Weekend Linkage – November 23, 2008

Nov 23, 2008 Sun

Market Recap

U.S. stocks fell for the third straight weeks this week as concerns over the fate of Citigroup and Detroit’s Big Three weighed on stocks. On Thursday, the S&P 500 index even closed at its lowest level in 11 years after a report from the Labor Department showed weekly jobless claims rose to the highest level since 1987. Even though Citi announced another 52,000 job cut last week in an effort to cut costs, the move by CEO Pandit failed to win investor confidence. The stock dropped to below $4 a share on Friday, a price not seen since 1982. The stock of General Motors, the largest U.S. automaker, once touched $1.70, the lowest since 1940. After two consecutive days of decline, stocks rallied on Friday after news reported that the president of New York Federal Reserve Bank is to be tapped as the next Treasury chief, removing one of the uncertainties.

For the week, the Dow dropped 5.3% to 8,046.42, the S&P 500 lost 8.4% to 800.03, and the NASDAQ declined 8.74% to 1,384.35. As global economy slowed down dramatically, demands for oil plunged, sending crude oil price to $49.93 a barrel, a loss of 11.63% for the week. Gold, on the other hand, went up 6.58% to close at $791.50 an ounce, while silver went to the opposite direction, downing 0.52% to $9.505/ounce.

Weekend Links