McDermott International (MDR) Upgraded by S&P and Moody's Jul 16, 2008 12:03PM

McDermott International, Inc. (NYSE: MDR) announced that both of the major corporate credit rating services, Standard ...


Moody's cuts preferred stock and financial strength ratings of Fannie Mae (FNM), all debt ratings affirme Jul 15, 2008 10:02AM

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the preferred stock rating of the Federal National Mortgage Association ...


Moody's cuts preferred stock and financial strength rating of Freddie Mac (FRE), all debt ratings affirmed Jul 15, 2008 10:00AM

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the preferred stock rating of the ...


David Moenning's Daily State of the Markets: 06/30 Jun 30, 2008 09:45AM

No Mysteries Here

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Stocks got tagged for another triple-digit decline on Friday with little mystery as to the reason for the shellacking. By now, everybody who knows how to hit the sell button is aware of the issues plaguing this market including rising crude and commodity prices, the ongoing fallout from the credit crisis, a declining dollar, and the pickle the Fed finds itself in right now.

Oil continues to garner a great deal of attention as it appears the latest prediction of $150 by the fourth of July may have a decent shot at coming to fruition. Crude advanced again on Friday eclipsing the $140 mark to close at $140.61. However, prices did finish well off the new record intraday high of $142.99. In looking for a reason for the advance, there is nothing really new here ...


David Moenning's Daily State of the Markets: 06/23 Jun 23, 2008 09:39AM

Will The Third Time Be A Charm?
Here's a link to listen to an Audio Version of the report:

In case you've been away from your computer for a while, it is now painfully obvious that we’ve got another retest of the lows happening in the stock market at the present time. And for those of you keeping score at home, this will mark the third time that the Dow Jones Industrial Average has tested the 11,700 area. Thus, our heroes in horns will be hoping that the third trip down will be a charm.

The most recent run to the low end of what the bulls are hoping will continue to be a trading range, has been caused by fears that (1) inflation will not abate as expected due to the ongoing rise in commodities such as oil and the grains, (2) the economy is slowing down more than ...