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Mar.07

6:58 PM ET

Friday, 7 Mar 2008

Market 360: A weekly wrap up of the US equity markets, commodities, currencies, and more

Posted By:Gina Francolla | Marc Briganti | Giovanny Moreano | Yolaiki Gonzalez

Topics:euro | Commodities | Stock Market

Companies:Exelon Corp | Thornburg Mortgage, Inc. | Ambac Financial Group Inc

For the week ending Friday, March 07, 2008 the US Markets all ended the week down close to 3% or greater. The Dow closed below 12,000, the NASDAQ breached its 52-week low, and the S&P 500 closed below 1300 for the first time since September 11, 2006. In contrast commodities continue to hit new record highs, and the US dollar fell to record lows on a weak economy. Bernanke hinted at further rate cuts, the ECB held rates steady, and jobs unexpectedly fell, heightening fears that the US economy has hit a recession. Many economists are no longer questioning a recession, but how long it will last.

Next week, the markets will watch for Retail Sales on Thursday and earnings from some of the smaller retailers, while inflation watchers await the CPI report on Friday, seen rising again in February. If consumer prices rise beyond comfort levels, the spectre of stagflation, price inflation amidst weak economic growth, will again rear its head.

Highlights:

The Economy:
- The Fed announced emergency measures to improve liquidity by increasing the size of its auctions which should "address heightened liquidity pressures in term funding markets."
- Nonfarm Payrolls reported a loss of 63,000 jobs in February compared to a revised loss of 22,000 jobs a month ago, the steepest decline in 5 years, since March 2003, suggesting that the housing and credit crunch is spreading.
- ISM Manufacturing Index depicted a contracting factory sector with a reading of 48.3 for February from 50.7 in January, the lowest level since April 2003.

The Housing Crisis and Mortgages: For the first time since World War II, Americans have less than 50% equity in their homes due to plunging real estate prices and rising mortgages.
- Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced that foreclosures rose to record highs in the 4th quarter of 2007 spurred by failing subprime loans.
- Thornburg Mortgage [TMA Loading... () ] disclosed that it had "substantial doubt" about its survival, and failed to meet creditors' demands for a margin call of about $610 million.   Thornburg shares lost more than 80% this week.
- The bond insurer Ambac Financial [ABK Loading... () ] raised almost $1.5 billion in capital, in majority by selling stock, in order to maintain its debt ‘AAA’ ratings with credit rating agencies Moody’s and S&P.
- The Commerce Department’s nonresidential construction spending report showed a monthly decline of 1.7% in January, the steepest drop in 14 years.

Sectors & Indexes: Only the S&P Utilities Sector managed a slightly positive gain for the week, led by Exelon [EXC Loading... () ] up 4.2% on the week, and only 6 Dow components were positive for the week (see detail below)

Commodities Rally:
- Crude Oil for April delivery continued to hit record highs with a record close of $105.47 per barrel on Thursday and a new intraday high of $106.54 hit on Friday.
*Oil surpassed the inflation adjusted value of $103.76 per barrel from 1980 when oil was $38 a barrel. OPEC decided to maintain production levels, lower weekly inventories and conflicts between oil producers in Venezuela and Colombia all contributed to oil's rise.
*The Department of Energy EIA data shows the national average for a gallon of gas at $3.162 as of 3/3, and AAA and Oil Price Information Services sites the national average at $3.189 per gallon.
- Natural Gas for April delivery hit a new record high of $10 rising 4.30% for the week and settling at $9.769
- Gold for April delivery continued its record setting pace, though falling short of the $1000 mark hitting an intraday high of $995.2 as investors look to gold as a defensive play against a weakening economy.
- Silver for May delivery jumped above $20 an ounce for the first time, reaching an all-time high of $21.32 an ounce on Thursday.

Dollar Woes: The dollar sank to new lows against the euro, pound, yen, and Swiss franc, though it rallied off its lows by Friday afternoon
- The euro rose to an all-time high against the dollar on Friday with the cost of one euro hitting $1.5462
- The Japanese yen strengthened to new highs against the dollar breaking below the 102-yen level for the first time since January 21 2005, with the dollar only purchasing 101.45 yen at its low on Friday.
- The dollar tumbled to a new all-time low against the Swiss Franc with the US dollar only purchasing 1.0137 Swiss Franc at its lowest point.
**The CurrencyShares Swiss Franc ETF [FXF Loading... () ] was up 1.39% this week, and almost 11% in 2008.
- The British Pound rose to $2.0215 per pound on Friday, after breaching the $2.00 level for the first time this year on Thursday.
**Though gaining against the dollar, the pound has also suffered against he euro losing 3.59% this year on continued fears of the UK economy entering recession.

Market Stats:
The Dow ended down -372.70 or -3.04% for the week, and negative on Friday [.DJIA Loading... () ]
-The Dow is Negative YTD down -10.34%
-The Dow is off by -2,270.84 or -16.03% from the market peak on October 9th of 14,164.53
The NASDAQ ended down -58.99 or -2.60% for the week and negative on Friday [COMP Loading... () ]
-The NASDAQ is Negative YTD down -16.58%
-The NASDAQ is off by -646.63 or -22.62% from the market peak on October 31 of 2,859.12
The S&P 500 ended down -37.26 or -2.80% for the week, and negative on Friday [.SPX Loading... () ]
-Friday the S&P 500 closed at 1,293.37 down -10.97 or -0.84%
-The S&P is Negative YTD down -11.92%
-The S&P is off by -271.78 or -17.36% from the market peak on October 9th of 1,565.15
S&P Sector Performance for the week ending Friday, March 7, 2008:
S&P 500 Utilities Sector (.GSPU)   Up 0.12 or 0.06%
S&P 500 Consumer Staples Sector (.GSPS)  Down -1.43 or -0.51%
S&P 500 Telecomm Services Sector (.GSPTS)  Down -1.54 or -1.12%
S&P 500 Information Technology Sector (.GSPT)  Down -4.17 or -1.21%
S&P 500 Industrials Sector (.GSPI)   Down -7.47 or -2.28%
S&P 500 Health Care Sector (.GSPHC)   Down -12.11 or -3.19%
S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary Sector (.GSPD) Down -7.86 or -3.20%
S&P 500 Materials Sector (.GSPM)   Down -8.20 or -3.23%
S&P 500 Energy Sector (.GSPE)   Down -19.13 or -3.34%
S&P 500 Financials Sector (.GSPF)   Down -20.54 or -5.95%
S&P Top 10 Performers for the week ending Friday, March 7, 2008:
Big Lots Inc (BIG)     Up 3.91 or 23.20%
National Semiconductor Corp (NSM)   Up 1.78 or 10.81%
Dillards Inc (DDS)     Up 1.58 or 10.68%
Tyson Foods Inc (TSN)     Up 1.40 or 9.72%
Ciena Corp (CIEN)     Up 1.97 or 7.63%
SUPERVALU Inc (SVU)     Up 1.80 or 6.86%
Clear Channel Communications Inc (CCU)  Up 2.14 or 6.69%
Kroger Co (KR)      Up 1.41 or 5.81%
BMC Software Inc (BMC)    Up 1.55 or 4.80%
Applied Materials Inc (AMAT)    Up 0.92 or 4.80%
S&P 10 Worst Performers for the week ending Friday, March 7, 2008:
Washington Mutual Inc (WM)    Down -4.09 or -27.64%
CIT Group Inc (CIT)     Down -5.30 or -23.85%
Freddie Mac (FRE)     Down -5.53 or -21.96%
Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC)   Down -1.24 or -19.65%
Fannie Mae (FNM)     Down -4.88 or -17.65%
Novell Inc (NOVL)     Down -1.26 or -16.91%
King Pharmaceuticals Inc (KG)    Down -1.70 or -16.04%
Lennar Corp (LEN)     Down -2.90 or -15.58%
Ambac Financial Group Inc (ABK)   Down -1.64 or -14.72%
Circuit City Stores Inc (CC)    Down -0.58 or -13.12%
Dow Top Performers for the week ending Friday, March 7, 2008:
Microsoft Corp (MSFT)     Up 0.67 or 2.46%
Coca-Cola Co (KO)     Up 0.39 or 0.67%
Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT)    Up 0.31 or 0.63%
AT&T Inc (T)      Up 0.18 or 0.52%
Intel Corp (INTC)      Up 0.10 or 0.50%
International Business Machines Corp (IBM)  Up 0.08 or 0.07%
Procter & Gamble Co (PG)    Down -0.38 or -0.57%
Johnson and Johnson (JNJ)    Down -0.45 or -0.73%
Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ)    Down -0.46 or -0.96%
ALCOA Inc (AA)      Down -0.54 or -1.45%
Dow Worst Performers for the week ending Friday, March 7, 2008:
Citigroup Inc (C)      Down -2.80 or -11.81%
American International Group Inc (AIG)   Down -3.98 or -8.49%
JPMorgan Chase and Co (JPM)    Down -3.09 or -7.60%
Bank of America (BAC)     Down -3.00 or -7.55%
The Boeing Co (BA)     Down -6.19 or -7.48%
Merck & Co Inc (MRK)     Down -2.55 or -5.76%
General Motors Corp (GM)    Down -1.32 or -5.67%
Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM)     Down -4.52 or -5.19%
The Walt Disney Co (DIS)    Down -1.65 or -5.09%
United Technologies Corp (UTX)    Down -3.02 or -4.28%
Pfizer Inc (PFE)      Down -0.93 or -4.17%
Key Earnings next week:
Monday: Texas Instruments (TXN), Blackstone (BX), Six Flags (SIX), Foot Locker (FL)
Tuesday: Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), Liz Claiborne (LIZ), Take-Two Interactive (TTWO)
Wednesday: Flotek Energy (FTK), Gymboree Corp. (GYMB), Men’s Wearhouse (MW)
Thursday: Noven Pharmaceuticals (NOVN), Aeropostale (ARO), Dillard's (DDS)
Economic Data next week:
Monday: Wholesale Inventories
Tuesday: Trade Balance
Wednesday: Crude Inventories, Treasury Budget
Thursday: Retail Sales, Jobless Claims (Initial), Business Inventories
Friday: CPI, Core CPI