Stocks tumbled Friday, giving back all of the gains from the prior session, as worries about the recovery escalated after a pair of reports on the consumer and as the dollar rallied. The Dow shed 250 points, or 2.5 percent, but finished flat for the month.
Stocks tumbled Friday, giving back all of the gains from the prior session, as worries about the recovery escalated after a pair of reports on the consumer.
Futures indicated a lower open for Wall Street on Friday, the last trading day of October, after the Dow experienced its best day in 3 months Thursday after GDP data showed the world's biggest economy exited recession in the third quarter.
Unemployment hit 8.9 percent in April and some predict that number could climb to over 10 percent in 2009 as major companies streamline operations to combat the recession. But how far can this streamlining really go? For many companies, revenues hinge on worker productivity, and for most operations, per-worker profits and revenues are many multiples of average employee salaries. The measure of revenue per employee also helps shed light on a firm's money-making efficiency and likelihood it will retain jobs. The best companies require the least number of workers to make the most money.
Markets will take measure of the American consumer Thursday, when monthly retail sales for July are released and Walmart reports its quarterly earnings.... Read More