Stocks Slip Ahead of Job Reports (GOOG, PAR, HPQ, INTC)

The stock market declined on Monday ahead of three job reports this week, that include: ADP’s private non-farm payrolls to be released on Wednesday, the weekly initial jobless claims report on Thursday, and the BLS Employment Situation Summary on Friday. Investors are not optimistic after three straight weeks of decline and poor economic data releases over the past few weeks.

Overall, the Dow dropped -140.92 to to 10,009.73, the S&P500 fell -15.67 points to 1,048.92, and the Nasdaq lost -33.66 points to 2,119.97.

Crude oil fell 47 cents to $74.70 a barrel, Gold rose $1.30 to $1,239.20 an ounce, and Treasuries advanced as economic outlook remains a concern. The dollar fell against safer currencies, such as the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc, but gained against other currencies.

Street News

• Google (GOOG) and Associated Press signed a new license agreement to allow Google to use AP news articles and other content on its websites. The new agreement replaces the one signed in 2006 and that has been in limbo since the beginning of this year.
• The bidding war for 3Par (PAR) rages on, but 3Par stock takes a breather as Dell (DELL) contemplates whether or not it should raise its bid to counter Hewlett-Packard’s (HPQ) $30 per share takeover bid.
• On a separate note, Hewlett-Packard announced that its board has authorized an extra $10 billion in stock buyback.
• Even with the ink on McAfee (MFE) deal still wet, Intel (INTC) announced that it will acquire Infineon Technologies’s wireless division for $1.4 billion. This should leave no doubt that Intel is serious about becoming a significant player in the smartphone market.

Interesting Tidbits

• 6 Strategies for Beating Inflation — With talk of a possible double-dip recession becoming more common, inflation may not be on your radar. However, over the long term, prices do tend to go up — and the purchasing power of your dollar tends to go down. If you are wondering how you can offset the inevitability of inflation, here are 6 strategies you might employ.
• 10 Things Money Managers Won’t Say — Not all money managers are built equal. How to tell them apart.
• 20 Savings Mistakes People Make — See what people would like to have done differently and learn from their mistakes.

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