PortfolioCrafter - Market Commentary 12/13/07
December 13th, 2007 / 9:41 pm / by portfoliocrafter
It was a day of small gains and losses for the market. The Dow declined 44.06 to close at 13,517.96. Then, the Nasdaq closed at 2,668 after declining 2.65 points. The S&P closed at 1,488.41 after gaining 1.82 points. Although financial service industry is in a crisis due to bad subprime mortgage loans, investors think that the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates that much in 2008.
Today, the government reported that the Producer Price Index, which measures wholesale prices, rose 3.2 percent. This increase was mostly cause to soaring oil prices. Nevertheless, the core PPI number, rose 0.4 percent, above Wall Street’s expectations of just a 0.2 percent increase. These numbers indicate that inflation is still a concern for many people.
Stocks have been volatile all fall as investors have sorted through the ongoing problems in the housing and credit markets amid worries about a possible recession. In particular, the developments in the credit markets have left investors worried about the future of the market.
A separate report showed a stronger-than-expected jump in November retail sales and in sales excluding autos. Another report showed a bigger drop in weekly jobless claims than economists were expecting. The business inventories rose 0.1 percent in October.
In corporate news, Lehman Brothers reported a decline in quarterly profit that topped estimates. Shares fell through most of the session on the news. Washington Mutual dipped after Banc of America Securities downgraded it to “hold.” Citigroup also finished with losses.
All the best,
Manuel Jesus-Backus
The Portfolio Crafter
