It was an up week for the major markets.
For the week the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 511.55 points or 5.28%.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 55.38 points or 5.42%
The Nasdaq Composite gained 104.66 points or 5.00%.
A story that is this sad on so many levels makes it tough to know where to begin. Pfizer has won approval in the European Union to start marketing a chewable version of their anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor to children as young as 10. Apparently, they have been selling the same product to American kids since 2002.
After a bad first week of the new quarter, traders returned from the long holiday weekend tan, rested and looking for bargains. They shook off a weaker than expected report indicating a slowing of growth in the services sector by The Institute for Supply Management. The index had fallen from 55.4 in May to 53.8 [...]
All the major US indices were negative.
For the week the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped -457.33 points or -4.51%.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped -54.18 points or -5.03%
The Nasdaq Composite dropped -131.69 points or -5.92%
To add 652,000 people to their “discouraged” list this close to an election doesn’t pass the smell test.
The National Association of Realtors reported today the number of buyers who signed contracts to purchase homes dropped in May to the lowest level on record. Their seasonally adjusted index of signed contracts for previously occupied homes fell 30 percent in May. The index tumbled to 77.6 in May from 110.9 in April
This Friday the “official” jobs report for June will be released. The one released today, the ADP National Employment Report estimates only 13,000 jobs were added in June. If that is even close to the Labor Department’s report, then this could be a very rough 4th of July weekend for the Obama administration.
Score a win for Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA). The Associated Press is reporting that the Democrats have agreed to drop $19 billion in “fees” from the finance reform bill making its way through the Capitol this week.
Senator Scott Brown (R-MA) continues to flex his muscles. In a letter to Representative Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), head of the Senate banking committee, Brown said he will not vote for finance reform in its current form.
The national malaise continues. The Consumer Confidence Index dropped nearly 10 points in June from the revised 62.7 in May to 52.9 in June. The Conference Board, a private research group that conducts the survey, feels anything below 90 is bearish.