Posted on 10/14/2010 2:00:56 PM PDT by Fred
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--U.S. stocks closed modestly lower Thursday as investors retreated from financials because of concerns over banks' foreclosure practices.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.51 points, or 0.01%, to 11094.6, snapping a four-session winning streak in a day of choppy trading.
Financials led the Dow's declines. Bank of America dropped 69 cents, or 5.2%, to 12.60 and J.P. Morgan Chase fell $1.12, or 2.8%, to $38.72. Both are among the wave of banks reviewing their foreclosures after temporarily suspending evictions due to concerns over "robo signers," who approve hundreds of foreclosure documents a day. Among other banks reviewing foreclosures, Wells Fargo fell 5.1%.
The drop follows probes by the 50 states' attorneys general into allegations that thousands of home foreclosures were improperly handled. The flood of mortgage worries could distract from potentially positive third-quarter earnings reports expected in the next several weeks, analysts said. Citigroup shares fell 19 cents, or 4.5%, to 4.06.
"The big banks that were most involved in not only originating mortgages but the securitization of mortgages are the ones that are most at risk here," said Don Wordell, portfolio manager of the RidgeWorth Mid-Cap Value Fund. But regional banks likely don't deserve the hit their shares have also taken, he said. "More often than not, they sold the mortgages to an agency or kept them on their balance sheets," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
How in the world is the DJ up so high???
Wait, don’t awswer that...
How in the world is the DJ up so high???
Wait, don’t answer that...
:)
Tarp 2 ping
>>How in the world is the DJ up so high???
The banks can barrow from the fed at .75% they then
purchase stocks, gold, treasuries. At the spread in rates and dividends they can’t loose. Unless something unexpected happens and the game of fiat musical chairs gets interrupted.
Somebody jumped the gun. The crooked Banksters are doing it again. These bastards want more Free TARP Money from American taxpayers. I say NO ! Let them all go BK. Not one dime for more bailouts. Let Bozo Bernanke jump out of his stupid little helicopter in his skivvies.
I'm told that in French his name is Beuzeau . . . LOL, LOL !
Click Bozo to find out more.
October Surprise ___ ?
Not O N E dime!!
Fed is printing gobs of cash to buy treasuries from the primary dealers. Dealers are taking said cash and dumping it into gold, commodities, equities and ramping up the price. That is TEXTBOOK inflation: too much cash (debasement) causing the inevitable ramp in prices. At the current rate of return in the markets, any fund manager worth his salt has to pile into it in order the keep their returns on pace with the S&P. And bond investors are doubly inspired to move money OUT of bonds (where returns are paltry) and INTO the market, where returns are growing. It feeds on itself. So to recap:
Monetization of government debt is blowing a new bubble in the markets. How long it can last is anyone's guess. If the dollar continues to get crushed, don't expect this to end anytime soon. When it does end, it will be violent, and it will be, for all intents and purposes, historic.
Dollar Tanks, Stocks Drop as Bernanke Speech Looms
Excerpt:
* * * The already-pressured dollar was hit further by the news that the Monetary Authority of Singapore widened the trading band for the Singapore dollar amid rising worries over inflation and said it was maintaining its policy of a modest and gradual appreciation of its currency.
"This move has prompted further U.S. dollar selling, especially in Asian currencies, sending the Australian dollar near to parity, and the yen to new 15 year highs," said Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets. * * *
"More money -- more money -- more money -- !" . . . Yells demented Helicopter Ben
Free TARP money? LOL!
More ex-Tex bad math.....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.