Stocks rise on bailout hopes; credit remains tight

NEW YORK (AP) — Financial markets grew more upbeat Thursday as political leaders said they struck an agreement in principle on a massive spending plan to revive the crippled financial system. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped about 200 points on optimism about the bailout, and demand for safe-haven assets remained high but eased slightly as some investors placed bets that a deal would help unclog credit markets.

Stock market investors got a lift when key lawmakers said they would present the $700 billion plan to the Bush administration and hoped for a vote by both houses of Congress within days. Still, some resistance remained from House Republicans as the closing bell on Wall Street rang ahead of a meeting of congressional leaders at the White House.

And after the close of trading, it was clear that plan could still face some obstacles. Stock futures weakened, signaling a lower open Friday, after Sen. Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Banking Committee, left the White House meeting and said the announced deal "is, obviously, no agreement."

Trading that has been difficult for more than a week is likely to remain so in the coming days.

"The market's going to experience volatility as the terms become known," said Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at Channel Capital Research.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged lawmakers Tuesday and Wednesday to quickly sign off on the plan, which they said would help prop up the economy by removing billions of dollars in risky mortgage-related assets from financial firms' balance sheets. Fear of heavy losses on these assets has made banks hesitant to extend credit, which in turn threatens the overall economy by making it harder and more expensive for businesses and consumers to borrow money.

President Bush highlighted what he sees as the urgency in a national address Wednesday night. Major elements are still being worked out, including how to phase in the mammoth cost of the package and whether the government will get an ownership stake in troubled companies.

Alan Lancz, director at investment research group LanczGlobal, said stock market investors were encouraged that the rescue looked more likely than it had earlier in the week. He said the move could help unclog credit markets by allowing banks and investors to place values on assets tied to mortgages.

"How do you establish a floor? Well, this is the bazooka. This is how you establish a floor," he said of the plan's goal of buying up the toxic debt.

Still, some investors had their doubts. Demand eased but remained high for the 3-month Treasury bill, considered the safest short-term investment. Its yield rose to 0.72 percent from 0.49 percent late Wednesday. That means investors are still willing to earn the slimmest of returns in exchange for a safe place to put their money. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.84 percent from 3.81 late Wednesday.

The Dow rose 196.89, or 1.82 percent, to 11,022.06. The gain helped erase some of the losses from heavy selling earlier in the week, though the blue chips still remain down by more than 360 points, or 3.2 percent.

Broader stock indicators also rose Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 23.31, or 1.97 percent, to 1,209.18 and the Nasdaq composite index rose 30.89, or 1.43 percent, to 2,186.57.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by nearly 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 5.73 billion shares, compared with 4.66 billion traded Wednesday.

Roberts noted that the market's back-and-forth moves of late might be unnerving for investors but ultimately can leave stocks with little to show for all the volatility.

"Most of this is just oscillating around a straight line," he said, noting that last week's huge daily moves, which also included triple-digit moves in the Dow, left stocks largely unchanged for the week.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies Thursday, while gold prices fell.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery rose $2.29 to settle at $108.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Meanwhile, disappointing readings on employment, housing and demand for big-ticket manufactured goods, as well as a sobering forecast from General Electric Co., underscored the difficulties facing the economy.

The Labor Department said the number of people seeking unemployment benefits increased by 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted 493,000 last week — the highest level in seven years and well above analysts' expectations of 445,000. Hurricanes Ike and Gustav added about 50,000 new claims in Louisiana and Texas, the department said.

The Commerce Department said sales of new homes fell sharply in August to the slowest pace in 17 years. The average sales price also fell by the largest amount on record. New homes sales dropped by 11.5 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 460,000 units, the slowest sales pace since January 1991.

The department also said orders for expensive manufactured goods sank in August by the largest amount in seven months as demand for both airplanes and cars sank. Durable goods orders fell by 4.5 percent last month, far worse than the 1.6 percent decline that economists expected and the biggest drop since a 4.7 percent fall in January.

GE lowered its forecast for third-quarter and full-year earnings, citing unprecedented weakness and volatility in the financial services markets. The stock, which had declined in the early going, finished up $1.09, or 4.4 percent, to $25.68 alongside the gains in the broader market.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 7.97, or 1.14 percent, to 705.74.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 0.90 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.99 percent, Germany's DAX index added 1.99 percent, and France's CAC-40 jumped 2.73 percent.

On the Net:
New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gHs5OM3gFG_DytQQZFbWfgPT08MAD93E0M902

New York Stock Exchange

Tuesday's closing New York Stock Exchange selected prices:

Stock Last Chg



AMR 10.08 -1.35



AT&T Inc 30.80 -.60



Alcoa 31.11



Altria 20.98 -.36



AEP 38.43 -.35



AmIntlGp 20.32 -1.28



Anheusr 67.77 -.05



ApldIndlT 29.61 -.88



Avon 43.16 -.07



BJ Svcs 26.20 +.52



BP PLC 57.44 -.08



BakrHu 78.64 +2.01



BkofAm 28.08 -1.22



Boeing 62.95 -.69



BrMySq 21.48 -.27



Brunswick 13.37 -.85



BurlNSF 98.02 -.22



Caterpillar 68.69 -.53



Chevron 84.71 +1.52



Citigrp 17.19 -.43



CocaCl 54.33



ColgPal 77.33 -.42



ConocPhil 79.25 +2.25



ConEd 41.01 -.24



CurtisWrt 52.73 -1.29



Daimler 58.44 -1.11



Deere 65.50 -1.12



Disney 31.75 -.33



DowChm 34.18 -.52



DuPont 44.23 -.51



EKodak 15.72 -.44



Eaton 71.58 -.95



EdisonInt 45.11 +.04



EDS 24.81 +.02



ExxonMbl 77.95 +1.42



FMC Cp 73.42 -.37



FootLockr 14.79 -.16



FordM 4.72 -.17



Gannett 18.65 -.89



GenCorp 8.07 -.27



GenDynam 91.99 -.25



GenElec 28.71 -.64



GenMills 65.84 -.52



GnMotr 9.95 -.41



Goodrich 52.26 -.96



Goodyear 20.18 -.70



Hallibrtn 44.04 +1.07



HeclaM 7.11 +.07



Hess 98.45 +3.72



HewlettP 43.69 -.91



HonwllIntl 49.06 -1.00



Idacorp 30.95 -.02



IBM 122.56 -2.03



IntPap 27.78 -.58



JohnJn 71.15 +.06



LockhdM 115.74 +.49



Loews 40.94 -.63



LaPac 9.22 -.46



MDU Res 31.58 +.11



MarathonO 44.60 +.35



McDnlds 62.46 -.83



McKesson 56.54 +.08



Merck 35.25 -.46



NCR Cp 26.68 -.12



NatSemi 21.93 -1.04



NorflkSo 67.96 -1.49



NorthropG 69.69 -.97



OcciPet 77.73 +2.11



OfficeMax 13.72 -.51



Olin 27.41 -.50



PG&E Cp 40.00 -.25



Penney 37.46 -1.40



PepsiCo 70.10 +.29



Pfizer 19.34 -.30



Potlatch 45.57 -.53



Praxair 88.36 -.24



ProctGam 70.72 -.55



PugetEngy 28.00 -.10



Questar 50.45 +1.85



RockwlAut 47.47 -.87



SaraLee 13.81 -.26



SempraEn 56.77 -.58



SouthnCo 37.46 -.15



TexInst 24.81 -.43



Textron 40.03 -1.46



3M Co 71.31 -1.14



TimeWarn 15.72 -.27



Timken 32.69



ToddShp 13.60 -.34



TriContl 16.74 -.17



UnionPac 76.63 -.01



Unisys 3.93 -.01



USSteel 136.12 +4.68



VarianMed 64.05 +.09



VerizonCm 34.20 -.54



ViadCorp 31.97 -.94



Vodafone 25.44 -.46



WalMart 58.20 -.63



WellsFargo 27.79 -1.01



Weyerh 50.75 -2.22



Wyeth 42.60 -.34



Xerox 13.98 -.34



YumBrnds 35.82 -.58

Source:: http://wenatcheeworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080820/BIZ/66954

NYSE CEO REPORT 2009

The fourth annual NYSE Euronext CEO report is the product of input from CEOs representing more than 250 NYSE Euronext member companies. Questions included: Where does corporate growth lie? What risks and stumbling blocks could threaten revenues and profits? How do you perceive the U.S. economy going forward? And, in this election year, what advice would you offer the next U.S. president? Answers formed the basis for the report’s theme: “Managing During Economic Turbulence.”

This year’s respondents share a view that the economy has changed radically; just 10 percent of U.S. CEOs call the domestic economy good (none say it is excellent), compared with 84 percent who labeled it good or excellent a year ago. The CEO view mirrors that of the public at large, with 83 percent of U.S. adults calling the economy fair or poor, in an Opinion Research Corp./Caravan poll conducted in mid-March. The collective CEO views translate to a return to basics as respondents say they are focusing on strong balance sheets, sensible acquisitions and efforts to attract and keep the best workforce.

Source: http://www.nyse.com

Elan Corporation Plc.

Symbol Last Trade
16:11 01 Aug
NYSE
Only Close
01 Aug 08
Change Volume
ELN $ 9.93 9.93 -10.12 (-50.47%) 137,615,689

Website: http://www.elan.com/
Specialist: Bear Wagner Specialists LLC


NYSE Info ToolsTM
ReTrac
Retail Trading
Date
01 Aug 08
Buy Shares
691,279
Sell Shares
406,202

ProTrac
Program Trading
Date
01 Aug 08
Index Arbitrage
0
Non-Index Arbitrage
700


Source: NYSE Info ToolsTM
1 Day (1 mins)1 Day (5 mins)1 Week (Daily)Month1 Quarter (Daily)1 Year (Daily)


Today's
Open High Low
11.03 12.01 9.55

Previous Day's
Close NYSE Only Close
20.05 20.05
52 Week
High Low
37.45 9.55
10 Jul 2008 01 Aug 2008

New York Stock Exchange Today Launches NYSE Realtime Stock Prices

NEW YORK, June 24, 2008 – The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), a subsidiary of NYSE Euronext (NYX), today will introduce NYSE Realtime Stock Prices, a new data product that enables Internet and media organizations to buy real-time, last-trade market data from the NYSE and provide it broadly and free of charge to the public. Google and CNBC are the first organizations to make the product available to the public, effective today.

“NYSE Realtime Stock Prices will provide investors with free, immediate and easily accessible information, without requiring them to complete any administrative forms or contracts. We are excited to partner with Google and CNBC, two great names in the information space, to offer this useful data to the public,” said Ronald Jordan, Executive Vice President, Market Data.

"Providing real-time market data on Google Finance is an important step towards helping investors make more informed and timely investment decisions," said Marissa Mayer, Vice President of Search Products and User Experience. "Access to real-time financial information has traditionally been limited to investors with brokerage accounts and other users via subscription fees. We are pleased to be making this information freely available to all of our users on Google Finance, Google.com and other Google search properties."

"This service will enable any CNBC viewer or user the ability to make better investing decisions, no matter what platform they use or where they are in the world," said Scott Drake, Vice President, CNBC Digital.

The NYSE first proposed the idea for NYSE Realtime Stock Prices in January 2007, with an innovative approach: information providers disseminating the data do not have to count and report the number of users to the Exchange, nor contract with each user. Instead, the providers purchase the data from the NYSE for a flat monthly fee. The Securities and Exchange Commission last week approved NYSE Realtime Stock Prices for a four-month pilot period.

source: http://www.nyse.com/press/1214302996534.html