On a week where Financials dominated the market, Freddie and Fannie lost over 90% of their share price, followed by Lehman at a loss of almost 78%, the markets still managed to close positive on the week.
-AIG had the most negative impact on the Dow and the S&P, down almost 46% for the week
-IBM had the most positive impact on the Dow, up 4% for the week
-Microsoft had the most positive impact on the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ 100, up almost 8% for the week
-Apple had the most negative impact on the NASDAQ 100 down 7% for the week
The S&P 500 sectors were predominantly positive this week led by Consumer Staples up almost 3% for the week, while Financials were the most negative sector, down almost 3% for the week.
-Consumer Staples were boosted by Hershey up almost 9% for the week
-Financials were dragged down by Lehman down almost 78% for the week (Fannie and Freddie were taken out of the S&P)
Hurricane IKE heads for Texas and the heart of the US energy sector and could put 20% of the US crude oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico at risk.
-Oil dips briefly below $100 per barrel on Friday, but settled at $101.18
-Natural Gas rises to two-week highs
-Gold falls almost 5% again this week, and is down almost 25% from its record close of $1003.20 hit March 18, 2008
The US Dollar softens on Friday against most major currencies on concerns over Lehman's future and a decline in retails sales.
-The Forex markets will watch the Fed meeting next week closely.
-The dollar index is still positive for the week.
-The Canadian dollar rises significantly against the US dollar on Friday