High Dividend Yield Stock For Income Investors (June 21, 2009)

Hi, I found one big company which has good enough key statistics. The company gives high dividend yield, and the good news is you can buy the company stock in very good price. Below are the company descriptions:

Company name: Merck & Co. Inc. (Ticker: MRK)

Previous Close Price: $25.91

Dividend Yield: 5.90%

Dividend Rate: $1.52

5 Year Average Dividend Yield: 4.10 %

Dividend Paid Since: 1935

P/E Ratio: 9.29

Revenue: $23.41 Billion

Net Income: $4.874 Billion

Profit Margin: 25.33%

Total Cash: $12.58 Billion

We can see that Merck & Co. Inc. has paid dividend to its investor since 1935. And now it paid high dividend yield (5.90%) and high dividend rate ($1.52). Besides, although Merck gets less revenue than its competitors (GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer Inc and Sanofi-Aventis), but it earns much money ($4.874 billion) and has a good profit margin (25.33%). And the interesting part is you can buy the company stock in very cheap price (P/E: 9.29) if compared to its industry P/E (12.57).

Stay alert!

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Posted in: High Dividend Yield Stock For Income Investors

Stock Of The Week For Defensive Investor (June 18, 2009)

Hi, I'm sorry that I didn't post article about defensive investor's stock for almost a month. Now here is our stock of the week for defensive investor:

Company Name: Toronto Dominion Bank (Ticker: TD)

Stock Price: $49.92

Market Capitalization: $42.91 Billion

Price/Earnings: 14.65

Price/Book Ratio: 1.33

Total Cash: $92.39 Billion

Profit Margin: 23.23%

Dividend: 3.90%

Toronto Dominion Bank is a retail and commercial bank which headquartered in Canada. The company P/E ratio is 14.65, little bit lower than their industry P/E ratio (14.94). Besides, their total cash, profit margin and dividend yield are good enough compared with their direct competitiors (The Bank Of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal). And the last, the company P/BV is the lowest among their direct competitor.

Enjoy!

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Posted in: Stock Of The Week For Defensive Investors

Bullish Stock According To Technical Analysis On June 10, 2009

Yeah finally I found a good company with a great market niche, great management, and bullish for long term (according to technical analysis). Below are the company's descriptions:

Chart by OptionsXpress

We can see that American Express Co. (Ticker:AXP) have its simple moving average crossover and MACD crossover. The crossover lines indicate that the company will go up for long term. But these informations are only based on technical analyses, so if you want to get a deeper analysis, you can also apply another analysis technique (e.g fundamental and sentiment).

Enjoy!

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Posted in: Bullish Stock According To Technical Analysis

High Dividend Yield Stock For Income Investors (June 6, 2009)

After searching with many strict criteria, I found one good company that paid high dividend yield to its investor. Beside that, the company also have a good fundamental so it will be a great company for income investors. The company is Abbott Laboratories (Ticker: ABT).

Here is the information about the company:

Company Name: Abbott Laboratories (Ticker: ABT)

Previous Close Price: $44.75 (June 6, 2009)

Dividend Yield : 3.60%

Dividend Rate: $1.60

5 Year Average Dividend Yield : 2.50%

Dividend Paid Since: 1926

P/E ratio: 13.04

Revenue: $29.48 Billion

Net Income: $1,7 Billion

Profit Margin: 18.25%

Total Cash: $5.70 Billion

From informations above, we can assume that Abbott is a company which give a better dividend yield (3.60%) and paid their investor since 1926. They also have profit margin around 18.25%, quite high for a big company like Abbott. The P/E ratio is also not expensive if compared to their industry's P/E (12.23). By reading the company information (Abbott), now you can choose the company that care and loyal enough to their investors like you.

Stay alert!

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Posted in: High Dividend Yield Stock For Income Investors

Bearish Stock According To Technical Analysis On June 3, 2009

After looking many companies' chart, accidentally i found this company.. Some of my technical indicator give signal that the company stock price will go down. Here is the company's description:


Chart by OptionsXpress

We can see that Ameriprise Financial Inc (Ticker: AMP) has two red candlestick and two red volume bar. It indicate that there are more sellers than buyers who trade this stock. Then the stochastic's blue line has crossed its upper limit and moved down. And the last, the MACD blue line has also moved down and crossed the red line. These indicate that the stock will go down soon (for short term).

Steps you can do to this bearish stock:
1. Short sell it.
2. If you have the stock, take profit now ^^

But in my opinion, the stock only bearish for short term, so if you're an investor (not a trader) you can hold the stock.

Stay alert!

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Posted in: Bearish Stock According To Technical Analysis

High Dividend Yield Stock For Income Investors (May 27, 2009)

After searching with many strict criteria, I found one good company that paid high dividend yield to its investor. Beside that, the company also have a good fundamental so it will be a great company for income investors. The company is Altria Group Inc (Ticker: MO).

Here is the information about the company:

Company Name: Altria Group Inc. (Ticker:MO)

Previous Close Price: $16.92 (May 26, 2009)

Dividend Yield : 7.70%

Dividend Rate: $1.25

5 Year Average Dividend Yield : 16.20%

Dividend Paid Since: 1928

P/E ratio: 11.35

Revenue: $16.17 Billion

Net Income: $3.07 Billion

Profit Margin: 18.96%

Total Cash: $3.86 Billion

From informations above, we can assume that Altria is a company which give a better dividend yield (7.70 %) and they paid their investors since 1928. This was a long enough term record of dividend paid by the company. Beside that, the company is quite cheap where the P/E ratio are only 11.35 whereas the industry P/E ratio are 13.59. The profit margin was also cool, around 18.96%.
By reading the company information (Altria), now you can choose the company that care and loyal enough to their investors like you.

Stay alert!

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Posted in: 2009),High Dividend Yield Stock For Income Investors

Stock Of The Week For Defensive Investor (May 22, 2009)

After screening for a good (although it's hard to find it in this tough time), finally we could find the better company which match to our defensive investor's stock criteria according to Benjamin Graham's tenet. Here is the company's description:

Company Name: Suburban Propane Partners LP (Stock Ticker: SPH)

Stock Price: US$40.72 (May 21, 2009)

Market Capitalization: US$1.34 billion

Price/Earnings: 7.90

Price/Book Ratio: 3.66

Total Cash: US$235.46 million

Profit Margin: 12.44%

Dividend: 3.23

Suburban Propane Partners LP is the company which distributes propane, fuel oil, kerosene, diesel fuel, gasoline, and refined fuels, as well as marketing of natural gas and electricity. The company's P/E ratio are 7.90, and quite cheap if compared with its industry's P/E (18.04) and the cheapest among its direct competitors (Amerigas Partners LP, Ferrellgas Partners LP and Energy Transfer Partners LP). The P/BV ratio is also quite small if compared with other companies. And the last but not least, although the company has the least revenue among its competitor, but Suburban earns the highest net income (170.48 million).

Stay alert!

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Posted in: Stock Of The Week For Defensive Investors

Bullish Stock According To Technical Analysis On May 17, 2009

Here is the stock that meets some criterias to be a bullish stock. Below are the analyses about the company (without fundamental analyses):


Chart by OptionsXpress.com

General Motors Corp. 7.25 Notes (RGM) has closed at $1.28, with daily volume of 128.245.

The company has its bullish engulfing candlestick, which the white candlestick engulfed the red candlestick. The stochastic's blue line has reach its lower limit line, and ready to cross its red line. Beside that, the MACD's blue line has also ready to cross its red line.

Stay alert!

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Posted in: Bullish Stock According To Technical Analysis

Stock Of The Week For Defensive Investor (May 12, 2009)

Here is the stock of the week that is good enough for defensive investors (This stock has met criteria to be a good stock for defensive investor according to Benjamin Graham's tenet):

Company's Name: AstraZeneca plc (Stock Ticker: AZN)

Stock Price: US$38.15 (May 11, 2009)

Market Capitalization: 56.85 billion

Price/Earnings: 8.44

Price/Book Ratio: 3.59

Total Cash: 4.49 billion

Profit Margin: 21.33%

This company's key ratios was better than average companies, where the Price/Book Value Ratio was small. And if you compare it with its direct competitor (GSK, MRK and NVS), the company's PE was the smallest. It means that the company's stock price was cheap enough..

Stay alert!

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Posted in: Stock Of The Week For Defensive Investors

Wall Street Opened Higher Again (May 4, 2009)

Wall Street soared again at the opening after the news that pending home sales gained 3.2 percent in March. This news was better-than-expected and have increased the investors' mood.

The National Association of Realtors said that the homebuyers pushed the seasonally adjusted index of pending sales up by 3.2 percent to 84.6 in March. This may be a sign that the economy began to stabilize again.

Stay alert!

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Posted in: News

Wall Street Slipped At The Opening But Finally Rose Again (May 1, 2009)

U.S. stock market slipped at the opening due to many negative economic datas and profit taking action made by investors. But at the time this article was written, the stock market has increased again becaused of consumer sentiment's increase.

MasterCard Inc said that their first quarter earnings fell 18 percent to $367 million ($2.80 per share), whereas previosly they earned $447 million ($3.37 per share) last year. The results beat Wall Street expectations, but MasterCard said that their revenue would be lower than expected this year.

Hartford Investment Group reported its first quarter loss of around $1.21 billion($3.77 per share). The result was worse-than-expectation ($3.05 per share).

Chevron said that its first quarter earnings fell to $1.84 billion (92 cents per share), whereas previously it earned $5.17 billion ($2.48 per share) last year.

But the stock market rebounded after The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its final index of confidence climbed to 65.1 in April from 57.3 in March.

Stay alert!

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Posted in: News

Wall Street Dropped At The Opening, But Recovered Again After It (April 27, 2009)

U.S. Stock market was opened lower due to investors' worry about swine flu. But the market increased again immediately after General Motor's plans to cut its jobs, Qualcomm Inc fiscal second-quarter and Verizon first quarter circulated in Wall Street.

The swine flu's virus was estimated as the cause of more than 100 deaths in Mexico. U.S. and Canada were also shocked by that virus, but not as severe as in Mexico. Beside that, in Europe, Spain also said that its country was infected.

After focused on the swine flu issue, investors were switched their focus on GM and technology sector. General Motor said that it will cut 21.000 jobs by next year and eliminate Pontiac. Qualcomm announced its first quarter loss ($289 million) but it raised its full-year revenue target. Verizon said that it earned $3.21 billion (58 cents per share), higher than its last year first quarter earnings. These news have lifted Wall Street again...

Stay alert!

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Posted in: News

Stock Market Rose Due To Better-Than-Expected Companies' Earnings (April 24, 2009)

Wall Street was opened higher after many companies posted their better-than-expected earnings result. The companies are Ford Motor Co., American Express, and Amazon.com. Another news is the government have conducted stress tests to 19 financial institutions and announced its result.

Ford reported its first-quarter loss of $1.4 billion. Their operating cash flow were down around $3.7 billion. This is far less than their fourth quarter operating cash flow (down around $7.2 billion).

American Express reported its first-quarter profit of around $361 million (31 cents per share). This result made the bank became the biggest percentage gain today.

Amazon reported its earnings per share of 41 cents. And its revenue grew 18% to $4.9 billion.

After conducted stress tests, the government said that most banks are currently well capitalized. But the banks need to hold a substantial amount of capital above regulatory requirements to survive if the recession becoming worse.

Beside that, the other economic datas are the 0.6 percent drop in March new-home sales, and the announcement that March durable-goods orders fell 0.8 percent.

Dow Jones closed at 8,075 (up 117,95), Nasdaq at 1,694 (up 42,08) and S&P 500 at 866.

Stay alert

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Posted in: Daily Recap,Good News

Wall Street Turned Back Due To Companies' Good Earnings (April 22, 2009)

The stock market rose at the opening due to companies' good earnings. The companies' report have ditched the investors' concern about Morgan Stanley's disappointing report. The companies are Yahoo Inc., Boeing Co., Well Fargo & Co., McDonald's Corp. and AT&T Inc.

Yahoo's first quarter earnings fell to $118 million (dropped 78%), and its decision to remove only 700 of its employees has increased the company's stock price.

Boeing's earnings fell to $610 million (86 cents per share), wheras the company earned $1.21 billion at last year's first quarter.

Well Fargo reported that they earned $2.38 billion (56 cents per share), higher than its last year first quarter earnings $2 billion.

McDonald's announced that its profit rose to $979.5 million (87 cents per share), higher than its last year's first quarter profit ($946.1 million / 81 cents per share).

AT&T announced that it earned of around $3.1 billion (53 cents per share) down 10 percent from its last year's first quarter earnings ($3.5 billion / 57 cents per share).

Almost all of the above companies' earnings exceed the analysts' estimates, causin the stock market has increased, so it giving rise to the stock market.

One of today's negative news is about Morgan Stanley's miserable first quarter report, where the bank lost $ 578 million (57 cents per share). This made the company's stock price fell 69 cents (2.8 percent), to $23.96 in morning trading.

News on this day gave one more evidence that at least the companies has started to showed improvement again..

Stay alert!

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Posted in: Good News

Wall Street Dropped Again At The Opening (April 21, 2009)

U.S. stock market dropped again for the second day due to the companies' miserable first quarter earnings.

Caterpillar announced its first quarter loss of around $ 112 million (19 cents per share). This was its first loss since 1992, whereas the company earned $922 million ($1.45 per share) on its last year's first quarter.

Merck announced its first quarter profit of around $1.46 billion (67 cents per share). For information, its last year's first quarter profit was $3.33 billion ($1.52 per share).

But despite experienced a drop at the opening, now the stock market have increased again (at the time this article was written)..

Stay alert!

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Posted in: News

Wall Street Declined At The Opening (April 20, 2009)

U.S. stock market were opened lower although there is no significant bad news, even some good news didn't make any increase to the market. Probably this drop was caused by profit taking made by investors.

Some news that circulated today are the announcement of Bank of America's first quarter result. Bank of America announced a profit of around $ 2.81 billion (44 cents per share), which exceeded analysts' expectations (4 cents per share). But nevertheless, their loans problem were also bounced, causing the bank stock prices fell.

On the other side, Oracle Co. announced that they will buy Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion. Previously, IBM also expressed its intention to buy Sun Microsystems. But IBM did not give further confirmation about its plan.
PepsiCo also announced a bid to purchase the Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas for $ 6 billion, which aimed to cut expenditure, in order to become more efficient, and to control its distribution..

Stay alert!

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Posted in: News

Wall Street Soared At The Opening! (April 17th, 2009)

Wall Street stock prices have finally increased at the opening. Investors became optimistic after Citigroup and General Electric reported its better--than-expected first quarter earnings.

Citigroup announced that the company experienced losses of around $ 18 cents per share, lower than analysts' expectation (analysts expected that the bank will lose around $ 34 cents a share). This losses is much smaller than one year ago, when Citigroup lose around $ 1.03 per its share.

Beside that, the stock market was also affected by General Electric's first quarter report. The company said that its profit fell 36 percent to $ 2.74 billion (26 cents per share), but this report is still better than analysts' expectation (analysts expected GE will take profit of around 21 cents per share).

These were good news and although slowly, but the recession would be ended soon with the companies' improvement. Stay alert and always think positively!

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Posted in: Good News,News

Many Economic Data Mixed Wall Street (April 16th, 2009)

Stock market was increased when opened, but decrease again now. Both of good and bad news have affected Wall Street. Some of them were about jobless report, housing starts, and JP Morgan Chase's first quarter report.

The Labor Department said that this week the unemployment claims dropped to a seasonally adjusted 610.000, and this was below the analysts' expectations. This unexpected result was indicated that the job sector has experienced an improvement. But on the other side, the new housing starts met a sharp decline. The Commerce Department said that housing starts fell 10.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 510,000 units in March.

But behind all the not-good-enough news above, there is always a good enough news. JP Morgan Chase reported its $2.14 billion profit on record revenue of $26.9 billion (from January until March). Although these profit are not as much as in last year, but it showed that bank sector have had their lives again..

So stay alert and always think positive!

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Posted in: News

Bad News Shook Wall Street (April 15th, 2009)

U.S. stock market was opened lower after many negative economic news occured on Wall Street.

Until now, here are the latest economic data in U.S:

- The Labor Department said that the Consumer Price Index fell 0.1 percent in March. Whereas, previously the Consumer Price Index increased around 0.4 percent in February.

- The Producer Price sank around 3.5 percent in March. This was the biggest decline in producer price since 1950.

- Energy Prices fell about 3.0 percent in March. Previously, the energy prices were increased around 3.3 percent in February.

- Core prices, exclude food and energy items increased 0.2 percent in March..

Stay alert and let's wait for the other news..

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Posted in: News

Wall Street Slipped After Many Economic Data (April 14th, 2009)

U.S. stock market experienced a decline at the opening. This decrease was caused by some bad news that appeared on Wall Street. Some of them are the decline in retail sales, wholesale prices, and in auto sales.

The Commerce Department said that retail sales declined about 1.1 percent in March, lower than the analyst prediction that the retail sales will increase 0.3 percent.

In addition, the Labor Department said that wholesale prices also experienced a decline about 1.2 percent in March. The decline was caused by a drop in the cost of gasoline, energy products and foods.

And the worse, the auto sales declined around 2.3 percent in March, indicated that the automotive companies still face its difficult period.

Although the news is not good enough today, but Ben Bernanke still said that these are signs that the recession will ended. Let's wait and stay alert..

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Posted in: News

The Stock Market Tried To Maintain Its Position (April 8th, 2009)

At the opening, Wall Street have increased due to the announcement of the U.S. Treasury Department's plans to extend its $700 billion aid to insurance companies.

The insurance companies are eligible to receive the TARP funds because of their bank holding company status.

But beside of this increase, investors must remain cautious about the other news that showed a decline. The Commerce Department said that February's wholesale inventories dropped about 1.5 percent. This was the steepest drop during the last 17 years. Beside that, news that also attracted the investors' attention is the decline of oil prices.

Some analysts said that Wall Street will face a longer bearish sentiment than we have expected. So we must be more cautious..

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Posted in: News

Wall Street Declined Again (April 7th, 2009)

Wall street experienced its second day's decline caused by investor's fears about the banks' balance sheet and some of the first quarter's bad report.

In addition, the International Monetary Fund also announced its forecast that the bank's toxic assets could increase to $ 4 trillion. This news has increased the investors' concern about the stock market. Beside that, this news has also increased the investors' worry that the government aid that aimed to raise the banks' loan might not work.

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Posted in: News

Wall Street Slipped At The Opening (April 3rd, 2009)

U.S. stock market declined at the the opening, caused by the news about the increase of the unemployment rate. The U.S. jobless rate increased to 8.5 percent in March, where around 663,000 jobs were eliminated by the employers. This was the highest jobless rate since late 1983.

The news about the unemployment rate was indeed quite bad, and this showed that the recession in United States have a very bad impact on the jobs market. But according to some economists, the report in the next months would be not worse than the report in March. Hopefully this opinion indicated that the market has found its true bottom, and the recession would end in 2009 as has been said by Ben Bernanke..

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Posted in: News

FASB Gived Facility To Banks In Applying Mark-To-Market Accounting (April 2nd, 2009)

Wall Street jumped sharply after the Financial Accounting Standards Board gived a relief to the banks in applying mark-to-market accounting to their toxic assets. With this rules' relaxation, the troubled banks' balance sheet would be potentially repaired.

Beside that, another thing that also increased Wall Street was a news about the G20 leaders' agreement to provide additional funds of around $ 1 trillion to the IMF and other global institutions, such as the World Bank. The funds injection was aimed to speed up the global economic recovery.

Wow! These news were very spectacular and made Dow Jones jumped up to over 8000 points at the time this article was written. Hopefully, the world economy can recover as quick as we expected. Stay alert!

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Posted in: News

Wall Street Slipped On The Beginning of The 2nd Quarter (April 1st, 2009)

Wall Street began the 2nd Quarter of 2009 with a drop that caused of the conflicts occured one day before the meeting of worlds' leader in London. One of the conflicts is that the demonstrans attacked the Royal Bank of Scotland's office because the bank gave annual pension of around 700,000 pounds to its former boss. The investors also worried about the U.S. job cut report that will be announced by the Labor Department on Friday.

But on the other side, the pending home sales were up about 2.1 percent to 82.1 in February. Previously, January pending home sales were still at the lowest spot (on 80.4). Even though the housing sales were still depressed, but this increase indicated that this sector has experienced the resurrection.

Although experienced decline at the opening, but the Dow Jones has increased again now (when this report was written).

Let's hope that tommorow's meeting of G20 leaders will generate good results for the world's economy...

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Posted in: News

Stock Market Rallied On March 31th, 2009

Wall Street rallied again after declined on Monday. The investors focused on economic data, because today is the last day of the quarter. Beside that, The Federal Reserve's step to lower the mortgage rates are expected to improve the housing sector.

The report also showed that during March, the consumers' confidence have also improved, although still near its record lows.

However, behind all of the good news above, there are some negative news that make investors become worry. Some of them are the decrease of home price and the possibility of GM's bankruptcy. Previously, President Barack Obama has given 60 days for GM to restructure their company. But Fritz Henderson, the new CEO of GM said that if they cannot reach the agreement with the related party in 60 days, maybe a bankruptcy is one of the decisions that can be taken to solve their problems..

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Posted in: News

Stock Market Fell After White House Rejected Auto Companies' Plan (March 31th, 2009)

Wall Street have declined after President Barack Obama rejected the General Motors and Chrysler's turnaround plan. He said that both GM and Chrysler didn't provide enough desire to change their companies' structure.

The latest news, about the removal of Rick Wagoner, CEO of GM has also worsened the industry's conditions. But the President said that Rick's removal was a sign that the company needs new direction.

On The other side, the investors have taken their money back after took profit from two last weeks' gain. They said that they want to allocate their money in a more secure sector.

Stay alert and think positively although the economy not as good as we want..

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Posted in: News

Stock Market Slipped Becaused of Some Economic Data ( March 27th, 2009)

Stocks market declined after as some economic data circulated in Wall Street. The investors also took profit after two-day rally.

Here are another news today:

- The Commerce Department said that in Februay, personal spending rose to 0.2 percent, but the personal income fell 0.2 percent. These consumers's mood increased after the government do an effort to help financial system.

- President Obama will meet with the CEO of biggest banks in the country. This meeting will discuss about the plan that designed to improve and stabilize the U.S. financial system.

In addition to the news above, one thing that also quite important and worried by the investors is 2009's first quarter earnings. So again, let's hope the companies' first quarter earnings will increase or at least remain stable..

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Posted in: News

U.S. Stock Market Rose Again On March 26th, 2009

Today, some news have strengthened the opinion that the market have found its bottom as Best Buy announced its smaller-than-expected profit. Beside that, an auction on seven-year Treasury notes has also increased the investors' optimism.

Best Buy reported its 23 percent drop in profit, but the drop of its profit are smaller than analysts' expectations. This report showed that the shoppers' power have increased.

On the other side, The Labor Department said that the total number of people claiming benefits increased to 5.56 million last week. This is the highest record on unemployment since 1967..

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Posted in: News

Breaking News: Wall Street Jumped Again!

Wall Street rose after the government reported the increases in order for durable goods and the rises of new home sales. Investors were excited after hearing these breaking news.

The Commerce Department said that in February, the demand for durable goods increased for about 3.4 percent. This was the biggest increase since December 2007, where even the order for durable goods experienced a sharp decline last month.

The Commerce Department also said that in February, the new home sales rose about 4.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 337,000. This was a good breaking news, where many economists had expected that new home sales would fall in February.

Some analysts said the increase of stock markets and U.S.economy during the last two weeks have slowed the recession. That is good, let's hope the recession will end as soon as possible ^_^

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Posted in: News

Investors Took Profits, Wall Street Slipped (March 24th, 2009)

Wall Street declined as the investors took their profits. They took the profit after the U.S. indexes rose about 7 percent.

Meanwhile, the Congress gived power to Geithner to control big financial institutions, such as AIG, whose failure would endanger the U.S. financial system. Ben Bernanke also said that he wanted to sue AIG to stop giving millions in bonuses. Now, fifteen from twenty executives of AIG have agreed to give back their bonuses. The bonuses are worth $ 50 million.

All the steps that U.S government and The Fed took were aimed to prevent a further fall in the economy. In addition, this step were also taken to improve the U.S. financial system.

Let's wait and see what will be happen next and stay alert. Good luck!

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Posted in: News

Government Planned To Remove Bank's Bad Assets, Wall Street Soared (March 23th, 2009)

Government said that they want to help banks to remove their troubled loans and securities. They have two plans, which are plans to buy bad loans and to buy securities from banks. The total purchase of these banks' bad assets are around $ 1 trillion. The goal of these plans are to weighing on banks' balance sheets and increasing banks' ability to provide loans to consumers.
The stock market jumped after this announcement, especially banks and financial firms' stocks.

The increase of existing homes's sale was also increased the stock market..

Let's hope that all of these news will help to lift the U.S. economy and will help banks to give more loans to consumers, because during this period the drop in lending has worsened and prolonged the recession..

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Posted in: News

Stock Market's Weekly Recap (Ended March 20th, 2009)

Here is the stock market's weekly recap ended at March 20th, 2009:

- On Monday the stock market, especially bank stocks rose for the fifth day because of the british bank Barclays PLC said that its bank performance at the beginning of 2009. Ben Bernanke also said that he optimist that the recession would probably end at early 2010 if the government can successfully strengthen the banking system.

- On Tuesday, The Department of Commerce said that the construction of new homes increased 22.2 percent from January (became to 583,000 units), core inflation rose 0.2 percent in February, and the Labor Department said the wholesale prices increased 0.1 percent. Harry Reid said Congress will force AIG's executives to pay back some of the $165 million bonuses they received.

- On Wednesday, IBM has made a $6.5 billion offer to buy Sun, which would be IBM's biggest deal ever. On this day, Bernard Maddoff's accountant was also arrested on fraud charges.

- On Thursday, FedEx reported a 75 percent drop in profit because of the global recession. The other news is the Labor Department said although the new claims for jobless benefits fell to 646.000.

- On Friday, Ben Bernanke said in his speech that The Fed will buy treasury securities that aims to revive lending and improve the economy. On the other side Citigroup have splitted its company into two divisions (Citi Holdings and Citicorp). Citigroup also shifted Gary Crittenden as Citi Holdings's chairman, and moved Edward Kelly to become chief financial officer.

On Friday, Dow was closed at 7,278.38, Nasdaq at 1,457.27, and S&P 500 at 768.54.

Let's hope that on next Monday, the stock market will rise again. If the stock market rise more and more, maybe Bernanke's opinion that the recession would probably end at the end of 2009 will becoming real.. So let's hope and always fill your mind with the positive way of thinking!

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Posted in: News

The Fed Announced That They Will Buy Treasury Security (March 20, 2009)

Ben Bernanke said in his speech that The Fed will buy treasury securities that aims to revive lending and improve the economy. U.S stock market rised directly after this announcement.

On the other side, Vikram Pandit, CEO of Citigroup said that the company was splitting in two divisions. The divisions are Citi Holdings and Citicorp. Beside that, Citigroup have shifted Gary Crittenden as Chairman of Citi Holding, the riskiest that hold the riskier bank's assets. Previously, Gary was a Chief Financial Officer in Citigroup. Citigroup also moved Edward Kelly to become chief financial officer from previously have position as CEO of Citi Alternative Investments.

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Posted in: News

Wall Street Mixed on March 19th, 2009

Wall street decreased after FedEx announced that its Q3 earnings has tumbled. The Labor Department also reported that new claims for jobless benefits fell to 646,000. This is lower than last week's report (658.000).

FedEx reported a 75 percent drop in profit because of the global recession, and because of this, FedEx plans to cut costs by reducing its capacity, reduce its workers and work hours. They reported that their revenue dropped 14 percent to $8.14 billion.

On the other side, the Labor Department said although the new claims for jobless benefits fell to 646.000, but the total workers who claims for jobless benefit reached another record high. One of the factors that causes high levels of unemployment is because the companies want to cut their costs. So one of the things that company could do is by reducing its workers.

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World's Stock Market Rose After Fed's Announcement

Most of world's stock market were closed higher after Federal Reserve's announced its $1.2 trillion spending plan. The Fed hoped by this spending plan, the worst global slowdown will end quicker.

On the other side, the investors are waiting on report about new workers filing for unemployment benefits. The Labor Department's report is scheduled to be released Thursday at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

Maybe the Wall Street will face a mixed move at today's market opening, but I think with investor's optimism, the stock market will still be better today..

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Stock Markets Slipped Due To Worries About AIG and Fed's Meeting Result (March 18th, 2009)

Wall street stock exchange has decreased on its early trading. This is caused by investor's worries about the Fed's meeting result. Investors and U.S. citizens also still mad and critize about AIG's actions to give bonuses for its executives.

Today's news:

- The Fed is expected to set the rates at their current historically low level (around 0 to 0.25 percent). But investors are still nervous about the Fed's assessment on the economy that will be reflected through the rate decision. The committee was expected to outline its statement at around 2:15 p.m.

- Wall street also decreased due to the taxpayer's anger of AIG's actions that gived $ 165 million bonuses to its executive. Kanjorkski, a member of the House Financial Services Committee and chairman of the House capital markets subcommittee, said that the AIG's action can remove the U.S. taxpayer's patience with the attempt to help Wall Street and make a recovery to the American economy. This action will interfere the economic recovery. Kanjorski said that Liddy must prepare a plan to solve the problem he's not going to interfere with the economic recovery of the United States again.

- IBM gives a positive sign to acquire Sun Microsystems. IBM has made a $6.5 billion offer to buy Sun, which would be IBM's biggest deal ever. I think this decision would be profitable for both company in long term.

- Bernard Maddoff's accountant was arrested on fraud charges. This man has been accused of assisting bernie in conducting fraud in the past 20 years.

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U.S. Stock Market Has Opened Lower Becaused of Mixed Economic Data

Wall Street has opened lower because of some mixed economic data, that are inflation, and a little impact of Alcoa announcement.

Below are recaps on today's news:

- The Department of Commerce informed that construction of new homes increased 22.2 percent from January (477.000 units) to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000 units. Previously, the economists expected that the construction will drop to a pace of around 450.000 units.

- Core inflation, excludes energy and food, rose 0.2 percent in February, just little higher than the 0.1 percent gain that economists had expected. In January, the core inflation rose 0.4 percent.

- The Labor Department said that wholesale prices increased 0.1 percent. The statistic was smaller than the 0.4 percent increase that economists had expected.

- Alcoa has lowered its dividend on Monday after market closed. Instead of cut 82 percent of its dividend into 3 cents, Alcoa also said that it plans to sell stock and debt to help reduce annual costs by more than $2.4 billion.

There are news that circulated in Wall Street this morning, but now The Dow Jones Industrial has its rally again after Harry Reid said that Congress will force AIG's executives to pay back some of the $165 million bonuses they received. This news makes investors have their passion again.

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Investor are Optimist, Wall Street Continues Its Rally (March 16th, 2009)

The Dow Jones Industrial, S & P 500, and bank stock prices rose for the fifth day, after the banks reported its profit in January and February 2009.

Investors are still optimistic on the news about Citigroup, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase's profit. Ben Bernanke, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve also said that at the end of 2009, the recession would probably end if the government can successfully strengthen the banking system. He said that the government needs to encourage banks to lend money more freely and get the financial markets to work more normally.

And moreover, today the British bank Barclays PLC said that its bank's performance was also increased at the beginning of 2009. All of these news have more strengthen the investor's hope that the market has already reached its bottom...

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Wall Street Still Extends Its Gain------ Again??

U.S. stocks market rose again for the fourth straight day after many positive news from companies in many industries. AP news said that about five stocks rose for every three that fell on the New York Stock Exchange today.

Richard Parsons, Citigroup's chairman, said that Citigroup does not require additional aid from the government. Previously, Citigroup has received three times emergency funding to help defend the company's decline. Beside that, Bank of America's chief executive Ken Lewis said that the bank has booked the profits.

General Motors also reported a positive news, said that its would not need the latest government bailout money. General Electric's credit rating cut yesterday wasn't as bad as investors had feared.

All these positive news has strengthened and extended the stock market rise.

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Stock Market Mixed After Many Economic News Occured

Stock prices dropped when market opened today after S&P 500 cut GE's credit rating. Economic data also add the decline.

S&P 500 said it is lowering GE's credit rating from AAA to AA+. S&P said they believe that GECC is under increasing earnings pressure, due to recent sharp deterioration in general economic conditions around the globe.
But GE said the S&P's action that only cut their rating down one notch and improved their outlook to 'stable' was a good move.

The other economic data added the decline as The Labor Department said that first-time claims for unemployment benefits increased to 654,000. This claims were above analyst's expectations.

Although GE's cut rating and economic data occured, but both GE and stock market still extended their rally. This is the third day that stock market move higher.

I think maybe this is a sign that market are making its bottom, but until now no one could predict the future exactly.

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Wall Street Still Moves Higher Today

U.S. stock markets are still trying to extend the rally that occurred yesterday. The market has triggered by a letter from Citigroup Chief Excecutive Vikram Pandit to his employees saying that Citigroup posted its operating profit in the first two months of 2009.

During this bad period, Citigroup has lost so much money and took billions aid from the government. So because of that news, the investors optimist this first quarter might not be as bad as expected.

However, on the other side, the investors are still worry about world economy as China reported that its February export have fell sharply.

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Stock Prices Rose After Citigroup Reported Its Operating Profit

Wall street's stock prices rose after Citigroup reported operating profit of $ 8.3 billion during the first 2 months in 2009. Because of this story, Citigroup shares rose 27 percent, and other banking stock prices also increased sharply.

However, although Wall Street have soared after Citi's new, There are some bad rumours running on stock market. The rumour have circulated that SEC did not plan to suspend the mark-to-market accounting rule. But the markets showed little reaction to the news and traders said it was not a surprise.

On the other side, only for information, that the oil's price increased to near $48/barrel after OPEC signaled they will announce their production cut within days.

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Wall Street Rose at Opening

Wall Street's stock market rose after the announcement of $41 billion acquisition deal between Merck and Schering-Plough. This deal helped market to rise, although investors were still pessimistic about economic condition.

The negative news occured, when McClatchy Co. planned to cut 1.600 jobs because of its declining revenue.

Warren Buffet told CNBC's Becky Quick that the U.S. economy has fallen off a cliff over the past six months. The economy has slowed down a lot, and consumer have really changed their habits.
He said that the economy can't turn around on a dime and a turnaround won't happen fast, but he is really optimistic about U.S. economy in future. He said the economy will be running fine five years from now, because the strength of the American system will pull it through, just as it has many times in the past.

With this news, we know that American systems are strong. So although the economy condition has slowed, but people must still overcome their fear. With this optimistic long-term view, we can encourage the stock market to lift higher and beat this recession. As American president, Obama said that we must believe in change. So change your pessimism into optimism, and participate back in stock market!

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Market's Weekly Recap (Ending 06-Mar-09)

It was a tough week for the stock market caused by many negative economic data and investor sentiment, causing all U.S. index dropped deeply. The S&P 500 dropped 7.0 % (traded at its lowest level in 12 years), while Nasdaq and Dow dropped 6.1 % and 6.2 %.

The decline in the market started on Monday, where AIG reported a massive $61 billion quarterly loss. This was the largest company loss in U.S. corporate history. Another bearish sentiment increased when HSBC(ticker: HBC) reported a mass profit drop, made this company cut 6.100 jobs and reduced it dividend. Wells Fargo (ticker: WFC) and U.S. Bancorp (ticker: USB) are also announced that they will cut their dividends by roughly 85% to $0.05 per share in an effort to save capital.

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The Recession Deepens; Dow Closed Below 6,600

The Dow fell and closed at 6594.44, due to concerns about the banking systems and the future of GM. The government's Friday employment report also exacerbated the losses.

About banking, Citigroup stock price fell below $ 1 ( and ended at $ 1.02). Citi's price dropped because of several reasons, some because of loans problem and impact of the recession. It was also reported that Citigroup received no new capital last week.

GM's stock price decreased and its price closed at $ 1.86. Market worried that GM has a possibility to bankrupt.

Although many companies experienced a significant drop of their price, Wal-Mart's stock price increased to $ 49.75. The company posted better-than-expected sales results for February, and it raised its annual dividend by 15 percent.

all this uncertainty made long-term investors decide to not enter the market yet, don't you?

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Global Stock Market's Rally Affect Wall Street

1. Today, U.S. stock futures rose, with hopes that china's economy is able to lead the worldwide markets. Previously, Asian stock markets closed mostly higher on hopes for China's furher economic stimulus. Beside that, Obama government set a new program that aims to help up to 9 million borrowers stay in their homes and these programs are modified to lower monthly payments.

2. On the other side, according to the ADP employment index, U.S. private sector cuts 697.000 jobs in February. It was the biggest job loss since the report's launch in 2001.

3. Oil prices also jumped over 5 percent to near $44 a barrel Wednesday.

But some analysts said that this rally is only a bear-market rally...

May this information will help you in determining your investment decision ^^

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Warren Buffett's Annual Letter to His Shareholders (2009)

In his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, Warren Buffett predicted that throughout 2009, the nation's economy will be in shambles. He said that the credit crisis and falling stock and housing prices have led to paralyzing fear. However, he remains optimistic on the America's resilience. He said that the U.S. has faced greater economic challenge in the past, such as two World War and the Great Depression.

Berkshire Hathaway's profit fell 96 percent, and its net worth tumbled $10.9 billion in the year's final three months. Its net worth per share fell 9.6 percent in 2008, is the second decline since Buffett began running Berkshire in 1965.

Buffett said that he at least made one mistake in investing. Some of them are when he was buying ConocoPhilips stocks in a large amount when the price of oil and gas were near their peak. The other mistake is when he spent $244 million on stock in two Irish bank that appeared cheap, but later increase his losses.

For furhter information, The full letter is available online at http://www.berkshirehathaway.com.

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