The markets opened this morning optimistic that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony to the Senate Banking Committee would mention another round of quantitative easing. But the Dow Jones Industrial Average
The testimony did not introduce anything new. Bernanke warned that "risks to economic growth have increased," especially via the Europe crisis, and noted slow employment growth but some recovery in the housing market. Many investors thought that these trends, coupled with yesterday's retail numbers, would motivate the Fed to act. But Bernanke promised nothing, and the market slipped down more than 0.5% before correcting higher.
On the bright side, manufacturing reversed its decline from last month as industrial production in the United States rose in June. The ability for factories to produce products in the face of elevated domestic unemployment and global woes gave investors a silver lining on an otherwise cloudy day.
The news did nothing to rally shares of Home Depot
JPMorgan Chase
Disney
That's the morning roundup. Stay tuned for more news from earnings reports and the Fed. Make sure to add these companies to your free My Watchlist feature to get up-to-date analysis whenever news breaks. To get started, click on any company below:
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