Today was a light volume and mixed trading day where there was no real feeling for the market being up or down. The G20 meeting yielded no major score for the markets and the Empire State manufacturing number for New York's region was the worst on record. Below are the unofficial closing bell levels:
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) was one of the few public companies position that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway actually trimmed its stake in by about half during the last quarter. B of A shares were down over 6% at $15.32 shortly before the close.
Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) didn't quite get the reaction it was hoping for. Vikram Pandit announced the new restructuring plan where the company will let go a total of about 50,000 jobs via attrition, asset sales, and layoffs. Citi announced other cost cutting measures as well. Shares were down almost 5% at $9.07 right before the close.
Lowe's Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) earnings were down 24% from the same period in 2007, but it managed to beat its earnings targets despite that. The company did lower sales forecasts considerably for the coming quarter. Shares were up 7% at $19.59 shortly before the close.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) will not be paying a bonus to its top partners to avoid the massive public criticism being voiced as companies take federal tax payer funds. Shares fell along with most financial stocks by over 4% to $63.92 right before the close.
United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) said it would not release its projections on how much extra traffic and business it is expecting this holiday season. While this is a flag for many investors, the stock was up over 2% at $54.31 right before the close.
Closing Bell: Economic Catapult for Thanksgiving & Black Friday (WMT, TGT, GRMN, GOOG, MSFT)
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