Search

Oil Prices and Unemployment Send Markets Down (BP, HRL, DELL)

By: , dated August 20th, 2010

The major indices closed down this week, with the exception of the Nasdaq which just barely gained, inching up 0.81 points. The Dow Jones fell 57.59 points, or 0.56%, and the S&P 500 slipped 0.37%. Economic reports remained disconcerting, with inconsistent employment data across the country, and a decrease in oil prices due to oversupply and decreased demand; energy stocks such as Chevron (CVX) and Exxon Mobil (XOM) felt the effect of this, sending shares down. Another company pulling the market down was Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), with its stock falling over 2% as investors remained concerned about the departure of the company’s CEO. A few companies did manage to resist the downward pull and post gains during today’s trading session, including Dell (DELL) and Hormel Foods (HRL) on strong earnings reports. Crude oil had an awful week, with October futures falling to a six-week low at $73.82 a barrel, and gold prices followed suit, with December futures slipping $6.60 to close at $1228.80 an ounce. Trading volume on the NYSE was 693.3 million shares.

Word on the Street

Mortgage rates have continued their downward trend for the 9th straight week, with 30-year fixed mortgages slipping from an average 4.44% to 4.42%.

After Intel (INTC) announced its purchase of technology security company McAffe Inc., the pressure has been increased for competitor Symantec Corp. (SYMC) to remain competitive.

Hormel Foods (HRL), the maker of Spam and other food products, reported an increase in earnings, but warned that the rising price of hogs (which has seen an increase of 77% in the past year) may hurt the company in the future.

Anyone looking for a settlement from BP (BP) will likely have to waive all right to sue both BP and other defendants.

Some good news for consumers – gasoline prices are projected to drop after Labor Day.

Employment data was released today, and the news varied from state to state; some states showed a significant increase in employment, while others such as Nevada and Michigan still have extremely high unemployment rates.

It was said that oil futures had a ‘historically bad week’, dropping to $73.46 a barrel due to oversupply and a poor economy.

Other Interesting Tidbits

Nearly one in five American’s are either in disbelief or simply confused about President Obama’s religious beliefs.

Are you aware that there is a massive egg recall, due to a salmonella outbreak? Find out all the recall details.

Writing is a tough field to break into, but these well-established authors have performed quite well this last year.

VN:F [1.9.17_1161]
Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)

Other relevant articles you may like

This article was brought to you by the InvestorGuide Staff Writers and Editors. If you're interested in writing for us, please read our Write for InvestorGuide.com page. If you're interested in becoming a content partner, please read about our content partner program.

Copyrighted by InvestorGuide.com. All rights reserved.

Leave a Reply