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• Friday, 12 March 2010

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• Market Responds Positively to Fed’s Report - 13 August 2009

Cautious trading on Wall Street prior to the two day meeting of the Federal Reserve, took a positive turn on Wednesday with major indexes rising early in the session, and rising further still in response to the news that the Federal Reserve considered the economy to be "leveling out" as opposed to the previous view that the decline in the economy had been slowing down, but declining nonetheless. The Fed further revealed that interest rates would remain unchanged at a rate of 0-0.25 percent, going on to warn that economic activity will most likely remain weak for some time.

• Axing From Global Dow Highlights Shaky Footing of Citigroup and General Motors - 30 March 2009

Although the scheduled annual review of the Global Dow (GDOW) components is only due to take place in September, the extraordinary worldwide market conditions currently being experienced prompted a review of the 150 companies endorsed by the recently established market index. The result of the early review saw the ousting of General Motors and Citigroup – two companies that have been under the microscope for some time now. This has sparked speculation as to whether these two high-profile companies will suffer the same fate on the Dow Jones Industrial Average which monitors 30 top U.S. stock market listed companies, all of which are included in the GDOW.

• Recovery of U.S. Economy Contingent on Stabilizing Financial System - 12 March 2009

Following a dramatic Wall Street rally on Tuesday which saw the Dow Jones industrial average gain 379 points, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 climbing 43.07 points and the Nasdaq composite going up by 43.07 points, the market inched slightly higher again on Wednesday, leaving stock market investors wondering whether this should be seen as a sign for optimism. Tuesday’s market surge has been primarily attributed to Citigroup’s report that the troubled financial institution traded profitably in both January and February. In light of the fact that Citigroup had reported five consecutive quarterly losses, made use of government assistance, and saw its stock fall below a dollar during last week, this was welcome news indeed.

• Wall Street Facing 12-year Lows, Buffet’s Berkshire Takes a Knock, GE Cuts Dividends - 2 March 2009

Wall Street ended last week on the brink of 12 year lows with the Dow Jones industrial average posting its worst February since 1933 and closing at 7,063, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 ended the week at 735 and the Nasdaq composite dropped to 1,378. A number of factors had a negative impact on stock market performance last week, including the worse than expected GDP reading for the fourth quarter of 2008 and the news that the US government is set to take a large stake in Citigroup, which in turn sparked fears that other major banks may be heading the same way.

• Citigroup Seeks Ways To Weather Global Financial Storm - 21 November 2008

Despite a vote of confidence from its biggest single investor, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Citigroup’s shares and market value continue to decline. Citigroup’s market value dropped to $25.7 billion on Thursday, and when taking into account that in the not too distant past its market value exceeded $270 billion, it appears that investor’s have some valid reservations about investing in the embattled bank. Nevertheless, on Thursday the Prince stated that he believes Citigroup’s shares are “dramatically undervalued”, and he plans to increase his less than 4 percent stake in Citigroup, to 5 percent.

• U.S. Automakers Dilemma And Citigroup Job Cuts Negatively Impact Markets - 18 November 2008

The uncertainty regarding the future of U.S. automakers, reservations about key economic reports to be released later this week, the reality of weak manufacturing data, and Citigroup’s announcement of planned drastic job cuts are all being cited as reasons behind the U.S. stock market’s dismal performance on Monday. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 2.63 percent, or 223.73 points, at 8,273.58. Standard & Poor’s 500 index was also down 2.6 percent and the Nasdaq composite dropped 2.3 percent. Markets in Europe didn’t fare any better, with London’s FTSE 100 falling 2.4 percent, while Germany’s DAX dropped 3.3 percent and France’s CAC-40 index recorded a 3.3 percent decline.