Top 10 News Items: 8/17-8/21: Chinese Markets Lead Global Stocks Lower to Start the Week; 'Cash for Clunkers' to End Monday; Jackson Hole Economist Conference Gets Underway

August 21, 2009 4:12 PM EDT

Here is a recap of the top news items from this week on Wall Street:

1. Stocks around the globe tumbled sharply Monday, led by a drastic slide in the Chinese markets. The Shanghai composite sank below the 3,000 level for the first time since the beginning of July. The index closed down nearly 6%. Traders cited profit-taking in Chinese stocks as, at the beginning of August, the Shanghai index had more than doubled since its lows set in November. Talk that China is leading around the US market's was all the rage this week.

2. The U.S. government announced Thursday that its popular 'Cash for Clunkers' program would end Monday, August 24, as car dealers are concerned that, due to extreme interest, they may not be able to supply such heavy demand.

3. Top regulators met for a somewhat-informal conference being held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming this week. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a speech, reflecting on "a year in crisis". Other officials, including Treasury Secretary Geithner and the Fed's James Bullard made reassuring comments, suggesting that most Jackson Hole attendees are "cautiously optimistic".

4. Shares of AIG (NYSE: AIG) climbed more than 30% this week following comments by the new CEO said the government will be paid back ASAP. "At the end of the day, we believe we will be able to pay back the government and we hope we will be able to do something for our shareholders as well." The news and upside momentum also gave legs to other bailed out names, including Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE).

5. The majority of retail earnings came through this week, including: Dillards (NYSE: DDS), Saks (NYSE: SKS), Target (NYSE: TGT), TJX (NYSE: TJX), Limited (NYSE: LTD), Sears (Nasdaq: SHLD), The Buckle (NYSE: BKE), Dick's (NYSE: DKS) and Gap (NYSE: GPS). For the most part, earnings have been coming in better-than-expected.

6. Shares of Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) jumped nearly 4% on Thursday as Goldman Sachs added the stock to its Conviction Buy List. The firm also boosted its price target on Google to $560. Despite the strong finish to this week's trading, shares finished only slightly higher given weakness on Monday.

7. The world's most famous value investor, Warren Buffett, penned another op-ed piece in the New York Times this week, this time addressing his concerns about a depreciating greenback. Buffett said that the U.S. economy is now out of the "emergency room", but that we still have a long way to go. Click here for the full report.

8. Following in the footsteps of the now-leader Ford (NYSE: F), GM announced this week that it will be increasing production at its North American plants, adding shifts, overtime, and also reinstating the previously forecasted downtime at certain plants. As a result, GM will add about 60,000 vehicles in Q3 and mainly Q4.

9. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) reported its Q3 results this week, beating on both the earnings and sales number. The company also issued Q4 guidance that was inline to better-than what the Street had been looking for. Shares finished this week modestly higher.

10. The two major home improvement retailers, Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and Lowe's (NYSE: LOW) reported their quarterly results this week. Home Depot beat, also guiding higher, sending its shares surging on Tuesday, while Lowe's missed and guided below the Street.

Related Categories

Special Reports

Stocks Mentioned

Related Entities

• Warren Buffett
• Goldman Sachs Conviction Buy List
• Ben S. Bernanke
• StreetInsider.com Top 10 News Items for the Week

Add Your Comment

Name

Subject

Body

Verification can't see the text?
click here to refresh the image.
what's this?