Top 10 News Items 8/1-8/5: US Stocks Plunge 6% in 5 Days; Italy's Berlusconi Vows to Keep Nation Afloat; 'Double-Dip Recession' Creeps Back Into the Market
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Here is a recap of the top 10 news items from this week on Wall Street:
1. The stock market had a horrendous week, period. After declining more than 4 percent last week, the US's major averages plunged another 6 percent this week. The Dow fell to as low as 11,139. While Friday's session was extremely volatile, the most action seemingly came on Thursday when the Dow sank by more than 500 points.
2. Italy and Prime Minister Berlusconi garnered the most headlines out of Euro this week as the nation is aiming to avoid as much of the debt-contagion fears as possible. The Prime Minister vowed to balance the company's budget by 2013, also saying officials will take action to improve the labor market.
3. Fears of a "double-dip recession" invaded markets once again this week as concerning economic data points got pundits bubbling. ISM manufacturing for the month of July came in worse than expected at 50.9. The Street was looking for a reading of 54.5. Non-manufacturing came in at 52.7, also worse than the economist estimate of 53.5. Also, consumer spending fell for the first time in two years.
4. The change in nonfarm payrolls for the month of July was a gain of 117,000, which compares to the Street estimate of 85,000 and up from a revised reading of 46,000 for the month of June. Private payrolls totaled 154,000, vs. the economist estimate of 113,000 and compared to a reading of 80,000 in June. Manufacturing payrolls were 24,000, compared to the Street estimate of up 10,000. The unemployment rate fell to 9.1%, which compares to the consensus estimate of 9.2%.
5. Despite a sharp sell-off in the entire US stock market, shares of Emdeon (NYSE: EM) surged around 17 percent as Blackstone (NYSE: BX) said it would acquire the company for $19 per share in cash, or about $3 billion.
6. Both Moody's and Fitch affirmed the government rating of the US this week; traders are still awaiting either an affirmation or a downgrade from Standard & Poor's. Rumors earlier Friday suggested the ratings agency may make a move over the weekend, however the release of prior reports during market hours would suggest otherwise.
7. Shares of Dendreon (Nasdaq: DNDN) were slammed more than 67 percent on Thursday following the company's quarterly earnings report. While Q2 results beat the Street (a loss of 57c vs. a loss of 71c), the company withdrew its sales guidance for PROVENGE. "Dendreon expects that adoption of the new reimbursement paradigm will take time. Accordingly, Dendreon is withdrawing its previous guidance of $350-400 million in revenue for 2011 and currently expects modest quarter over quarter revenue growth for the remainder of this year."
8. Gold marked a new all-time high this week over $1,680 per ounce. The metal pared gains following the new high, closing the weekly session up about 2 percent to $1,661 per ounce.
9. Crude oil sold off by more than 9 percent this week as global economic fears weighed on even this mostly independent commodity. Light, sweet crude touched a low under $83 per barrel, however closed around $87.
10. priceline.com (Nasdqq: PCLN) shares were volatile this week following Q2 results. The company reported EPS of $5.49, $0.62 better than the analyst estimate of $4.87. Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.1 billion versus the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. The company said it expects to see Q3 non-GAA EPS of $9.10-$9.30, versus the consensus of $7.94. Shares rose 9 percent on Friday following the results.
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1. The stock market had a horrendous week, period. After declining more than 4 percent last week, the US's major averages plunged another 6 percent this week. The Dow fell to as low as 11,139. While Friday's session was extremely volatile, the most action seemingly came on Thursday when the Dow sank by more than 500 points.
2. Italy and Prime Minister Berlusconi garnered the most headlines out of Euro this week as the nation is aiming to avoid as much of the debt-contagion fears as possible. The Prime Minister vowed to balance the company's budget by 2013, also saying officials will take action to improve the labor market.
3. Fears of a "double-dip recession" invaded markets once again this week as concerning economic data points got pundits bubbling. ISM manufacturing for the month of July came in worse than expected at 50.9. The Street was looking for a reading of 54.5. Non-manufacturing came in at 52.7, also worse than the economist estimate of 53.5. Also, consumer spending fell for the first time in two years.
4. The change in nonfarm payrolls for the month of July was a gain of 117,000, which compares to the Street estimate of 85,000 and up from a revised reading of 46,000 for the month of June. Private payrolls totaled 154,000, vs. the economist estimate of 113,000 and compared to a reading of 80,000 in June. Manufacturing payrolls were 24,000, compared to the Street estimate of up 10,000. The unemployment rate fell to 9.1%, which compares to the consensus estimate of 9.2%.
5. Despite a sharp sell-off in the entire US stock market, shares of Emdeon (NYSE: EM) surged around 17 percent as Blackstone (NYSE: BX) said it would acquire the company for $19 per share in cash, or about $3 billion.
6. Both Moody's and Fitch affirmed the government rating of the US this week; traders are still awaiting either an affirmation or a downgrade from Standard & Poor's. Rumors earlier Friday suggested the ratings agency may make a move over the weekend, however the release of prior reports during market hours would suggest otherwise.
7. Shares of Dendreon (Nasdaq: DNDN) were slammed more than 67 percent on Thursday following the company's quarterly earnings report. While Q2 results beat the Street (a loss of 57c vs. a loss of 71c), the company withdrew its sales guidance for PROVENGE. "Dendreon expects that adoption of the new reimbursement paradigm will take time. Accordingly, Dendreon is withdrawing its previous guidance of $350-400 million in revenue for 2011 and currently expects modest quarter over quarter revenue growth for the remainder of this year."
8. Gold marked a new all-time high this week over $1,680 per ounce. The metal pared gains following the new high, closing the weekly session up about 2 percent to $1,661 per ounce.
9. Crude oil sold off by more than 9 percent this week as global economic fears weighed on even this mostly independent commodity. Light, sweet crude touched a low under $83 per barrel, however closed around $87.
10. priceline.com (Nasdqq: PCLN) shares were volatile this week following Q2 results. The company reported EPS of $5.49, $0.62 better than the analyst estimate of $4.87. Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.1 billion versus the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion. The company said it expects to see Q3 non-GAA EPS of $9.10-$9.30, versus the consensus of $7.94. Shares rose 9 percent on Friday following the results.
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