Weekly Roundup: MarketWatch top 10 stories Dec 12 - 16 Inbox
Weekly Roundup DECEMBER 16, 2011
To: me 1:22pm
MarketWatch top 10 stories Dec 12 - 16
By MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks ended the week down between roughly 2.5% and 3.5% amid continuing worries about the ongoing crises in Europe, which this week trumped emerging signs of a slowly but steadily improving U.S. economy.
The Federal Reserve on Tuesday made it three years of interest rates at near-zero levels as the central bank refrained from new action with recent signs of improvement in the economy.
The decision leaves the Fed's key interest rate at an historic low range of 0% to 0.25%, and the central bank kept its guidance that it intends to keep rates near zero until mid-2013 given its expectations for the economy
The Fed was a grudgingly more upbeat about the outlook but only barely. In reality, there were very few changes in the text. Read MarketWatch FOMC coverage
The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) was the week's big loser, falling 3.5 on the week after tech stocks took a drubbing. This week Intel (INTC) said it would not do as well this year as it had expected, and Research in Motion (RIMM) suffered yet another setback when it said its latest phone will be delayed until the end of 2012.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) ended the week down 2.6% and was the best performing U.S. index for that period.
The broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) closed the week off 2.9%.
Also please be sure to watch our Week Ahead videos for Europe, the U.S. and Asia.
Greg Morcroft, assistant managing editor
Europe Week Ahead:ECB's Draghi, IPO report
U.S. Week Ahead: Europe, economy, earnings
Asia Week Ahead:Japan in the spotlight
Zynga gets mild public reception
Zynga Inc.(ZNGA) made its much-anticipated debut as a publicly traded company Friday —and quickly saw how fickle the stock market can be when it comes to dealing with the developer of online social games. Zynga shares shot up 11.5% to $11.50, but then fell into the red, and were below the stock's pre-trading price of $10 at $9.67. The company began trading after it sold 100 million shares and raised $1 billion with its IPO late Thursday. Zynga had initially set a price range of $8.50 to $10 a share for its IPO. Read more MarketWatch coverage of Zynga IPO
How your portfolio can beat election-year gridlock
For a sense of what your stock portfolio faces from the political and policy wars that are likely to pockmark Washington next year, look no further than 2011's fiscal failures. The stripping of the U.S.'s AAA credit rating and the implosion of the deficit-cutting supercommittee were two of the biggest shocks to investor confidence this year. Now Republicans and Democrats head into an election year with hardened tax-and-spending battle lines that portend continued gridlock and sharp divisions on Capitol Hill. "Gridlock is not good when it comes to stocks," said Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ. "Washington ends up impeding rather than leading." Read MarketWatch story on beating election year gridlock
How to buy stocks on weakness
How many times are you told to buy stocks on weakness? The challenge is to follow that advice and here we will show you how, using the Dow 30 stocks as an example. Take a look at all the red showing up in the Dow stocks . But don't be fooled, because even with all that red, at the bottom of the list you will see that the Dow is still 62% positive, short-term, and 75% longer term, on a price weighted, money flow basis. First, let's look at the charts of 3 stocks in the news last week: General Electric, 3M Co. and DuPont .Read about how to spot value in falling shares, on MarketWatch
The story of the accidental landlord
Jeannette Boccini thought she had found a great renter, someone who would take extra-good care of her town house. Then the nightmare began. The tenant repeatedly harassed the neighbors, complained that the wood chips in the community playground were toxic, and informed Boccini on Christmas morning that someone was playing Christmas carols too loudly. But the final straw was the night the tenant showed up at Boccini's door to report there was dust all over the mailbox. "I absolutely flipped," Boccini said. "I was like, ‘You don't like it? Get the hell out of my house.' " Like many people these days, Boccini became a landlord not by choice but because of circumstances beyond her control: namely, the real-estate crash. Read more, on MarketWatch, about the accidental landlord
This slump won't end until 2031
In retrospect, it wasn't hard to see that the markets were becoming dangerously unstable. Germany had just adopted a new monetary system, and Europe was being flooded with cheap German money. Greece had signed up to a monetary union with Italy and France but was struggling to hold it together. Financial markets had been deregulated. New technologies were transforming production and communications, allowing money to move across borders at lightening speed. And a massive new industrial power was flooding the world with cheap manufactured goods, blowing apart old industries. When it all fell apart in an almighty crash, it was only to be expected. Read MarketWatch commentary on why we may see decades of sluggish growth
Keep your clothes on and other office-party tips
At the office holiday party this year, do share an interesting tidbit with the head of your company. But don't celebrate with too much drinking. Sounds obvious, right? Unfortunately, workers at holiday parties can stray from the professional image they'd prefer to project, as Ken Pinnock, associate director of employee relations and services at the University of Denver, knows all too well. Read MarketWatch report on holiday party etiquette
Amazon is one expensive stock
I have had an intern working with me over the last several weeks. I have been trying to teach him as many real world lessons that I can during his time with me. He overheard me the other day talking about my thoughts on Amazon.com (AMZN) being one of the most expensive stocks in the entire market. He asked me what it means when a stock is trading at a PE ratio of 95 and a forward PE ratio of 89 times forward earnings? Read MarketWatch evaluation of Amazon price
Three bullish funds for bearish times
It's one thing to be a pessimist. But it's a whole ‘nother thing to make money in this market despite that outlook. Yet that's exactly what three managers are doing these days, at least with some of their funds. Jeremy Grantham, the chief investment strategist at GMO; Rob Arnott, the founder and chairman of Research Associates and manager of Pimco's All Asset All Authority; and the team at Sequoia are not the life of the party these days. In fact, after reading their respective commentaries, you're more likely to call your physician for a prescription for an antidepressant than to call your stockbroker with an order to buy something in this market. Read MarketWatch coverage of three bullish funds for bearish times
Europe's bank meltdown will hit home here
Europe is a lot closer than you might think. No, I'm not talking about some new sale on airfare. I'm talking about your bank account. In less than six months our personal wealth has gone from having some, but mostly indirect, connection to Europe, to being held hostage by the Angela Merkels, Nicolas Sarkozys, Mario Draghis and Mario Montis. Simply put, Europe's banks look to be on the brink of collapse. Read MarketWatch commentary on the fallout of Euro bank crisis in the U.S.
Discouraged gold bugs are throwing in the towel
Gold bugs over the last two weeks have become even more discouraged than they were at the end of November. And that's saying something, since they were already quite dejected. As a result, contrarians detect a very strong wall of worry forming in the gold market, one which could very well be the springboard for bullion rallying into new all-time high territory. But it's worth stressing that contrarian analysis is right more often than it is wrong.Read Mark Hulbert commentary on gold sentiment shifts
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MarketWatch e-Newsletter reports@marketwatchmail.com'>Weekly Roundup: MarketWatch top 10 stories Dec 12 - 16 Inbox
Weekly Roundup DECEMBER 16, 2011
To: me 1:22pm
MarketWatch top 10 stories Dec 12 - 16
By MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks ended the week down between roughly 2.5% and 3.5% amid continuing worries about the ongoing crises in Europe, which this week trumped emerging signs of a slowly but steadily improving U.S. economy.
The Federal Reserve on Tuesday made it three years of interest rates at near-zero levels as the central bank refrained from new action with recent signs of improvement in the economy.
The decision leaves the Fed's key interest rate at an historic low range of 0% to 0.25%, and the central bank kept its guidance that it intends to keep rates near zero until mid-2013 given its expectations for the economy
The Fed was a grudgingly more upbeat about the outlook but only barely. In reality, there were very few changes in the text. Read MarketWatch FOMC coverage
The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) was the week's big loser, falling 3.5 on the week after tech stocks took a drubbing. This week Intel (INTC) said it would not do as well this year as it had expected, and Research in Motion (RIMM) suffered yet another setback when it said its latest phone will be delayed until the end of 2012.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) ended the week down 2.6% and was the best performing U.S. index for that period.
The broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) closed the week off 2.9%.
Also please be sure to watch our Week Ahead videos for Europe, the U.S. and Asia.
Greg Morcroft, assistant managing editor
Europe Week Ahead:ECB's Draghi, IPO report
U.S. Week Ahead: Europe, economy, earnings
Asia Week Ahead:Japan in the spotlight
Zynga gets mild public reception
Zynga Inc.(ZNGA) made its much-anticipated debut as a publicly traded company Friday —and quickly saw how fickle the stock market can be when it comes to dealing with the developer of online social games. Zynga shares shot up 11.5% to $11.50, but then fell into the red, and were below the stock's pre-trading price of $10 at $9.67. The company began trading after it sold 100 million shares and raised $1 billion with its IPO late Thursday. Zynga had initially set a price range of $8.50 to $10 a share for its IPO. Read more MarketWatch coverage of Zynga IPO
How your portfolio can beat election-year gridlock
For a sense of what your stock portfolio faces from the political and policy wars that are likely to pockmark Washington next year, look no further than 2011's fiscal failures. The stripping of the U.S.'s AAA credit rating and the implosion of the deficit-cutting supercommittee were two of the biggest shocks to investor confidence this year. Now Republicans and Democrats head into an election year with hardened tax-and-spending battle lines that portend continued gridlock and sharp divisions on Capitol Hill. "Gridlock is not good when it comes to stocks," said Sam Stovall, chief equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ. "Washington ends up impeding rather than leading." Read MarketWatch story on beating election year gridlock
How to buy stocks on weakness
How many times are you told to buy stocks on weakness? The challenge is to follow that advice and here we will show you how, using the Dow 30 stocks as an example. Take a look at all the red showing up in the Dow stocks . But don't be fooled, because even with all that red, at the bottom of the list you will see that the Dow is still 62% positive, short-term, and 75% longer term, on a price weighted, money flow basis. First, let's look at the charts of 3 stocks in the news last week: General Electric, 3M Co. and DuPont .Read about how to spot value in falling shares, on MarketWatch
The story of the accidental landlord
Jeannette Boccini thought she had found a great renter, someone who would take extra-good care of her town house. Then the nightmare began. The tenant repeatedly harassed the neighbors, complained that the wood chips in the community playground were toxic, and informed Boccini on Christmas morning that someone was playing Christmas carols too loudly. But the final straw was the night the tenant showed up at Boccini's door to report there was dust all over the mailbox. "I absolutely flipped," Boccini said. "I was like, ‘You don't like it? Get the hell out of my house.' " Like many people these days, Boccini became a landlord not by choice but because of circumstances beyond her control: namely, the real-estate crash. Read more, on MarketWatch, about the accidental landlord
This slump won't end until 2031
In retrospect, it wasn't hard to see that the markets were becoming dangerously unstable. Germany had just adopted a new monetary system, and Europe was being flooded with cheap German money. Greece had signed up to a monetary union with Italy and France but was struggling to hold it together. Financial markets had been deregulated. New technologies were transforming production and communications, allowing money to move across borders at lightening speed. And a massive new industrial power was flooding the world with cheap manufactured goods, blowing apart old industries. When it all fell apart in an almighty crash, it was only to be expected. Read MarketWatch commentary on why we may see decades of sluggish growth
Keep your clothes on and other office-party tips
At the office holiday party this year, do share an interesting tidbit with the head of your company. But don't celebrate with too much drinking. Sounds obvious, right? Unfortunately, workers at holiday parties can stray from the professional image they'd prefer to project, as Ken Pinnock, associate director of employee relations and services at the University of Denver, knows all too well. Read MarketWatch report on holiday party etiquette
Amazon is one expensive stock
I have had an intern working with me over the last several weeks. I have been trying to teach him as many real world lessons that I can during his time with me. He overheard me the other day talking about my thoughts on Amazon.com (AMZN) being one of the most expensive stocks in the entire market. He asked me what it means when a stock is trading at a PE ratio of 95 and a forward PE ratio of 89 times forward earnings? Read MarketWatch evaluation of Amazon price
Three bullish funds for bearish times
It's one thing to be a pessimist. But it's a whole ‘nother thing to make money in this market despite that outlook. Yet that's exactly what three managers are doing these days, at least with some of their funds. Jeremy Grantham, the chief investment strategist at GMO; Rob Arnott, the founder and chairman of Research Associates and manager of Pimco's All Asset All Authority; and the team at Sequoia are not the life of the party these days. In fact, after reading their respective commentaries, you're more likely to call your physician for a prescription for an antidepressant than to call your stockbroker with an order to buy something in this market. Read MarketWatch coverage of three bullish funds for bearish times
Europe's bank meltdown will hit home here
Europe is a lot closer than you might think. No, I'm not talking about some new sale on airfare. I'm talking about your bank account. In less than six months our personal wealth has gone from having some, but mostly indirect, connection to Europe, to being held hostage by the Angela Merkels, Nicolas Sarkozys, Mario Draghis and Mario Montis. Simply put, Europe's banks look to be on the brink of collapse. Read MarketWatch commentary on the fallout of Euro bank crisis in the U.S.
Discouraged gold bugs are throwing in the towel
Gold bugs over the last two weeks have become even more discouraged than they were at the end of November. And that's saying something, since they were already quite dejected. As a result, contrarians detect a very strong wall of worry forming in the gold market, one which could very well be the springboard for bullion rallying into new all-time high territory. But it's worth stressing that contrarian analysis is right more often than it is wrong.Read Mark Hulbert commentary on gold sentiment shifts
Get the latest news on our mobile site: http://www.marketwatch.com/m
MarketWatch has sent you this newsletter because you signed up to receive it. To ensure you receive this newsletter in the future, please add marketwatchmail.com to your list of approved senders. Sent to: ethan.casta@gmail.com
Unsubscribe | Subscribe
Copyright 2011 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (updated 6/26/07).
MarketWatch - Attn: Customer Service, 201 California St., San Francisco, CA 94111
MarketWatch e-Newsletter reports@marketwatchmail.com
