The way stock futures are looking this morning, it's quite possible we'll see the Dow Jones Industrial Average -- now at 7,063 -- drop below 7,000 today. At the very least, with U.S. stock futures declining so much, Wall Street may see sharp losses at the open as AIG (NYSE: AIG) reported yet another massive quarterly loss and received yet more government funds. Other items on investors' minds this morning include HSBC (NYSE: HBC) announcing it would raise more capital and Warren Buffett saying the economy will be in "shambles" this year and perhaps longer.Today also marks the beginning of a new month, after February was recorded as the worst month for stocks since 1933. And yet, despite the already mammoth drops bringing the indices to 12-year lows, some fear this is just going to continue. With economic activity dropping 6.2% as reported Friday, far worse than expected, this may not be surprising.
Overseas, world stock markets tumbled Monday, as the worsening U.S. recession and continued financial crisis erased hopes of a global recovery later this year. Internationally, the global economic crisis isn't showing signs of improvement either, especially in light of the financial crisis. Over the weekend, the EU as well as some Eastern European countries opposed the idea of an Eastern European-wide bailout fund. Meanwhile, oil fell below $44 a barrel, and the dollar was lower against the euro and pound, but higher versus the yen.
Monday's key reports include:
- At 8:30 am Eastern, the government will release personal income and spending data for January. While income is expected to have declined, spending is expected to have risen.
- At the same time, the PCE deflator, a measure of inflation will be reported.
- At 10:00 am, February Institute of Supply Management index will give indication on manufacturing sentiment, which is expected to further decline.
- At the same time, January construction spending is due, which is also expected to have declined.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-02-2009 @ 8:25AM
Bill said...
Dow will go to 2800 before this is over
3-02-2009 @ 9:30AM
HAWLEYRIDGE1 said...
The so called "experts" who are advising our president just can't seem to grasp the fact that socialism and outrageous spending are not going to be accepted by the American investor. Bush started us down this road with the advice of the some of the same ''experts" who are erroneous in their thinking that the people who will help this economy back on it's feet are too ignorant to know the difference between stimulus and power grab. The use of this downturn for political gain is criminal.
3-02-2009 @ 9:42AM
ME said...
This mess has been brewing since before the Clinton years. The unrestrained spending on real estate, with the prices going ever higher, was going to bite us eventually. With the prices of real estate of any kind almost guarenteed to go up within just a year or two, has encouraged people to take silly risks. This country has gone through financial "bubbles" before and all bubbles eventually break.
It is the great leveling of the global standard of living. The "Crash of '09" is in full swing. Sell any auto and banks stocks today...or lose that money to failed coorperations. Pharm stocks will fall starting really soon on fears of health care reform. Get your money out of the market today or risk the loss of the majority. Investors think this will turn around in a year, I say more like three years at the very soonest.
Actually, my investments are with very few, and getting fewer. Instead, I trade on the forex. If you want to, and don't yet know how, you can go to http://forex-currencyexchange.com Click the top left corner if I remember correctly. All you have to do is give your name and email, then you can start practicing trading. (don't bother watching that useless video on the sign up page. After you sign up, you will have better choices of videos... if you want to watch any)
Who knows, trading on the forex might be something you have a knack for. I'm not saying to trade with the company with the simulator, because you will have to research if/who you want to trade with. But, practicing with their demo account will teach you much... it's very fun too.