Stocks Set for Higher Open after Death of Osama bin Laden
CNN MONEY: NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks are poised for a higher open, as investors cheer news that Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces Monday.

The founder and leader of al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, was killed by U.S. forces in Abbottabad, north of Pakistani capital of Islamabad.



In an address to the nation Sunday night, President Barack Obama called bin Laden's death, "the most significant achievement to date in our nation's effort to defeat al Qaeda." » | CNNMoney staff | Monday, May 02, 2011

Wall Street Shares Slump as S&P Downgrades US Debt Outlook
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Ratings agency cuts long-term outlook from stable to negative for first time since Pearl Harbor attack 70 years ago

Shares fell heavily on Wall Street on Monday after a leading ratings agency fanned fears of Europe's debt crisis spreading across the Atlantic by issuing a strong warning about America's failure to tackle its budget deficit.

In a move seen by Wall Street as a "shot across the bows" of bickering politicians in Washington, Standard and Poor's (S&P) said it was cutting the outlook on the US's long-term rating from stable to negative for the first time since the attack on Pearl Harbor 70 years ago.

The announcement surprised the financial markets, where attention in recent months has been focused on the problems of the weaker nations of the eurozone. Renewed speculation that Greece will be forced to default on its debts led to a sharp sell-off in the euro, but S&P stressed that the US was not immune from the sovereign debt crisis.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average ended the day down 140 points, or 1.1%, with the dollar weaker on the foreign exchanges and yields rising on US treasury bills. The FTSE 100 in London was down 126 points at 5870 – a drop of more than 2% – as ongoing concerns about the eurozone's debt crisis were compounded by the setback for the world's biggest economy. » | Larry Elliott, Economics editor | Tuesday, April 19, 2011

here and here

Wall St. Recovers from Session Lows
Mar 15 - Summary of business headlines: Wall Street closes lower on Japan concerns; Fed holds rates steady; Oil prices drop; Apple delays Japan launch of iPad 2. Bobbi Rebell reports

Wall Street Tumbles as Japan Fuels Gobal [sic] Sell-off
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Wall Street fell 2pc on Tuesday as a global stock market sell-off intensified with investors dumping shares in a flight to safety, panicked by Japan's growing nuclear crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Index dropped 2.3pc - or 280 points - to 11,699.96 within minutes of opening, with shares seen as exposed to the disaster sliding. Insurer AIG fell 4pc and General Electric fell 5pc.

European bourses were dragged lower. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 2.6pc - or 154 points - to a fresh year low of 5622.53 at 1.30pm in London, wiping around £32bn off the value of the blue-chip index. Germany's DAX plunged 4.8pc and France's CAC 3.9pc.

The fall followed a 10.6pc dive - 14pc at one stage - in Japan's Nikkei after the government warned of dangerous levels of radiation following a third explosion at the earthquake-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. The benchmark index ended down 1,015.34 points at 8,605.15, while the broader Topix plunged 9.5pc in its worst two-day fall since 1987.

This caused a ripple effect through Asia, Europe and the United States as investors reassessed the impact of last Friday's earthquake and tsunami and the growing nuclear disaster on a fragile global economy.

Brent crude dropped $4.80 to $108.93 a barrel in London and fell below $100 in New York as markets bet on a dramatic loss of demand for oil from the world's third largest economy.

"Last night’s move was the third worst decline in the Nikkei’s history and there’s fear that there could be more to come," said Simon Denham, the managing director of Capital Spreads. » | Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Higher Oil Keeps Wall St. On Edge
Mar 7 - Summary of business headlines: U.S. crude rallies above $105 as violence in Libya continues; U.S. consumer credit up in January but consumers show sign of restraint; Stocks fall in U.S. and Europe. Conway G. Gittens reports

Wall Street Rattled by $100 Oil
Mar 1 - Summary of business headlines: Oil spikes close to $100 on Middle East worries causing a 1.5 percent drop across Wall Street; Fed chief thinks price spike will be short; Factory activity, auto sales point to stronger recovery. Conway Gittens reports

Wall Street Dives as Oil Hits $100
Feb 23 - Summary of business headlines: Stocks fall for second day as U.S. crude touches $100 a barrel; U.S. home prices continue to fall; Apple expected to unveil new iPad, competitors line up. Conway Gittens reports

Après la Fed : Wall Street retrouve ses niveaux d’avant Lehman
Photo : Le Temps
LE TEMPS: La décision de la Réserve Fédérale d’injecter 600 milliards de dollars dans l’économie redonne des couleurs aux marchés boursiers mondiaux. Ces derniers ont accueilli jeudi la nouvelle en gagnant 2,4%. Wall Street retrouve des niveaux inédits depuis l’effondrement de la banque Lehman Brothers en septembre 2008

La Bourse de New York a fini en nette hausse jeudi soir. Wall Street a été portée à des sommets inédits depuis la chute de Lehman Brothers en 2008 par l’annonce de nouvelles mesures de relance aux Etats-Unis: le Dow Jones a gagné pratiquement 2% sur la journée. À 11 434,84 points, l’indice phare du marché boursier américain revient ainsi à son niveau du 11 septembre 2008. Cette journée avait précédé l’effondrement de la banque new-yorkaise qui avait déclenché une panique financière. Sur la journée de jeudi, l’ensemble des marchés boursiers mondiaux a, en moyenne, grimpé de 2,4%. Le marché obligataire a profité des annonces de la Fed. Le rendement exigé par les marchés sur les emprunts à 10 ans du Trésor américain a baissé à 2,5%, tandis que celui des emprunts à 30 ans s’est tassé à 4,04%. Les milieux financiers attendent aujourd’hui le troisième grand rendez-vous de la semaine, après les élections et la Fed: les chiffres mensuels de l’emploi. >>> AFP and Bloomberg | Vendredi 05 Novembre 2010

Obama Hails Passage of Financial Reform

Wall St. Hiring in Anticipation of an Economic Recovery
THE NEW YORK TIMES: While much of the country remains fixated on the bleak employment picture, hiring is beginning to pick up in the place that led the economy into recession — Wall Street.

The shift underscores the remarkable recovery of the biggest banks and brokerage firms since Washington rescued them in the fall of 2008, and follows the huge rebound in profits for members of the New York Stock Exchange, which totaled $61.4 billion in 2009, the most ever. Since employment bottomed out in February, New York securities firms have added nearly 2,000 jobs, a trend that is also playing out nationwide at financial companies, commodity contract traders and investment firms.

Though the figures are small in comparison to overall Wall Street employment, executives, economists and headhunters say they expect the growth to pick up steam in the coming months.

“I think we’re seeing some hiring in anticipation of better times,” said Rae Rosen, a regional economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. “Wall Street typically hires in anticipation of the recovery, and there is a sense that the economy has bottomed out and is slowly improving.”

The increase in hiring and cautious optimism stand in sharp contrast to the mood among workers in other fields, where jobs have been slow to return or are disappearing altogether. Since June 2008 the number of jobs has shrunk by nearly 14 percent in manufacturing and by 22 percent in construction, but only by 8.5 percent in the financial industry nationwide.

It is also the opposite of what is going in other highly paid, white-collar professions like law, where employment nationwide in June was the lowest since late 2001, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Continue reading and comment >>> Nelson D. Schwartz | Saturday, July 10, 2010