While most pundits and economists are already down on President Barack Obama’s job plan, which is scheduled to be unveiled tomorrow, the market seems to have high hopes for it. Stocks are up about 2 percent today as investors buy into tomorrow speech and were also calmed as Europe’s financial crisis received some relief. President Obama’s proposal is rumored to be structured around tax relief for workers and possibly for employers as well. In Germany, the nation’s supreme court ruled that bailouts were legal, thus removing much of the pressure on the European Central Bank’s rescue strategy. On Wall Street, shares of Yahoo! (YHOO) shot up as much as 8 percent after it was announced that Carol Bartz was fired as CEO of the struggling internet company. The company’s CFO, Tim Morse, will step in as interim CEO. Another major corporation that could see top-level restructuring is Bank of America (BAC), which named a Thomas K. Montag its new co-COO as is already speculated as a potential successor to current CEO Brian Moynihan. Bank of America has been one of the most volatile stocks in the current whipsaw market, leading financials both on down and up days. In commodities, oil prices have jumped nearly four percent as inventory fell due to the recent storms. Gold sank 2.7 percent as investors’ risk appetite returned today.
Major U.S. Stock Indices
DJIA: 11,356.74 (+1.95 percent)
S&P 500: 1,193.51 (+2.43 percent)
NASDAQ: 2,536.15 (+2.52 percent)
Russell 2000: 703.47 (+3.32 percent)
In other news:
- Neel Kashkari, Obama’s former money czar, is now the Head of Global Equities for PIMCO, despite having a spotty performance record since 2008. [Bloomberg]
- Government officials love to talk about creating jobs for Americans, but are they actually the ones getting in the way? Executives seem to think so. [CNBC]
- The bull run for gold is done. Wait, no it’s not. [Minyanville, Marketwatch]
- Republicans aren’t even pretending to care about what the President has to say, they just want him out of the White House already. [Business Insider]
- What recession? Facebook doubled its revenue to $1.6 billion in the first half of 2011. [Reuters]
Check back as more news develops.
