Obama Battles Bonuses, Stocks Drop, Ford Hits Credit

The stock market dropped steeply today on the back of weak earnings and rising unemployment claims. President Obama was outraged that the financial sector may have used bail out money to pay; vowing to battle the abuse. Ford spent $5.5 billion in the 4th quarter stating it will tap its massive credit line instead of seeking government aid to survive. The DJIA gave back -226.44 to 8149.01, the Nasdaq dropped -50.50 to 1507.84 and the S&P 500 fell -28.95 to 845.14.

3M
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– The largest gainer in the DJIA adding 2.02% or $1.12 to $56.54/share after beating analysts profit estimates.

AutoNation
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– Added 4.76% or 0.44 cents to $9.68/share after earnings climbed 30% due to cost cuts.

Fair Isaac
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– The consumer credit scoring company fell 18.03% or $2.89 to $13.14/share upon being cut to sell by Wedbush Morgan.

Oshkosh
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– Led the Russell 1000 lower, falling 30.50% or $3.30 to $7.52/share as the truck making company said it may violate its credit agreement due to losses.

Oil dipped 0.72 cents to $41.55, gold soared $16.50 to $906.50 and the VIX jumped 7.49% to 42.63.

Market Snapshot

Dow

-226.44 8149.01

NASDAQ

-50.50 1507.84

S&P 500

-28.95 845.14

Economic
News

Existing Home Sales (Dec): Consensus: 4.40M, Prior: 4.49M

Leading Indicators (Dec): Consensus: -0.3%, Prior: -0.4%

Consumer Confidence (Jan): Consensus: 38.0, Prior: 38.0

S&P/CaseShiller Composite (Nov): Consensus: NA, Prior: -18.04%

Crude Inventories (Jan. 23): Consensus: NA, Prior: 6.1 min

FOMC Rate Decision (Jan. 28): Consensus: NA, Prior: 0-0.25

Durable Orders (Dec): Consensus: -1.8%, Prior: -1.5%

Initial Claims (Jan. 24): Consensus: 575K, Prior: 589K

New Home Sales (Dec): Consensus: 400K, Prior: 407K

Chain Deflator-Adv. (Q4): Consensus: 0.6%, Prior: 3.9%

GDP-Adv. (Q4): Consensus: -5.4%, Prior: -0.5%

Chicago PMI (Jan): Consensus: 34.0, Prior: 34.1

Mich Sentiment-Rev (Jan): Consensus: 61.9, Prior: 61.9

Employment Cost Index (Q4): Consensus: 0.7%, Prior: 0.7%