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Wall Street Closes Flat, but July is Still the Best Month in a Year

By: , dated July 30th, 2010

The major indices stayed virtually flat in a mild ending to July, which nonetheless ended up being the best performing month in a year. The Dow Jones and Nasdaq both gained over 7% this month, and the S&P 500 rose over 6.6%. Today, the Dow slipped 1 point and the Nasdaq gained 3. Consumers and analysts had mixed reactions to today’s GDP report, which saw 2.4% growth but fell a little below estimates, and the revisions made clear that this recent recession was comparable to the recession of the 1940s. Other economic news wasn’t much better, with unemployment inching higher, and consumer sentiment slipping further. Trading volume was very light, at 745 million shares on the NYSE, indicating that traders are avoiding the uncertainty of the stock market. Crude oil gained 59 cents to close at $78.95 a barrel, and gold futures also rose, to $1183.90 an ounce.

Word on the Street

Research in Motion (RIMM: Charts, News, Offers) has not confirmed it, but it’s believed that the company will be releasing an iPad competitor later this year.

Merck’s (MRK: Charts, News, Offers) Q2 sales tumbled from $1.56 billion to $752 billion, although the company still beat expectations and has high hopes for future benefits to come from their recent acquisition of Schering-Plough.

The Consumer Sentiment report was a touchy subject today, as consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level since November, hinting that the economy may not be recovering as quickly as some had hoped.

Facebook reported that they will not be heaing towards an IPO next year, but a look back shows us that we shoudn’t be surprised by this announcement.

While BP (BP: Charts, News, Offers) is submerged in bad news, Chevron (CVX: Charts, News, Offers) managed to report that its earnings had tripled, easily beating expectations.

Other Interesting Tidbits

Is 2010 the worst movie year ever?

Everyone knows that Facebook has had its fair share of privacy issues, but did you hear about this most recent privacy breach?

Get to know five individuals who are trying to make a difference in the political realm – all age 25 or younger.

Have you ever heard of the city of Moenjodaro? It’s now a ghost city, and some believe that in just 100 years cities such as Detroit may become a ghost city as well.

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