Stocks had their worst month since February 2009. U.S. stocks fell this week as worries about technology company earnings and outlooks coupled with uncertainty about the political situation and concerns about sovereign debt stability weighed on sentiment and valuations.
State-of-The-Union Address. Speaking to the nation and members of Congress in a high-stakes policy address, President Barack Obama used his first State of the Union speech to call for a host of job-creation measures and a redoubled effort to finish health-care reform in the midst of a newly challenging political environment for him and his party. Striking a populist tone at times but reaching out to his Republican opponents at others, Obama defended his accomplishments from his first year in office and looked ahead for progress on climate change, education and the war on terrorists. Read more about the State of the Union address .
Another term for Bernanke Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke survived hard-core opposition to his handling of the financial crisis by some Senate Republicans and Democrats and won approval on Thursday for a second four-year term. Bernanke received more "no" votes than any Fed chairman in history, but in the end was confirmed by a vote of 70-30. Read more about Bernanke's tenure .
Few clues on the Fed The Federal Reserve will tighten U.S. monetary policy in June. No, it will be September. Wait, it won't be until after the November election. Check that, not until 2011. How about 2012? In plain English, Fed watchers are all over the place. The central bank repeated its pledge that rates will stay at ultra-low levels for an "extended" period of time, but just how long is that? Read more about what economists are saying about when the Fed will tighten .
Defending AIG's bailout Facing sharp criticism on Capitol Hill, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and his predecessor, Henry Paulson, defended their decision to complete a $182 billion bailout of American International Group Inc.(AIG), arguing that it was necessary to protect the financial system from implosion. Paulson said an AIG failure would have been devastating to the financial system, while Geithner said taxpayers could recover the cost of the bailout if lawmakers support a proposal to impose a $90 billion fee over 10 years on financial institutions. Read more about their testimony .
The iPad makes its debutApple Inc. (AAPL) ended months of speculation by unwrapping the iPad, a new touch-screen tablet computer that Chief Executive Steve Jobs said would revolutionize how people access their digital content and change the future of personal computing. Jobs said the iPad is designed to fill a gap between the iPod touch and iPhone and its MacBook line of laptop computers. Read more about the highly anticipated device .
World Economic Forum, Davos A focus on rising deficits in the U.S. and some other developed countries could prove misplaced as policymakers attempt to avoid a double dip, according to some economists attending the annual gathering of business leaders and politicians in the Swiss mountains. The potential for fiscal crises has been identified as a top fear by participants in this year's annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. Read more about what's going on in Davos .
Toyota's big recall Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) expanded its recall late in the week to another 1 million vehicles and said it would be recalling vehicles in Europe to correct problems leading to unexpected acceleration. The latest recall, to fix problems with floor mats that block accelerator pedals, came on top of an earlier move to recall models with problems in the accelerator mechanism itself. Read more about Toyota's recall .
Highest foreclosure rates The Las Vegas metropolitan area suffered a foreclosure rate that was five times the national average and the highest rate in the country in 2009, according to a report by RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace. The 20 cities with the highest rates of foreclosure notices were all in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona -- states with markets that got extremely hot during the real-estate boom, according to RealtyTrac's year-end report. But the trouble isn't over yet. Read more about the foreclosure data .
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment