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Latest from Boston

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:37:00 +0000

Updated: 5:01 p.m.

The organizing body pledges to run the maration next year. Here's the complete statement from Thomas Grilk, Executive Director of the Boston Athletic Association.

The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) extends its deepest sympathies to all those who were affected by Monday's tragic events. Those who lost their lives and were injured are in our thoughts and prayers.

It is a sad day for the City of Boston, for the running community, and for all those who were here to enjoy the 117th running of the Boston Marathon. What was intended to be a day of joy and celebration quickly became a day in which running a marathon was of little importance.

We want to express our deepest gratitude to all of the B.A.A. medical personnel and volunteers and the City of Boston’s first responders who reacted so courageously to help save lives. Special thanks to the loyal Boston Marathon community – over 8500 volunteers, 1000 medical personnel, the organizing committee, and hundreds of thousands along the race route – who make the experience what it is for all our runners, who are hurting today.

We would like to thank the countless people from around the world who have reached out to support us over the last 24 hours.

We are cooperating with the City of Boston, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and all federal law enforcement officials in the investigation and the effort to bring those responsible for this tragedy to justice, so we are limited in what information we can provide.

Boston is strong. Boston is resilient. Boston is our home. And Boston has made us enormously proud in the past 24 hours. The Boston Marathon is a deeply held tradition – an integral part of the fabric and history of our community. We are committed to continuing that tradition with the running of the 118th Boston Marathon in 2014.

Stocks drop after disappointing jobs report

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:57:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) — An unexpectedly weak report on the job market is sending stocks sharply lower on Wall Street.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 105 points at 14,500 at midday Friday, a drop of 0.7 percent. The Dow had been down as much as 171 points earlier.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 13 points, or 0.8 percent, to 1,547. Technology fell the most of the 10 industry groups in the index.

The Nasdaq was down a percent, or 34 points, at 3,190.

The government reported that U.S. employers added the fewest jobs in nine months in March and more people gave up looking for work. The report was worse than economists were expecting.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to its lowest level this year, 1.69 percent.

Blame austerity economics for our depressing new jobs report

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:33:00 +0000

Bad news on the economy. It added only 88,000 jobs in March – the slowest pace of job growth in nine months.

While the jobless rate fell to 7.6 percent, much of the drop was due to the labor force shrinking by almost a half million people. If you’re not looking for work, you’re not counted as unemployed.

That means the percentage of working-age Americans either with a job or looking for one dropped to 63.3 percent — its lowest level since 1979.

The direction isn’t encouraging. The pace of job growth this year is slower than its pace last year.

What’s going on? The simple fact is companies won’t hire if consumers aren’t buying enough to justify the new hires. And consumers don’t have enough money, or credit, or confidence to buy enough.

It’s likely Americans are beginning to feel the pinches of January’s hike in the payroll tax combined with the government budget cuts known as the sequester. Increases in gas prices haven’t helped. All are taking money out of the pockets of most people – whose job situation remains precarious. So they can’t and won’t buy much.

One indicator: Retailers cut their staffs in March — by 24,100.

The Dow’s meaningless rebound

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 20:57:00 +0000

Today the Dow Jones industrial average rose above 14,270 – completely erasing its 54 percent loss between 2007 and 2009.

The stock market is basically back to where it was in 2000, while corporate earnings have doubled since then.

Yet the real median wage is now 8 percent below what it was in 2000, and unemployment remains sky-high.

Why is the stock market doing so well, while most Americans are doing so poorly? Four reasons:

First, productivity gains. Corporations have been investing in technology rather than their workers. They get tax credits and deductions for such investments; they get no such tax benefits for improving the skills of their employees. As a result, corporations can now do more with fewer people on their payrolls. That means higher profits.

Second, high unemployment itself. Joblessness all but eliminates the bargaining power of most workers – allowing corporations to keep wages low. Public policies that might otherwise reduce unemployment – a new WPA or CCC to hire the long-term unemployed, major investments in the nation’s crumbling infrastructure – have been rejected in favor of austerity economics. This also means higher profits, at least in the short run.

Italy election stalemate causes financial turmoil

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:29:00 +0000

Italy's parliamentary elections have ended in a stalemate, threatening the euro zone's already fragile economic state.

Though no group has a clear majority in parliament, the center-left coalition headed by Pier Luigi Bersani won a narrow victory in the lower house of parliament.

"The winner is: Ingovernability," a headline in one Rome newspaper read. It's a reflection of what the country would will likely be facing in the coming weeks, as sworn enemies are forced to form a coalition government, Reuters reported.

BBC's Europe editor, Gavin Hewitt, explained that though Bersani has control of the lower house, "even if he were to join forces with the former Prime Minister Mario Monti he would not be able to command a majority there."

Dow ends above 14,000 for first time since fall 2007

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 21:40:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) — The Dow stock market index closed above 14,000 for the first time since before the financial crisis rocked the world economy.

Propelled by strong auto sales and optimism about U.S. jobs, the Dow Jones industrial average crossed the line early Friday and continued flirting with the mark all day. The other major stock indexes also rose.

The Dow was up 149 points to 14,010. It's gained 6.9 percent this year. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 15 to 1,513. The Nasdaq composite index added 37 to 3,179.

The government jobs report that pushed stocks forward was mixed. The U.S. said it added 157,000 jobs in January, in line with expectations. But unemployment inched up to 7.9 percent.

Automakers Toyota, Ford, GM and Chrysler all reported double-digit sales gains for January.

Will consumer pessimism plunge the U.S. into recession?

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 23:15:00 +0000

The Conference Board reported Tuesday that the preliminary January figure for consumer confidence in the United States fell to its lowest level in more than a year.

The last time consumers were this bummed out was October 2011, when there was widespread talk of a double-dip recession.

But this time business news is buoyant. The stock market is bullish. The housing market seems to have rebounded a bit.

So why are consumers so glum?

Because they’re deeply worried about their jobs and their incomes – as they have every right to be.

The job situation is still lousy. We’ll know more this coming Friday about what happened to jobs in January. But we know over 20 million people are still unemployed or underemployed.

Personal income is in terrible shape. The median wage continues to drop, adjusted for inflation.

Most people can’t get readily-available loans because banks are still cautious about lending to anyone without a sterling credit history. (Eliminate student loans and you find Americans aren’t borrowing any more than they were a year ago.)

Stocks in Egypt tumble for a second day

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:24:00 +0000

President Mohamed Morsi met with Egyptian judges Monday in an effort to stem the rising protests against his controversial degree that widely expanded his presidential power.

Justice Minister Ahmed Mekky was mediating negotiations between Morsi and members of the Supreme Judicial Council, BBC News reported.

One possible way out of the crisis would be for a memorandum or amendment defining the decree's limits, although several prominent opposition leaders have said they will not engage with Morsi until the decree is rescinded.

Meanwhile, stocks in Egypt continued to tumble Monday.

According to Reuters, the stock market is down 7 percent, with the country's main index down 3.9 percent right after it opened.

More than 500 people have been injured in protests since Morsi issued the decree on Thursday, which shields his decisions from becoming subject to judicial review.

From Cairo, GlobalPost's Erin Cunningham reported that Egyptians are concerned about the direction protests may take.

Obama didn’t crash the market!

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:10:00 +0000

12:09 p.m. EDT: The Dow Jones industrial average is up 54 points on the day. Hurrah, hurrah! The crash is over. Wall Street loves Obama!

Funny, I just checked Twitter, and I'm not yet seeing an ecstatic response to this clear indication of Wall Street's acquiescence to Obama. Instead, a search for "stock market" and "obama" reveals plenty of sore losers still crowing over how the 434-point decline in the Dow on Wednesday and Thursday proves that the president's reelection is a disaster for the United States.

"The stock market is really going down the shitter since Obama got reelected."

"So what about that stock market crash because Obama was reelected? We're headed to another recession."

"Gas lines, prices, food prices, unemployment, stock market crash, welcome to Obama's second term."

"Stock market already down? I'm calling everyone who voted for Obama a dumbass in my Red Foreman voice."

Facebook’s stock isn’t hurting Silicon Valley

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 20:30:00 +0000

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) — Silicon Valley, it turns out, doesn't revolve around the stock prices of Facebook and its playful sidekick, Zynga.

By most indications, tech companies in this hub of innovation are humming along, even as two of its rising stars endure steep declines in their stock prices that have wiped out more than $60 billion in wealth in the past six months.

Companies catering to mobile devices, business software and data management products are thriving, while longtime Silicon Valley stalwarts such as Apple Inc. and Google Inc. remain among the most revered brands in the world.

"Nothing has fundamentally changed about the opportunities that are possible," says Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, an online data-storage company based in Los Altos, Calif.

The optimism in Silicon Valley can be seen in a variety of ways in this area that covers roughly 40 miles from San Jose to San Francisco:

— Entrepreneurs are still pursuing big ideas and raising millions of dollars.

Silicon Valley startups raised $3.2 billion from venture capitalists during the April-June quarter, far more than in any other part of the U.S as tracked by the National Venture Capital Association. Venture capital flowing into Silicon Valley increased by 4 percent from the same time last year, while it dropped 12 percent nationwide.

Obama’s stock market high

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 17:28:00 +0000

Talk about your excellent timing! As President Barack Obama prepares for his big speech closing out the Democratic National Convention tonight, U.S. stock market indexes are flirting with their highest peaks of his entire presidency.

Three hours after the market opened, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 230 points. Of course, it's always good to be cautious about short-term spikes -- a significant part of the investor euphoria is likely due to a huge new bond-buying program in Europe announced this morning by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi that the Wall Street Jounal billed as the "most aggressive plan to date to deal with Europe's nearly three-year-old debt crisis." We've seen this pattern before: Global financial markets rally after a new initiative is announced in Europe, only to falter before the day is even over, when the grim reality of Europe's continued slide into recession sets in again.

Romney stocks for sale!

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 16:23:00 +0000

Shares of presidential candidate Mitt Romney debuted today on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock, trading under the ticker symbol USA, surged nearly 30 percent before selling off and ending the day at $31.20, slightly above its offering price of $31.00. The campaign raised approximately three billion dollars with the offering.

The IPO of Mr. Romney was underwritten by a number of investment banks including, but not limited to: Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, Citibank, Bank of America, Deutsche Banks, Barclays Capital, Morgan Stanley, Nomura Securities, Allen & Company, UBS, Wells Fargo, Cantor Fitzgerald and Bain Capital. Trading activity indicates that all of the banks sold their Romney shares at today’s peak, while simultaneously telling their clients to buy. “Each of the banks probably pocketed close to a billion dollars,” said one veteran Wall Street trader. “I doubt the SEC will investigate because it will just make Obama look anti-business.”

Smith and Wesson, which manufacturers pistols, rifles and semi-automatic machine guns--many of which are popular with street gangs and terrorists--recently purchased millions of pre-IPO shares of Mitt Romney after the candidate, in response to the tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, said that "changing the gun laws won’t make all bad things go away.” Smith and Wesson now owns 18 percent of Mr. Romney.

Biggest story you missed

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 22:27:00 +0000

Amid the Olympic bedlam, with London businesses gone quiet, the New York Stock Exchange went nutty this morning with 30 minutes of unusual trading activity. As the New York Times reported, the NYSE is investigating the so-called “irregular trading” that resulted in severe price fluctuations for numerous popular stocks, among them Citigroup and Bank of America. Many traders suspected Knight Capital Group, a high-powered brokerage firm, of mucking things up.

A statement from Jersey City-based Knight claimed that “a technology issue occurred,” which could have resulted from the Retail Liquidity Program implemented by the NYSE today. The new program, which mimics quick trading firms, will compete with Knight for retail investment business. Regardless, the hectic scene reminded some of the “flash crash” of May 2010, when the American market saw a 10 percent decline in about 15 minutes.

Gambling with economic security

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 19:59:00 +0000

Is the problem with capitalism that there are too few capitalists? Is the solution to encourage every American to get into the stock market? Before the tech bubble burst at the beginning of this century, I thought this was an interesting notion that deserved careful consideration. Mea culpa. Today, after two disastrous stock market crashes in less than a decade, I think that the idea of “the investor society” or “the ownership society” or “universal capitalism” (defined narrowly as encouraging wider individual ownership of stocks and bonds, as opposed to broadly, to include proposals for sharing profits from public resources or sovereign wealth funds) is a profoundly misguided idea. The proponents of universal shareholding in the 1990s were right that more Americans should share in the gains from economic growth, which have gone disproportionately to the owners of capital and overpaid CEOs. But the method of spreading the gains by encouraging individual working Americans to risk their money in the stock market was ill-conceived.

Occupy Wall Street takes on the stock market

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Why is Wall Street so afraid of Europe?

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:01:00 +0000

The sense of panic and confusion in Europe seems to grow by the hour. Let's review the last day or so of events.

Germany's economics minister warned that, to save the euro, Greece might have to go through some sort of "insolvency procedure." Bloomberg News promptly reported that there is now a "98 percent" probability that Greece will default.
An Italian bond sale went badly, forcing Italy's borrowing costs sharply higher. Investors were heartened, however, by the news that Italy's foreign minister was begging China to bail out the country with a significant investment. This was the same foreign minister who had previously warned against China's "reverse colonialism."
The price of insuring against the default of bonds issued by Portugal, Italy and France jumped.
Bank stocks in France tanked. French banks own about $57 billion in Greek debt -- and much, much more in Spanish and Italian debt.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel smacked down her own economics minister, and declared that she wouldn't allow Greece to go into "uncontrolled insolvency."
"I think we will do Greece the biggest favor by not speculating much, but instead encouraging Greece to implement the commitments it has made," Ms. Merkel told RBB Inforadio, a public broadcaster in the Berlin region. "What we don't need is unrest in the financial markets -- the uncertainties are already big enough," she said.
Merkel's promise calmed the waters -- for the moment. French bank stocks -- and the U.S. stock market -- suddenly rebounded.

Here we go again: Another big down day for Dow

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:55:00 +0000

Just when Wall Street seemed to have settled down, a barrage of bad economic reports collided with fresh worries about European banks Thursday and triggered a global sell-off in stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 419 points -- a return to the wild swings that gripped the stock market last week.

Stocks were only part of a dramatic day across the financial markets. The price of oil fell $5, gold set another record, the 10-year Treasury hit its lowest yield, and the average mortgage rate fell to its lowest in at least 40 years.

The selling began in Asia, where Japanese exports fell for a fifth straight month, and continued in Europe, where bank stocks were hammered because of worries about debt problems there, which have proved hard to contain.

On Wall Street, the losses wiped out much of the roughly 700 points that the Dow had gained over five days. Some investors who bought in the middle of last week decided to sell after they were confronted with a raft of bad news about the economy:

-- More people joined the unemployment line last week than at any time in the past month. The number of people filing claims for unemployment benefits for the first time rose to 408,000, or 9,000 more than the week before.

European bank stocks battered by liquidity fears

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 19:13:00 +0000

European bank stocks tanked Thursday as fears over the anemic pace of the global economic recovery and the institutions' ability to get access to funding intensified.

Most bank stocks across Europe were underperforming in already fragile markets, with British bank Barclays and French bank Societe Generale leading the way down, ending the day with losses of 11.5 and 12 percent, respectively. Germany's Commerzbank fell 10 percent.

Analysts said the plunge seemed to be, at least in part, a reaction to increasing signs that banks are struggling with liquidity -- or access to the cash they need to run their day-to-day operations. Banks typically fund their activities with very short-term loans, and the seizing up of the credit markets where they get those loans was one of the hallmarks of the 2008 crisis. First banks refused to lend to one another, and eventually companies and consumers weren't able to get loans.

A number of European banks are already dependent on last-resort credit from the European Central Bank because of a reluctance among financial institutions to lend to one another since many are heavily exposed to bad debt like that of Greece, Portugal, Italy and other foundering countries.

Short-selling banned in 4 European countries

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:33:00 +0000

France, Italy, Spain and Belgium are banning short-selling on select stocks amid efforts to calm market turmoil that has sent bank shares gyrating wildly and aggravated worries about Europe's huge debts.

The European Union's markets supervisor, the ESMA, announced the move late Thursday night after boosting surveillance of stormy markets earlier in the day. The move capped two days of whipsaw trading that saw French banks' market value fall and rise by billions of euros.

In a short sale, a trader hopes to make a profit by betting on the decline in the price of a share. The practice has been blamed for contributing to market volatility.

The ESMA said in a statement that the four countries "have today announced or will shortly announce new bans on short-selling or on short positions" as of Friday.

The French market regulator, the AMF, announced late Thursday that it is banning for 15 days net short-selling on 11 stocks, including those of banks Societe Generale, BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole and leading insurers.

Belgium's market authority said it would ban short-selling on financial shares such as leading banks and insurers as of Friday. Belgium had already banned naked short selling, basically a bet on a decline in the price of a share without borrowing the share, since August 2008.

Dow soars 423 points on economic news

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 21:08:00 +0000

Stocks are rising at the close of trading after investors latched onto some small signs that the economy might not be headed into another recession.

Fewer Americans joined the unemployment line last week, and a technology bellwether said revenue could grow faster this quarter than analysts expected. The news is pushing down prices on long-term Treasurys down, and gold is down from its record high.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up 423 points Thursday, or 3.9 percent, to 11,143. It's the first time the Dow has ever had four straight 400-point days.

The S&P 500 is up 51, or 4.6 percent, to 1,173. The Nasdaq is up 111, or 4.7 percent, to 2,493. All three major U.S. stock indexes are down at least 1.6 percent for the week.