Stock Market Update -Jan 25th

The markets moved down a little further this week as we got more bad earnings reports from some of the big companies. Microsoft announced layoffs for the first time in its history (5000 let go). New Unemployment claims this past week jumped to almost 600,000! And another bank was shut down this week.

Gold equities started to rise (see chart), while Oil also closed higher. The British Pound took a beating as the economy grows worse over there (see chart below). This week it was also announced that Toyota Motor has overtaken General Motors as the world’s biggest carmaker.


Next week we have more earnings reports (11 DOW stocks reporting, including Exxon and Chevron), along with a Fed meeting on interest rates on Wednesday. They can't drop rates any lower, so lets hear what they will have to say now. We also get 4th quarter GDP numbers on Friday -it's not expected to be a good number!

Banks Pull Dow Under 8000
Throw Citi and BofA out of the Dow!
Stock Market's Next Bounce May Be Lower, Not Higher
Home prices see sharp dip
California jobless rate hits 9.3%
Merrill Boss Canned From Million-Dollar Office
GM, Ford, Chrysler Lost About 988 Auto Dealers During 2008

UK cannot take Iceland's soft option
Britain on the brink of an economic depression, say experts
Britain announces 2nd banking rescue plan
Barclays tumbles as bank shares drag down FTSE 100
S&P strips Spain of its AAA credit rating
Stocks and Indexes mentioned in this blog are for educational and illustration purposes only.