market round-up

According to the employment report released today, private sector jobs have grown by the sheer figure of 41,000 in the month of May. Wall Street was expecting a growth of 190,000 jobs. The month of April witnessed a rise of 218,000 jobs. Temporary jobs grew again, by 31,000 this time, as businesses...

Fitch’s downgrade of Spain's sovereign debt was unwelcome by investors, as bank stocks tumbled on the news today. The ratings agency cut Spain's long-term foreign and local currency issuer default ratings from AAA to AA+. By 2:26 pm, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) had plunged 2.22%, JP Morgan Chase (...

Consumer advocates reported that according to the far-reaching bank-reform bill approved by the US Senate yesterday night, consumers are at an advantage as the bill ensures that borrowers are better protected from unscrupulous lenders and predatory loans. Senate lawmakers have passed a major...

Some painful cuts may be seen as California’s Governor Schwarzenegger is releasing a revised budget today. Austerity measures are likely to be adopted by the state that faces a deficit of more than $20 billion, a quarter of general-fund spending. Marshall Auerback reiterated that the US (along with...

US financial stocks flipped today as authorities expanded their probe into the mortgage-backed securities matter and included other banks namely, JP. Morgan & Chase & Company (NYSE: JPM), Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C), Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB) and UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) into their investigations....

The CFO of Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) foresees a "dramatic" improvement in its consumer business. He added that the company is poised to become "more acquisitive." DELL has successfully integrated mid-sized deals, such as its $1.4 billion acquisition of EqualLogic in 2008. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been...

According to a report by Kara Swisher of All Things Digital, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) may unveil Windows Mobile 7 next week at the Mobile World Congress in Spain in an effort to generate excitement around its failed mobile strategy. However, Kara Swisher believes that MSFT will be better off if it...

UBS (NYSE: UBS), battered by a US tax evasion probe, is set to reorganize its US wealth management unit. In the shakeup, the company can possibly sell PaineWebber, which a company executive calls a "non-core" business. Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) has sold only 80,000 Nexus One phones in its first month...

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) will sell $8 billion in debt to generate funds for the purchase of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI). The offering, expected to be priced later today, would be more than double the size of Berkshire's largest investment-grade bond. According to unidentified...

The labor market showed signs of a recovery in January, with private-sector jobs in the US falling by 22K, marking the smallest drop since February 2008. Meanwhile, service jobs continued to rise. Comcast Corp (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Chief Executive Brian Roberts said the company will rebrand its cable...

The labor market showed signs of a recovery in January, with private-sector jobs in the US falling by 22K, marking the smallest drop since February 2008. Meanwhile, service jobs continued to rise. Comcast Corp (NASDAQ: CMCSA) Chief Executive Brian Roberts said the company will rebrand its cable...

Copper prices are up today and have more than doubled since last year. However, according to metals trader David Threlkeld, prices are on the verge of a "catastrophe" as speculators are unwinding their positions and inventories are expanding. He predicts that prices may slump below $1 per pound,...

Morgan Stanley says Obama's proposed ban on bank proprietary trading would knock off 5% from profits at Bank of America (NYSE: BAC). Morgan Stanley also expects earnings at JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) to be hit by 5%. Movie Gallery, owners of the Hollywood Video chain, may file for Chapter 11...

The Wall Street Journal reported that according to CTS Corporation (NYSE: CTS), the company had no knowledge of issues faced by Toyota Motor (NYSE: TM). Energy sector advisor Elliott Gue finds four favorites in natural gas: EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG), Range Resources (NYSE: RRC), Nabors Industries...

Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW) calls active on low volatility. GNW is expected to report Q4 EPS on January 29 and February 14 calls have traded 138 times on a transaction volume of 9,021 contracts versus its open interest of 17,915 contracts. According to Track Data, GNW’s February call option...