Well, this certainly was a busy week. Greek elections had the markets primed on Monday, Congress threw its own "Dimon Jubilee," and Ben Bernanke proved the Federal Reserve was willing to provide up to, but no more than, the barest minimum amount of monetary stimulus.
Before we jump in, let's take a closer look at how the three major indexes ended up after five trading sessions.
Index |
Gain / Loss |
Gain / Loss % |
Ending Value |
---|---|---|---|
Dow Jones Industrial Average |
(119.09) | (0.92%) | 12,627.20 |
Nasdaq | 15.28 | 0.53% | 2,877.78 |
S&P 500 | (6.42) | (0.47%) | 1,331.25 |
The major U.S. indexes ended up rather mixed. The Nasdaq posted a solid half-percent gain, while the S&P lost almost the same amount. The Dow's bottom-of-the-barrel performance was largely the result of a 2% to 3% decline in four of its five heaviest-weighted components. IBM makes up an astonishing 11% of the index -- and nearly a third when combined with Chevron, McDonald's, and Caterpillar.
Last Sunday's Greek elections, which reconfirmed the status quo, failed to boost the markets as some were anticipating, but had the far-leftist Syriza won and Greece's continued membership in the eurozone been in doubt, stocks would have fared substantially worse. Still, more austerity measures won't solve the problems facing Greece and other troubled countries like Spain. Symbols of the respective banking sectors, National Bank of Greece slumped 2% on the week while Banco Santandar
The long awaited Moody's downgrades to various "too big to fail" institutions and the Federal Reserve's meager $287 billion extension of Operation Twist did little to shake up Dow component JPMorgan Chase
Meanwhile, Operation Twist and its artificially low rates are affecting mortgage REITs such as Annaly Capital
Energy companies were hit hard this week after poor manufacturing data, both at home and in China, raised doubt about the global recovery. Oil prices have dropped below $80 per barrel for the first time in months, while the price at the pump is set to decline into the busy summer season. Kodiak Oil & Gas
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