|
CNBC'S MOST SHARED
- WPP's Sir Martin Sorrell on the Ad Recession
- Unemployed? Bored? Make Money Playing Beer Pong
- Social Networking's 'Naked' Truth
- Merrill's McCann Seen as UBS Wealth Frontrunner
- The View From Newark
- Warren Buffett's Top Three Investment Rules for the Average American
- Fast Funds: Hot Ways To Play China
- Klutzy Woz Becomes Auto Body Pitchman
- Buffett's Top 3 Investment Rules for Average Americans
- Market Insider: Earnings Loom in the Week Ahead
- White House Weighing Assistance for Small Businesses
- How Serious Is White House About Second Stimulus?
- Bulls Get Summertime Blues, But It's Hot Fun for Bears
- As Banks Fail, Strong Institutions Become More Visible
- Merrill's McCann Seen as UBS Wealth Frontrunner
- It's Not the Wealthy Who Are Leaving California: Study
- Atlantic City Takes Hit as Pennsylvania Casino Opens
- Eric Schmidt on Government Scrutiny and Economic Recovery
- Market 360: The Week's Best & Worst
- Geek Squad V. Gizmodo
- Brandt: Google Chrome OS in the Post-PC Age
- Other People Are Weirder Than We Are
- Bank Failures: Is The Nightmare Over? (Video)
- California Here I Go? No.
- Roginsky: No More Mr. Nice Guy
- Commercial Conundrum
Stocks opened mixed Tuesday as a pop in commodities and sharp drop in consumer prices briefly offset worries that Congress won't bail out auto makers.
About a half hour before the opening bell, there was buzz in the market that there may be some foreign interest in gold, which boosted commodities. The dollar declined.
But the market was preoccupied with the auto bailout hearings on Capitol Hill, which resumed today at 10 a.m. ET.
>> Watch CNBC's live-streaming video of the hearings.
"The uncertainty around the auto makers is weighing heavy" on the market, Tim Mole, head of CFD's at SVS Securities, told CNBC. It's a "gauging point of the U.S. economy," he added.
Executives from the auto makers warned Congress that the industry was on the brink of collapse as they called for a $25 billion aid package on Tuesday.
The House Financial Services Committee gets its chance to grill the heads of the Big Three auto-makers during today's hearing.
Shares of both General Motors [GM
Loading...
()
] and Ford [F
Loading...
()
] dropped more than 10 percent. In the past 12 months, GM shares have lost more than 90 percent of their value and Ford is down more than 80 percent.
On Tuesday, auto makers warned that the industry was on the brink of disaster in their plea for a $25 billion aid package.
"This is about much more than just Detroit," GM CEO Rick Wagoner said in his testimony. "It's about saving the U.S. economy from a catastrophic collapse."
>> Poll: What will happen to the market if auto makers don't get a bailout? Vote now.
Meanwhile President-elect Barack Obama came under pressure from chief executives of leading U.S. companies to implement a fiscal stimulus package and name his economic team.
One of the bailout recipients, American International Group, [AIG
Loading...
()
] will pay roughly $3 million to several executives under deferred compensation plans that are being terminated, according to a regulatory filing. The insurer halted plans last week to pay $503 million in deferred compensation.
In economic news, consumer prices fell 1 percent in October, the biggest drop since 1947. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, core CPI slipped 0.1 percent. Both gauges fell more than expected.
Meanwhile, housing starts came in worse than expected, falling 4.5 percent to a record 791,000 annual rate. It was the lowest reading since the measure was created in the late 1940s. An earlier report showed mortgage applications fell to their lowest level in nearly eight years last week.
U.S. oil inventory data is due to be released at 10:35 am.
On the earnings front, BJ's Wholesale [BJ
Loading...
()
] will report earnings numbers before the bell.
This Week:
WEDNESDAY: Weeklyi oil inventories; Fed minutes; Fed's Kohn speaks; Earnings from BJ's Wholesale
THURSDAY: Weekly jobless claims; leading indicators; Philly Fed manufacturing survey; natural gas inventories; Fed's Bullard speaks; Earnings from Gamestop, Dell and Gap
FRIDAY: Fed's Plosser speaks; Earnings from Heinz
Send comments to .








