Investors Slice Gains in Half; Dow Flirts with 10,000 – October 12, 2009

Rally Peters Out

Investors cut gains back down to size on Monday following a strong start during the morning. Trading was light due to the observance of Columbus Day. Stocks started the day off with a roar as the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged closer to the 10,000 mark. It has been over a year since the index closed at this level. Positive results from Dow components such as Bank of America (BAC) and General Electric (GE) may push the DJIA over this monumental level this week. The positive momentum petered out by mid-afternoon, but the Dow and the S&P 500 still managed to finish the day slightly higher. The Nasdaq fell just below the flat line during the last hour of the session. Shares of Cisco (CSCO), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), and Dell (DELL) were some of the biggest decliners in the tech sector. A weaker dollar and a spike in oil prices above $73 drove energy and materials prices higher. Treasury prices tumbled, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.38% from 3.30%.

Buzzworthy News

Bankruptcy filings don’t discriminate. The Chicago Cubs filed for bankruptcy as part of a plan by owner Tribune Co. to sell the baseball team to the family of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. founder Joe Ricketts. The new owners are looking to make a fresh start.

Black and Decker (BDK) is hammering its way to higher earnings for the third-quarter. The company boosted its third-quarter earnings forecast aided by a lower tax bill and ahead-of-schedule shipments of promotional items.

Symantec (SYMC) has decided to give Digital River (DRIV) the blue screen of death. The company announced plans to move all online sales of its Norton antivirus software now handled by Digital River in house with the hopes of boosting earnings.

Citigroup Inc. (C) has been slapped with a $600,000 fine from FINRA. America’s number three bank was assessed the fine following regulator’s claims that it inadequately monitored complex stock-trading strategies to minimize its potential tax liabilities

KB Home (KBH) may be in some more quick drying cement. The homebuilder is reportedly under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission over possible accounting and disclosure violations.

It looks like venture capital firms will be stuck on a bumpy path for a while. Fundraising activity among venture capitalists has declined for the second consecutive quarter.

Venture Capitalists Need Money, Too

The majority of the people affiliated with the National Association of Business Economists believe that the recession is over and the expansion has begun. The recession may be over, but recovery is painful.

Video — NABE: Recession Over

Sidekick users who lost their data won’t be getting it back. Some T-Mobile customers that use the device suddenly found themselves without address books, calendars, e-mails and photos. Apparently Microsoft’s (MSFT) subsidiary Danger experienced technical difficulties which led to the lost of data.

Royal Philips Electronics (PHG) surprised analysts and posted net income of $257 million in the third quarter. This was a big step up from the net income of $84 million that it reported last year.

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