Stocks ended lower Thursday after early gains from a better report on jobless claims faded. The Dow Jones industrial average closed below 10,000 for the first time since early July. The Dow lost 74 points, having been up as much as 45 earlier. The back-and-forth trading pattern has been common in recent weeks as many investors remain unconvinced that the economic recovery will hold.
Filed under: Stock activity
Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.
Oil prices drop for sixth day on housing news
Oil prices sank again on Tuesday after a disappointing report on home sales underlined the slow economic recovery and weak demand for oil and gas.
OptionsXpress trades fall in July
OptionsXpress Holdings, which provides brokerage services for equity options and futures trading, said Wednesday that trading activity slowed in July even as total client assets grew. Get the full story »
Stock market honeymoon ends
The brief honeymoon with stocks has come to another abrupt halt as investors once again have decided to flee from risk. Treasury bonds are a favorite security blanket again even though they are promising very little to investors locking up their money for as much as 10 years.
As nervous people have flooded bonds with money, yields have dropped to just 2.7 percent. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial average has fallen 320 points in two days as the Federal Reserve has spooked investors with deflation talk and as more people have filed for unemployment benefits. See where the full stock market has taken investors since happy days faded in 2007.
Goldman Sachs downgrades CME Group
CME Group Inc., the world’s largest futures market, was downgraded by Goldman Sachs Group because of slowing volume and longer-than-anticipated effects of financial reform.
CME’s OTC business may get overhaul
CME Group Inc’s profitable over-the-counter clearing operations may be headed for an overhaul.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is putting pressure on the giant exchange operator to change the way its ClearPort unit handles OTC swaps, two people familiar with recent discussions said.
CME treats many of the OTC swaps — which are bilaterally matched away from the exchange — like its exchange-traded futures, a popular feature that has allowed investors to cross-margin, and thus save money on, the two products for years. The treatment requires CFTC approval. Get the full story »
Strategic Hotels rises on upgrade
Shares of Strategic Hotels & Resorts — a real estate investment trust active in the U.S., Mexico and Europe — rose on Monday, after an analyst said the company is poised for growth and upgraded the stock.
Hewlett-Packard shares tumble after CEO shakeup
Shares of Hewlett-Packard Co. tumbled Monday in the first trading day following CEO Mark Hurd’s sudden forced resignation Friday from the world’s largest technology company. Hurd stepped down from the post Friday following allegations that he falsified expense reports to conceal a relationship with a former contractor.
http://www.latimes.com/media/thumbnails/story/2010-08/55404392-06153109.jpg
For-profit education stocks slide
Shares of for-profit education companies slipped Friday after American Public Education Inc. slashed its third-quarter outlook and said its guidance for the full year shouldn’t be relied upon, as increased operations activity in the U.S. military is hurting its net course registrations. Get the full story »
Aug. 6, 2010 at 10:05 a.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Energy, Environment, Management, Stock activity BP stock gains ground, but major resistance looms
Shares in BP rose 1.2 percent in London on Friday, taking their bounce since the near 14-year low in June to 45 percent, lifted by the group’s latest progress in plugging the ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. Get the full story »
WMS shares fall on disappointing outlook
Shares of WMS Industries Inc. fell Wednesday, a day after the casino game maker issued a disappointing outlook that prompted at least one analyst to downgrade its shares. Late Tuesday, WMS said it earned $33.6 million, or 56 cents per share, during its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended in late June. That’s up from last year’s net income of $28.4 million, or 49 cents per share.
July 28, 2010 at 10:16 a.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Bank failures, Banking, Earnings, Stock activity Fraud incident hurts Wintrust Financial results
Wintrust Financial Corp. posted lower-than-expected profits in the second quarter, partly because the $13.7 billion-asset bank holding company had to set aside more money for loan losses due to a fraud in its premium financing unit.
For the second quarter, net income was $13 million, or 25 cents a share, compared with $6.5 million, or 6 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Get the full story »
July 27, 2010 at 3:30 p.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Earnings, Stock activity, Technology, Telecommunications Tellabs stock drops despite solid earnings
Fears that Tellabs Inc. may lose some business with top customer AT&T Inc. to a rival sent the company’s shares down nearly 6 percent Tuesday, despite its stronger-than-expected results and outlook.
The communications equipment maker said it was benefiting from a push by phone companies to upgrade wireless networks that support smartphones and other new devices, but cited tough competition among vendors. Get the full story »
Delta posts profit, but airline shares fall
Delta Air Lines Inc, the world’s biggest air carrier, posted a better-than-expected second-quarter profit Monday, but revenue missed expectations and its shares fell more than 8 percent. The company’s third-quarter outlook raised concerns about the strength of the recovery for airlines, which are widely expected to post better results as travel demand improves from recession weakness. Other carriers’ shares were also off. Get the full story »
