Post by unlawflcombatnt on Aug 20, 2007 2:12:01 GMT -6
from Yahoo News:
Wall Street awaits Fed's next move
By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer
8/19/07
"The Federal Reserve may have thrown Wall Street a bone Friday by lowering the rate it charges banks, but if this week's housing market data and corporate headlines portend more gloom, it may have to toss another.
So far, Wall Street, beset by fears that credit problems in mortgage and corporate lending will cripple the economy, has been stubbornly signaling to the central bank that it wants a bailout — ideally, by way of a cut in the benchmark fed funds rate.
With the Fed's next meeting not scheduled until Sept. 18, investors may stay jittery over the coming weeks as they watch the central bank to see if it will lower rates before that point.
Stocks got a boost Friday, thanks to the cut in Fed's discount rate, but few market participants are breathing a sigh of relief yet. Many on Wall Street are still in panic mode; even when the Fed started injecting large amounts of cash into the banking system through repurchase agreements two weeks ago, the Dow Jones industrial (declined)...812 points over six trading days.
Last week, the Dow finished down 1.21 percent; the Standard & Poor's 500 index ended down 0.53 percent; and the Nasdaq composite index ended down 1.57 percent.
This week is light on economic data....One piece of data...is the Commerce Department's report Friday on new home sales and prices. Economists surveyed last Friday by Thomson Financial predicted, on average, that sales of new single-family homes will fall in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 825,000 units, down from 835,000 in June....
The Conference Board on Monday will report on leading...indicators. The index is expected to rise 0.3 percent for July, compared with June's 0.3 percent decline.
Also Monday, the Chicago Federal Reserve releases its July index on national business activity.
On Thursday, the Commerce Department releases...Durable goods orders....anticipated to have risen 1.0 percent in July, a slightly smaller jump than the increase in June...."
__________
Asian stock markets all closed significantly higher on Monday. Central banks in Japan and Australia "injected" more liquidity into their markets on Monday.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 3%.
South Korea was up 5.7%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 5.9%.
The Shanghai Composite was up 5.3%.
European markets are up about 1% in early trading.
A 2nd German bank is failing as of early Monday.
Wall Street awaits Fed's next move
By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer
8/19/07
"The Federal Reserve may have thrown Wall Street a bone Friday by lowering the rate it charges banks, but if this week's housing market data and corporate headlines portend more gloom, it may have to toss another.
So far, Wall Street, beset by fears that credit problems in mortgage and corporate lending will cripple the economy, has been stubbornly signaling to the central bank that it wants a bailout — ideally, by way of a cut in the benchmark fed funds rate.
With the Fed's next meeting not scheduled until Sept. 18, investors may stay jittery over the coming weeks as they watch the central bank to see if it will lower rates before that point.
Stocks got a boost Friday, thanks to the cut in Fed's discount rate, but few market participants are breathing a sigh of relief yet. Many on Wall Street are still in panic mode; even when the Fed started injecting large amounts of cash into the banking system through repurchase agreements two weeks ago, the Dow Jones industrial (declined)...812 points over six trading days.
Last week, the Dow finished down 1.21 percent; the Standard & Poor's 500 index ended down 0.53 percent; and the Nasdaq composite index ended down 1.57 percent.
This week is light on economic data....One piece of data...is the Commerce Department's report Friday on new home sales and prices. Economists surveyed last Friday by Thomson Financial predicted, on average, that sales of new single-family homes will fall in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 825,000 units, down from 835,000 in June....
The Conference Board on Monday will report on leading...indicators. The index is expected to rise 0.3 percent for July, compared with June's 0.3 percent decline.
Also Monday, the Chicago Federal Reserve releases its July index on national business activity.
On Thursday, the Commerce Department releases...Durable goods orders....anticipated to have risen 1.0 percent in July, a slightly smaller jump than the increase in June...."
__________
Asian stock markets all closed significantly higher on Monday. Central banks in Japan and Australia "injected" more liquidity into their markets on Monday.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 3%.
South Korea was up 5.7%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 5.9%.
The Shanghai Composite was up 5.3%.
European markets are up about 1% in early trading.
A 2nd German bank is failing as of early Monday.