Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : Can you beat 50% per month? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Smiling Bob who wrote (9089)	11/28/2005 10:51:40 AM
From: Smiling Bob	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 19256

More mainstream press on expected steep inflation in US next year. Gold and bonds telling the story. Coupled with housing and credit bubble bursting and consumers and industry to be slamming on the brakes. Oil always threatening as well. DOW 10920 now Look for close today 10815-10825 Stocks Fall on Merck Cuts, Retail Sales Monday November 28, 10:33 am ET By Christopher Wang, AP Business Writer Stocks Fall on Merck Job Cuts, Mixed Picture on Weekend's Retail Sales NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks headed lower Monday as news of job cuts at drug maker Merck & Co. pressured the market and a mixed picture on the weekend's shopping frenzy left investors wondering about holiday sales. Some of the nation's retailers reported a strong opening to the crucial holiday sales period last weekend, with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. posting better-than-expected numbers. However, other merchants said traffic dipped heavily once Friday's bargains expired. Wall Street's mood was also soured by Merck's plan to slash 11 percent of its work force and shut five manufacturing plants by 2008 as the company struggles with legal woes over its Vioxx painkiller and faces losing patent protection for another top-selling drug, the cholesterol medication Zocor. Meanwhile, investors seemed to look past falling energy prices as forecasts for mild weather in the Northeast eased pressure on crude futures. A barrel of light crude dropped 64 cents to $58.07 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 20.57, or 0.19 percent, to 10,911.05. Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index was off 5.53, or 0.44 percent, at 1,262.72, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 14.69, or 0.65 percent, to 2,248.32. Bonds advanced, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.42 percent from 4.43 percent late Friday. The dollar was mostly lower against other major currencies in European trading, and gold prices climbed. Retail stocks fell as traders tried to make sense of mixed sales reports, though many are waiting for a clearer picture when retailers release November results later this week. Wal-Mart lost 58 cents to $49.91 and J.C. Penney fell 78 cents to $53.32, while Target Corp. also sank 83 cents to $54.40. Merck's restructuring sent shares sliding 91 cents to $30.07. In acquisition news, American Pharmaceutical Partners Inc. is buying its largest shareholder, American BioScience Inc., for about $4.1 billion in stock and will rename the new firm Abraxis BioScience. Combined revenue will total more than $500 million a year from sales of cancer treatment Abraxane. American Pharmaceutical sank $5.07 to $42.54. Declining issues led advancers by 9 to 5 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume of 167.8 million shares beat the 105.4 million shares changing hands at the same point Friday. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies was down 6.90, or 1.01 percent, at 676.68. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average surged 1.37 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 added 0.11 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.68 percent, and France's CAC-40 was higher by 0.27 percent. New York Stock Exchange: nyse.com Nasdaq Stock Market: nasdaq.com