The stock market’s seesaw trend continues as stocks are trading down today after rating agency Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece credit deeper into junk status. On the domestic front, Gap’s (NYSE: GPS) didn’t help matters after the retail company lowered its forecast for the full year by a staggering 22 percent. Gap attributes the cut to higher costs and lower sales as consumers struggle with their own costs at home. Retail stocks are mostly down, but Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) saw its shares jump over 30 percent after a Liberty Interactive (NASDAQ: LINTA) offered to buy the largest book store chain in the U.S. for $1.02 billion. Barnes & Noble has been looking for a buyer for over nine months now. In commodities, oil prices continue to slide as the U.S. dollar strengthens and high gas prices are scaring away demand. Gold prices may have finally found their footing as China has been buying up the precious metal at an astounding rate.
Major U.S. Stock Indices
DJIA: 12,570.09 (-0.28 percent)
S&P 500: 1,339.31 (-0.31 percent)
NASDAQ: 2,814.50 (-0.31 percent)
Russell 2000: 831.57 (-0.43 percent)
In other news:
- Most states reported a drop in unemployment, but some states–like California–continue to struggle. [WSJ]
- Maybe this isn’t the kind of communication that Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) wants to be communicating. [The Street]
- When it comes to rebuilding the U.S. economy, it’s time to get back to the basics. [NY Times]
- If investors ever wonder why research analysts always seem so bullish on their calls, it’s probably because of this. [Bloomberg]
- Tokyo Electric Power President Masataka Shimizu has resigned from his position after the company announced a $15.3 billion net loss for the year and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant crisis continues. The substantial losses, as well as payments to disaster victims mounting to additional tens of billions of dollars, could force Tepco to go under. [LA Times]
Check back for more news.
U.S. stock indexes fell sharply Friday, with the retreat intensifying after ratings company Fitch downgraded Greece, adding to worries that came on retailer Gap Inc.’s lowered forecast.
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