Source : Yahoo.com

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street will face a slew of data this week: on Americans' spending, inflation at the producer level, home sales and manufacturing.

So far this year, economic data has been mixed, but worrisome overall, and that has made for a turbulent stock market. And investors are bracing for more of the same -- for some time to come.

Last week, the Dow inched up 0.27 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 index rose a modest 0.23 percent and the Nasdaq composite index dipped 0.79 percent. The three indexes are all down sharply for the year, and there's no sign yet of a true rebound in the stock market.

Credit : Yahoo.com

NEW YORK (AP) -- It started with another stomach-turning drop at the open, and a loss of more than 300 points by midday. Then stocks changed course, raced higher and closed with a dramatic gain of nearly 300.

This wasn't just volatility. This was Wall Street whiplash.

Amid tumbling housing prices, an ongoing credit crisis and growing fears of a recession, turbulence has become a hallmark of Wall Street in recent weeks. And after five straight days of pullbacks, analysts saw some positive signs in Wednesday's trading.

Investors certainly found a reason to buy, perhaps encouraged by the Federal Reserve's unprecedented 0.75-point interest rate cut a day earlier and a widely held bet on another half-point cut next week.

Source : Yahoo.com

NEW YORK (AP) -- A growing conviction that the U.S. is headed toward recession sent Wall Street plunging Tuesday, with weak retail sales figures and disappointing results from Citigroup Inc. exacerbating investors' pessimistic mood. The Dow Jones industrials tumbled nearly 280 points.

Investors backed away from stocks amid growing concerns that consumer spending will wane and contribute to an economic downturn. The latest evidence that consumers are retrenching came from the Commerce Department, which said retail sales fell in December while it also revised its November figures lower. Spending by consumers, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, has been key to staving off economic slowdowns in recent years.

Credit : Iwon.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street resumed its rally Wednesday after new data showed the overall economy is holding up but isn't too strong to prevent the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates. The Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 200 points.

Stocks turned around following two sessions of losses after a report showed hiring in the U.S. private sector expanded at a faster pace in November. ADP Employer Services said 189,000 jobs were added during the month — an increase that bodes well for consumer spending.

The report raised hopes for a strong November jobs report from the Labor Department on Friday. Investors were also encouraged Wednesday after the department reported worker productivity advanced by an annual rate of 6.3 percent in the summer, the fastest pace in four years, while wage pressures eased.

Source : Yahoo.com

Stocks Jump After Labor Department Reports Big September Job Growth; S&P 500 Sets Record Close

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street capped a huge week with a sharp advance Friday after the government's employment report for September and its revision of August's data cooled the market's fears of a recession. The Standard & Poor's 500 index, the measure most closely followed by market watchers, reached a new closing high.

The Labor Department's report that employers added 110,000 jobs in September -- essentially what analysts had expected -- reassured Wall Street that the job market wasn't pulling back sharply as was feared a month ago. Though the data appeared to lessen the likelihood of an interest rate cut when the Federal Reserve meets Oct. 30-31, investors were relieved that the economy doesn't appear headed for a precipitous slowdown.

Credit : Iwon.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street finished a strong week little changed Friday after investors looked past weaker-than-expected economic readings and focused on the ramifications of the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates next week.

Stocks initially fell sharply Friday following a government report that August retail sales excluding automobiles declined precipitously. The report suggested consumers held off spending in the face of turmoil in the financial markets, an unwelcome development that some on Wall Street are hoping could be reversed by a rate cut. Some investors regarded the readings as supporting the case for a rate cut when Fed policy makers meet Tuesday.

Source : Yahoo.com

Stocks Dip As Credit Worries Persist
Thursday August 23, 7:53 pm ET
By Joe Bel Bruno, AP Business Writer

Wall Street Slightly Lower As Credit Worries Linger Despite Countrywide Investment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street ended a mildly erratic day slightly lower Thursday after anxiety about widening credit problems offset investor optimism about a $2 billion capital infusion into troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp.

The market gave up a moderate early gain, but fluctuations were to be expected given the amount of uncertainty about the credit markets, and the fact that stocks posted big gains Wednesday, pushing the Dow Jones industrials up 145 points.

Credit : Iwon.com

Aug 9, 4:24 PM (ET)

By TIM PARADIS

NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street plunged again Thursday after a French bank said it was freezing three funds that invested in U.S. subprime mortgages because it was unable to properly value their assets. The Dow Jones industrials extended its series of triple-digit swings, this time falling more than 380 points.

The announcement by BNP Paribas raised the specter of a widening impact of U.S. credit market problems. The idea that anyone - institutions, investors, companies, individuals - can't get money when they need it unnerved a stock market that has suffered through weeks of volatility triggered by concerns about tight credit and bad subprime mortgages.

Credit : Iwon.com

By JOE BEL BRUNO

NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street suffered one of its worst losses of 2007 Thursday, leading a global stock market plunge as investors succumbed to months of worry about the mortgage and corporate lending markets. The Dow Jones industrials closed down more than 310 points after earlier skidding nearly 450.

Investors who had been able for months to largely shrug off discomfort about subprime mortgage problems and a more difficult environment for corporate borrowing finally decided it was time to sell after the Commerce Department issued another disappointing home sales report.

Credit : Iwon.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street ended an extraordinary and record-setting week Friday by surging higher again, sending the Standard & Poor's 500 index past a trading high set in March 2000 and thrusting the Dow Jones industrial past 13,900 for the first time.

Both the S&P and the Dow logged record closes for the second straight day and the Dow's new trading high put the blue chip index within about 70 points of 14,000. But the technology-laden Nasdaq composite index showed more modest advances in Friday's session and remained far from its record levels seen early in the decade.