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INVESTOR ALERT
'Bad bank' idea inspires Street

January 30 2009 3:55 P.M. EST

January fall sets grim tone
S&P 500 down 8% in month known for predicting market direction
Street sputters as investors digest dire reading on gross domestic product and sift through a week of downbeat economic reports.
• U.S. stocks done in by data; Amazon can't keep Nasdaq afloat
 • Peroni on two-tiered market   Audio | Even odds for '09 gains
• Worst January for bonds in 25 years | Corporate debt soars in January
 
eastern europe
 On the brink of crisis?
Once a hot spot, region could be heading toward a financial crisis similar to Asia's. At left, protesters in Bulgaria demand government action against corruption and economic woes.

u.s. economy
 Inventories tether GDP slide
 Stuffed shelves cited as factor in limiting what had been forecast to be a 5.5% drop in fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product.
 • GDP would have been worse without inventory quirk  
• Employment costs rise at slowest pace since the 1980s
 • Chicago purchasing gauge plumbs lowest levels since 1982
 • Consumer sentiment shows upswing in the new year: U. of Mich.
 • The worst is still ahead — and here's why (First Take)

oil and energy 
Big Oil's redemption
As oil hit record highs this past summer, Exxon Mobil and Chevron were grouped among the most reviled corporations in the U.S. Today, investors have hope (First Take).
 •  Exxon's bleak quarter caps a stellar year
• Crude oil loses 14% in January
• Chevron pumps $4.9 bln in quarterly profit

elsewhere in commodities
 Gold rushes $20 higher
Metal closes at six-month high as investors seek safe haven following gloomy GDP data.
• Gold, oil ETFs hit record highs
• Where's gold headed?  
• Start of something big? (Minyanville)

 
Latest News more » Top Stories more » Market Pulse more » Headlines more » Press Releases more »

  • 3:20 p.m.

    [DNA] Genentech urges holders to take no action on Roche offer

  • 2:52 p.m.

    Crude ends the week down 10%; monthly loss hits 14%

  • 2:51 p.m.

    Mar. crude ends up 24 cents, or 0.6%, at $41.68 a barrel

  • 1:44 p.m.

    Gold ends up 2.4% at $927.30, the highest in six months

  • 12:33 p.m.

    [XOM] Exxon Mobil 'actively seeking' acquisitions; mum on timing

  • 12:33 p.m.

    [EK] Fitch lowers Kodak issuer default rating to 'B-' from 'B'

  • 12:04 p.m.

    [HON] Honeywell cut to hold from buy at Standard & Poor's Equity

  • 11:56 a.m.

    Geithner, foreign officials, discuss upcoming G7, G20 talks

  • 11:44 a.m.

    [XOM] Exxon Mobil to remain 'flexible' on stock buybacks

  • 11:44 a.m.

    [XOM] Exxon trims quarterly buyback by $1 billion to $7 billion

  • 11:38 a.m.

    [BDK] S&P may downgrade Black & Decker ratings on outlook

  • 11:01 a.m.

    [FNM] Fannie joins Freddie to extends eviction halt until March

  • 11:00 a.m.

    Obama says recession is deepening

  • 10:59 a.m.

    Obama: GDP numbers show 'continuing disaster'

  • 10:55 a.m.

    [FO] S&P cuts Fortune Brands rating on weak operating performance

  • 10:04 a.m.

    Jan. UMichigan consumer sentiment below 61.5 expected

  • 10:04 a.m.

    UMichigan consumer sentiment rises to 61.2 in January

  • 10:02 a.m.

    [INDU] Dow industrials lower after consumer sentiment data

  • 10:01 a.m.

    [FNM] Fannie Mae extends suspension of evictions until Feb. 28

  • 9:57 a.m.

    U.S. Jan. Chicago PMI lowest since 1982

 
Today inside MarketWatch
  IN TAX GUIDE
TAXWATCH
Tax help for the jobless
Losing a job is bad enough. Unfortunately, many people only compound the problem with moves that lead to big tax bills later.
• Fear an overwhelming bill? IRS can help

Also in Tax Guide:
• Seven tax perks you don't want to miss
 • Free tax returns, even with high income
• Risks of refund-anticipation loans
 • Keep track of new rules for your IRA

   IN COMMENTARY
DAVID CALLAWAY
 Remembering 
James Brady
Among his many firsts, Brady was a multimedia journalist before anyone knew what that term would come to mean.

Also in Commentary:
 • Time to dispose of disposable income
• Investors suffer as tech firms quit guiding  
• Cody Willard on contract law (blog)

  IN PERSONAL FINANCE

CHUCK JAFFE
 Beware 
the bitter brew

Which coffee company is the Stupid Investment of the Week? (Hint: Not SBUX.)

Also in Personal Finance:
 • Realty Q&A: Home value is secondary
• Donoghue warns of bad advice
 • Robert Powell is watching  your 401(k)
 • Openshaw on help from grandparents

  IN NEWSLETTERS
MARK HULBERT
 Discernable differences

Investors are returning to the idea that not all stocks are created equal, and some may even be worth buying.

Also in Newsletters:
 • Gold takes a snooze, says Hulbert
 • Peter Brimelow is not giving up yet



New world order of financial regulation
There is a growing consensus that more regulation is on the way and it will change the way business is done worldwide.
 • Private equity is dead, long live private equity
• Hillary supports "Bad Bank" plan   
• Reverberations over Turkey-Israel dust-up | PM walks out
• Full special report as the global elite meet in the Swiss Alps

Sportswatch
Who's the Boss?
He's a rocker, but Bruce Springsteen isn't much of a football fan — that is, until halftime.
• Friedman dubs Springsteen the boss of hype
• It's a buyer's market for tickets to the game

BANKING
 Bailout has oversight issues, watchdog finds
Regulating agency tells Treasury Department it needs to improve how it monitors the $700 billion program it's operating.
• Two-part bailout envisioned (WSJ.com)
• Undoing Citi's contract to name Mets stadium is wrong (First Take)
• So-called hybrid bank bailout is no hybrid at all (24/7 Wall St.)  
 • 'Shameful' Wall Street bonuses draw Obama's ire
 • Goldman, Morgan Stanley said to be mulling deeper job cuts

industrial
Caterpillar eyes more layoffs
Company to cut 2,110 more workers as it wrestles with a sharp decline in sales tied to a drop-off in commercial construction.
 • Honeywell posts 30% rise in profit, backs outlook for the year

technology and telecom
Dell may face telecom headwinds
Moving into mobile-phone market may present risks, say analysts. Reports say Dell could unveil its own touch screen by February.
 • DoCoMo profit up 16%

autoMOTIVE
 Honda's earnings blues
Japan's No. 2 auto maker sees its quarterly profit crushed by 90%, lowers its outlook too.
• Toyota seen posting even bigger loss
 • Porsche half-year revenue drops 14%
• Quarterly loss widens for American Axle

Pharmaceuticals
 A Roche and a hard place
 Swiss drug giant Roche reduces its offer for Genentech to $42.5 billion, and goes hostile.
• Roche has a great deal at risk (First Take)
At left: Roche Chairman Franz Humer.

Beverages
Spirits sales walk the line
Industry as a whole seems to have outperformed most consumer categories in 2008, according to data from the Distilled Spirits Council.

GLOBAL ECONOMICS
 Unemployment up in euro zone
 Joblessness rise in the single-currency countries tops 8% level.
• Japan idle and jobless | Hitachi to ax 7,000 workers

Debt market
 Commercial-paper market gets small
 Short-term corporate debt volumes shrink by their largest-ever margin, as Federal Reserve holdings of the paper also tumble.

NEWSROOM ROSTER | CORRECTIONS | CODE OF CONDUCT | FEEDBACK

U.S. Europe Asia Currency/Rates More Markets»
Dow
7,992 -156.83
Nasdaq
1,477 -31.01
S&P 500
825 -20.10
Global Dow
1,380 -29.47
Oil
$41.68 0.24
Gold
$928.40 21.90
London
4,150 -40.47
Paris
2,974 -35.83
Frankfurt
4,338 -89.76
Global DowEU
1,014 0.04
Tokyo
7,994 -257.19
Hong Kong
13,278 123.78
Sydney
3,478 16.80
Global Dow
1,380 -29.47
10yr Treas
2.82% -0.03
Euro / $1US
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$1US / Yen
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Pound / $1US
1.45 0.0198
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