Regarding the historical headlines below, something goes against the grain with me on all this stuff. To me, it just doesn't make any common horse sense whatsoever.
Still working a 10 hour day and holding my 3k of KGC. All my eggs, all in one single, solitary basket. Maybe someday I'll get somewhere learning from you all.
GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks Across Globe Jump on Recovery Hopes
Mon Mar 4, 6:36 AM ET By Nigel Stephenson LONDON (Reuters) - Stock markets around the world surged and government debt yields hit multi-month highs on Monday as the most recent economic indicators showed the pace of economic recovery was heating up on both sides of the Atlantic.
Merrill Cuts Exposure to U.S., UK Stocks
Tue Mar 5,11:13 PM ET TOKYO (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch, citing signs of a global economic recovery, said it was cutting exposure to U.S. and UK equities while upgrading Japan and global emerging markets in its first change to its equity allocation in nearly a year.
"With the global recovery gathering momentum, we believe that now is the time to take a positive stance on the more cyclical equity markets around the world," the U.S. investment bank said in a report released in New York late on Tuesday.
Moskow: Recovery Likely Under Way
Tue Mar 5, 4:20 PM ET By Meredith Grossman Dubner CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago Federal Reserve (news - web sites) President Michael Moskow said on Tuesday he believes a U.S. economic recovery "may very well be under way," although the strength and shape of the resurgence are hard to predict.
O'Neill Questions Recession
Tue Mar 5, 5:11 PM ET KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said on Tuesday that the world's biggest economy was on solid ground and "maybe" had not suffered a recession in 2001. O'Neill, touring the Middle East for talks on economic and security, told reporters that contrary to a declaration by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), which dates U.S. business cycles, a recession had not set in last year. "It seems quite clear now that our economy maybe never suffered a recession," O'Neill told a news conference.
Bonds Stiffed by Jump in Service Sector
Tue Mar 5, 6:39 PM ET By Eric Burroughs NEW YORK (Reuters) - Most Treasuries fell on Tuesday for a fourth straight session after an index of activity in the massive services sector hit its highest level in 15 months, underscoring the economy's quick recovery from recession. "The recession is behind us and the healing process is underway," said Bill Sullivan, director of money market research at Morgan Stanley.
Senate to Act on House-OK'd Stimulus Plan
Fri Mar 8, 2:16 AM ET By Donna Smith WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate is expected to pass on Friday a scaled-down economic stimulus plan approved by the House of Representatives that would extend unemployment benefits and provide modest business tax breaks.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, said senators unanimously agreed to expedite action on the bill, which President Bush (news - web sites) said he would sign into law, and set a vote on it for Friday morning. The bill, which the House passed 417-3 on Thursday, is expected to clear the Senate and go to the president for his signature. Despite signs that the U.S. economy is recovering from a recession, lawmakers said the stimulus package was needed. The bill, which this year would cost the U.S. Treasury about $51 billion,
Japan's Economy Shrinks
Fri Mar 8, 3:07 AM ET By Ritsuko Ando TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's recession deepened in the final quarter of 2001 as business investment logged its biggest quarterly fall on record, putting pressure on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to speed up plans to restore growth. Gross domestic product, the broadest gauge of the economy's health, shrank 1.2 percent in the quarter, worse than economists had expected and the first time in nearly a decade output has fallen three quarters in a row, government data showed Friday. The slide translated into an annualized 4.5 percent fall, bigger than the 4.0 percent forecast on average by economists. "It's a very serious recession," said Takashi Kiuchi, economic adviser at Shinsei Bank.
Japan's Markets Defy Gravity
Fri Mar 8, 3:45 AM ET TOKYO (Reuters) - Investors lined up to "buy Japan" on Friday, propelling stocks to another seven-month high despite a deepening in Japan's recession, while keeping the yen near 11-week peaks in the face of complaints by Japanese authorities
Optimism to Drive Stocks Higher
Sat Mar 9, 4:01 PM ET By Denise Duclaux NEW YORK (Reuters) - A growing conviction that the nation's economy and corporate profits are gathering strength will take on a life of its own next week, pushing stocks up as investors worry they'll miss out on the rally.
"We have gotten a string of very good data," said Jay Mueller, economist and portfolio manager at Strong Capital Management, which oversees $45 billion. "Almost everything has come in at or better than consensus. The numbers are good, and you really can't keep it a secret anymore that things are looking up." Even Federal Reserve (news - web sites) Chairman Alan Greenspan (news - web sites) adopted a brighter stance toward the U.S. economy, admitting this week an expansion was "well under way" and essentially declaring the recession over.
Debate Question: Recession or Not?
Sun Mar 10, 8:41 AM ET By Anna Willard WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Bureau of Economic Research says it was. U.S. officials say it probably wasn't. And private sector economists are divided over whether the U.S. slump was a recession at all. The NBER, which has the daunting task of being the official judge of U.S. recessions, is standing by its November call that one began last March. But controversy surrounds the decision that many say was wrong, premature and possibly harmful. Amid the debate, some are questioning the need for such an arbiter. "I don't think we need them," said Sung Won Sohn, chief economist at Wells Fargo in Minneapolis. "Probably the NBER calling a recession has done some damage to the economy." Sohn, who himself was quick to say a recession was probable after the Sept. 11 attacks, charges that stock markets, consumer confidence and business capital spending would all have fared better in the last few months if the NBER had not called a recession. The NBER, a research group based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was set up in 1920 by economists interested in the concept of business cycles.
Yen Falls Back After Japan Gives Warning
Mon Mar 11, 8:32 AM ET By Sumeet Desai LONDON (Reuters) - The yen retreated further on Monday after last week's breakneck rally, weighed down by poor data and more signals from Japan that it could act to curb the currency's strength. The yen shed around a third of a percent against the dollar and the euro, while the single currency was steady on the day after failing to maintain last week's gains against the greenback. The head of the Ministry of Finance's international bureau, Zembei Mizoguchi, said Japan was ready to take steps in the currency market if necessary, adding that rapid moves were not desirable. Meanwhile, a key gauge of Japanese corporate capital spending plummeted in January. "The comments are the first line of defense.
Yen Tumbles; Market Eyes Fed
Mon Mar 18, 5:32 PM ET By Daniel Bases NEW YORK (Reuters) - The yen fell 1.6 percent on Monday for its biggest one-day drop in almost six months, brought down by weak Japanese stocks and investor positioning ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve (news - web sites)'s interest rate decision on Tuesday.
Tech Shares Hit as Recovery Hopes Thin
Tue Apr 2, 5:26 PM ET By Ilaina Jonas NEW YORK (Reuters) - Technology shares tumbled on Tuesday after several analysts lowered their earnings forecasts for heavyweights such as IBM, PeopleSoft and Microsoft, saying a technology sector recovery is lagging the broader economy.
Goldman Sachs analyst Laura Conigliaro said weak demand for technology lingers and the much-hyped second-half recovery may not be as strong as investor had hoped. "End demand itself has certainly not shown any sign of improvement," she told Reuters.
Mixed Bag of Data May Mean Slow Recovery
Tue Apr 2, 6:44 PM ET By Glenn Somerville WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A mixed bag of U.S. economic news out on Tuesday indicated that while the world's largest economy is firmly in recovery, the revival may not be as robust as some had thought.
Fed to Take Its Time on Raising Rates
Tue Apr 23, 5:27 PM ET By Ross Finley GETTYSBURG, Pa. (Reuters) - Federal Reserve (news - web sites) Bank of San Francisco President Robert Parry said on Tuesday uncertainty lingers about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery and the Fed can take its time deciding when to raise short-term interest rates. The risk of higher oil prices amid turmoil in the Middle East and Venezuela as well as shaky stock prices remained near-term threats to the economy, Parry said.
Treasuries Up on Clouded Recovery Outlook
Fri Apr 26, 6:10 PM ET By Ellen Freilich NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Treasuries rose on Friday as the seventh stock slide in eight days and weak orders and business investment trends in the first quarter fostered doubts about the durability of the U.S. recovery.
Economy Races Ahead in First Quarter
Fri Apr 26, 4:37 PM ET By Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy roared into 2002 at its fastest pace more than two years, emerging from last year's recession with surprising strength, government data showed on Friday.
However, some questions lingered about whether the economy could keep up such an energetic clip and this, combined with data showing a slip in consumer sentiment, reined in U.S. financial markets.
Stocks Rally; Market Snaps Back on Data
Tue Apr 30, 4:45 PM ET By Denise Duclaux NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks climbed on Tuesday, wrapping up a dismal April on a bright note, as reports showing growing manufacturing activity and resilient consumer confidence revived hopes of an economic turnaround after a long string of selloffs. "People are looking for opportunities here to get in," said Owen Fitzpatrick, head of the U.S. equity group at Deutsche Bank Private Banking, as the broad Standard & Poor's 500 ended higher for the first time in seven sessions. Manufacturing activity in the Midwest grew for the third straight month in April, although at a slower pace than the previous month, a report said. U.S. consumer confidence (news - web sites) dipped in April from seven-month highs, but landed better than analysts' forecasts, according to another report. The modest numbers were enough to lure investors into the market after six days of selling on worries over weak profits, shady accounting, rising debt at telecom companies and bloodshed in the Middle East. The blue-chip Dow and the S&P 500 finished April with their worst monthly drops since September -- and traders warned the rally could be an oversold bounce. "There is a fundamental dilemma here -- it doesn't seem profitability is growing at the same rate as the economy," said Brian Pears, head of equity trading at Victory Capital Management.
O'Neill: 'Few Months' Before Jobs Growth
Mon Apr 29, 8:11 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill warned on Monday that it may be a while before the recent strides toward recovery the economy has made are felt in the labor market. "It's probably going to be a few months before we see positive job growth in the employed labor force," O'Neill said in a taped interview aired on CNBC.
Consumer Spending Posts Solid Rise
Mon Apr 29, 6:33 PM ET By Tim Ahmann WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer spending and personal income posted solid gains in March, with both notching their fourth consecutive monthly rise, the government said on Monday in a report that showed shoppers doing their part to help the economy recover.
Gold Shines, Lumber Soars, Oil Rises
Fri May 3, 4:50 PM ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gold prices soared to highs not seen in more than two years as the dollar slumped against the euro, making bullion more affordable to Europeans, while crude oil rose amid concerns over fresh violence in the Middle East.
In other commodity trading, lumber futures ended sharply higher as demand in the cash market picked up after a ruling against Canadian exports to the United States that could raise prices, while copper fell on fund selling amid a hefty rise in stocks overnight. The rally in COMEX gold futures was fueled by concerns over the U.S. economic recovery, a steep fall in the stock market and the dollar's slump to six-month lows against the euro. "With the stock market weakness and the dollar down significantly today against the major currencies, that was obviously the major impetus for taking this market up through the recent highs," said analyst David Meger of Alaron Trading. |
