Stocks Hit Hard, JP Morgan Cuts, Citigroup Defies Prince

  • November 20, 2008
  • David Goodboy

The stock market was hit hard once again today on dashed hopes of a fast bailout of the struggling U.S. auto industry and accelerating investor fear levels. JP Morgan announced they are eliminating 3000 investment banking jobs in reaction to the slowing economy. The DJIA plummeted -443.72 to 7552.29, the Nasdaq gave back -70.30 to 1316.12 and the S&P 500 dropped -54.14 to 752.44.

Citigroup
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PowerRating) – Fell 26.88% or $1.72 to $4.68 despite Saudi Prince Alwaleed announcing his plans to increase his stake in the ailing bank.

Cyberonics [ CYBX|CYBX] – Climbed 3.56% or 0.36 cents to $10.46/share after 2nd quarter analysts estimates were crushed by 87%.

Gymboree [ GYMB|GYMB] – Climbed 17.17% or $2.83 to $19.31 upon JP Morgan increasing its rating to overweight.

Petsmart [ PETM|PETM] – Added 11.41% or $1.52 to $14.91 due to beating analysts profit estimates by 8.1%.

Oil fell another $4.00 to $49.62 and gold climbed 12.70 to 748.70.

Market Snapshot

Dow

 -443.72 7552.29

NASDAQ

 -70.30 1316.12

S&P 500

 -54.14 752.44

Economic
News

NY Empire State Index (Nov): Consensus -26.0, Prior -24.6

Capacity Utilization (Oct): Consensus 76.5%, Prior 76.4%

Industrial Production (Oct): Consensus 0.2%, Prior -2.8%

Core PPI (Oct): Consensus 0.1%, Prior 0.4%

PPI (Oct): Consensus -1.8%, Prior -0.4%

Net Foreign Purchases (Sep): Consensus $17.5B, Prior $14.0B

Building Permits (Oct): Consensus 772K, Prior 786K

Core CPI (Oct): Consensus 0.1%, Prior 0.1%

CPI (Oct): Consensus -0.8%, Prior 0.0%

Housing Starts (Oct): Consensus 780K, Prior 817K

FOMC Minutes (Oct 29): Consensus N/A, Prior N/A

Initial Claims (Nov 15): Consensus 503K, Prior 516K

Leading Indicators (Oct): Consensus -0.6%, Prior 0.3%

Philadelphia Fed (Nov): Consensus -35.0, Prior -37.5

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