their intrinsic value. THE SPARK: Analyst Sarah Friar downgraded Microsoft to “Neutral” from “Buy” and lowered her target price to $28 from $32 after reducing earnings [...]
Bloomberg Report:- U.S. stocks fell, erasing an early rally, as investors sold some of the month’s best-performing shares on the final day of the market’s biggest September rally since 1939. Caterpillar Inc., which has rallied more than 20 percent in September for the top gain in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, fell 2 percent to [...]
Bloomberg Reports Stocks fell, trimming the biggest September rally for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 1939, amid concern the government debt crisis is worsening in nations such as Ireland and Spain. The dollar weakened and gold touched a record on bets the Federal Reserve will buy more debt. The S&P 500 slipped 0.2 [...]