Stocks tumble as automaker plans are rejected

NEW YORK – Wall Street's March rally is on hold after the White House rejected turnaround plans from General Motors Corp. and Chrysler and gave investors an economic reality check.

Major indexes fell about 3 percent Monday, including the Dow Jones industrial average, which lost about 254 points but finished well off its lows. Financial stocks weighed heavily on the market amid worries that banks will need fresh injections of capital.

Fears of an automaker bankruptcy have been looming over investors for months, and the latest developments, which included the removal of GM's CEO Rick Wagoner, made the market even more uneasy not only about the industry, but the overall economy. However analysts said the pullback, which began with a 148-point drop in the Dow Friday, wasn't surprising after the average surged 21 percent over just 13 days.

"The market had a very significant rally off the lows," said David Katz, chief investment officer at Matrix Asset Advisors. "We think it's just taking a breather."

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow tumbled 254.16, or 3.3 percent, to 7,522.02. The Dow was down as much as 339 points so the market's ability to end off its lows on light trading volume could signal that investors aren't ready to give up on the rally.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 28.41, or 3.5 percent, to 787.53, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 43.40, or 2.8 percent, to 1,510.80.

Despite the two-day retreat, the Dow is still up 975 points, or 14.9 percent, from its low on March 9, when it ended at its worst levels since April 1997. The S&P 500 index is still up 16.4 percent from its low.

Oil prices reach new high for 2009 as dollar falls

NEW YORK – A weakened dollar and evidence that OPEC has significantly slowed production sent oil prices soaring to new highs for the year Thursday.

"I think we'll see higher oil prices for a while," said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research. "There's an expectation that the market has bottomed out."

Benchmark crude for April delivery surged $3.47, or 7 percent, to settle at $51.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil prices hit $52.25 earlier in the day, a price last seen on Dec. 1.

Crude prices have increased 11.6 percent since OPEC ministers met in Vienna on Sunday. The group said it would not cut production again immediately, but there is growing consensus that the millions of barrels taken off the market already each day are starting to balance a supply and demand picture that has been skewed for months.

Investors See a Glimmer and Send Shares Higher

Investors could get used to this whole “optimism” thing.

For a third day, stock markets climbed higher on Thursday as Wall Street seized on some less-than-dire glimmers from the banking system, retail sales, the auto industry and the General Electric Company. In the last hour of trading, financial markets were about 3 percent higher after rising steadily all day.

Financial companies and major banks led the way, but traders said they were cheered by the breadth of the upward move. Every sector was higher, from technology companies to car companies to retailers.

At the close, the Dow Jones industrial average was 239.66 points or 3.4 percent higher, at 7,170.06 while the broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was up 4 percent or 29.38 points, to 750.74. The Nasdaq was 3.97 percent or 54.46 points higher, at 1,426.10.

But even as traders watched green flicker across their trading screens, many were wondering, “Will it last?” Previous market bounces and bear-market rallies have melted away, dragging stocks to 12-year lows, as investors grew more concerned about the deteriorating economy and the solvency of major banks. Would this time be different?

My thoughts:
You gotta start somwhere..love to see that scale lurching up!!

Official Says Suspects Arrested in Cricket Attack

By JANE PERLEZ and SHARON OTTERMAN
Published: March 5, 2009
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The governor of Punjab said Thursday that Pakistani police had made a number of arrests in the commando-style attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in the city of Lahore, but he offered no details, saying that a full report would be presented on Friday. The governor, Salmaan Taseer, also said investigators had found a large amount of weapons and that the attackers were fully trained. It was unclear from his remarks whether any of the gunmen were among those arrested.

MY THOUGHTS:
This is sad. These athletes are totally innocent and now due to these unfortunate series of events Pakistan will probably be banned from hosting international games...Not fair!

Mediator: All but 3 Sept. 11 lawsuits settled

NEW YORK – A mediator says all but three of nearly 100 lawsuits brought on behalf of those killed or injured in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks have been settled for half a billion dollars.

The mediator, Sheila Birnbaum, reported the results of her work to a judge who has presided over the 95 lawsuits brought against airlines and aviation-related companies.

She said the settlement amounts are confidential but the total amount is about $500 million.

The lawsuits were brought by those who chose not to participate in a special fund Congress established that distributed more than $7 billion to more than 5,000 survivors.

Trial dates for the remaining three cases have not been set.

MY THOUGHTS:
3 LEFT OUT OF 100 AINT BAD. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN BIG NEWS EXCEPT THAT THE LAST THING AMERICANS WANT TO HEAR IS MORE MONEY LOST. STILL THHREE MORE SETTLEMENTS LEFT AND THEY'RE PROBABLY GOING TO BE BIG ONES.

Ford to cut $10B in debt with cash, equity offer

DEARBORN, Mich. – Ford Motor Co. says it will eliminate up to $10.4 billion of its debt by offering debtholders cash and stock instead, as the automaker continues to restructure amid a severe automotive sales downturn.

The Dearborn, Mich., automaker and its financial arm are putting up $2.2 billion in cash and about 500 million shares of stock to entice holders of bonds and secured-term debt.

The company said Wednesday it is restructuring the debt to reduce its costs and remain competitive, and it still does not intend to seek government loans.

General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC also are trying to swap debt for equity as a requirement of the $17.4 billion in government loans they have received.


My Thoughts: I wish i was loaded right now everything is so cheap. Cars are getting cheaper and airfare is affordable. They need to throw us students a bone and lower tuition, no offense to the profs. here they are actually good ones!