We hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day. The FeedTheBull team didn't take much of a break as we were working hard on
preparing the release of FeedTheBull 2.0. We should have a beta up and running in the next week and are very excited to share it with you.
As you know, we strive to bring you the best content on the web related to the stock market. With this new release, you will have more
control of how you find content and discover other members that have similar interest. Without your participation through submission, voting
and commenting, it wouldn't be possible, so we thank you very much. If you are interested in a sneak peek of the site, follow us on
Twitter and send us an @reply. Now, back to the newsletter.
The stock market kicked off the week with a strong start, but gave up a substantial portion of the advance throughout the week, eventually
settling with a modest 0.5% gain. Economic data was mainly to blame for the reversal of the strong start. The housing industry has
remained weak, with both housing starts and building permits falling to record lows. Unemployment claims for the week totaled 631,000, while
continuing claims jumped by 75,000 to a record 6.662 million, which brought the four-week moving average for this series to 6.48 million,
reflecting the weak U.S. labor market. Finally, the Fed minutes showed that they lowered real GDP projections for 2009, 2010, and 2011.
International news had a major effect on the U.S. dollar last week. The U.K. had its sovereign debt rating outlook downgraded
to negative from stable at Standard & Poor's, which cited an increasing debt-to-GDP ratio. This spurred a sharp decline in the dollar
and Treasuries on concern that the U.S. may also face a negative outlook on its
AAA rating. For the week, the dollar fell 3.6%.
Overall, the Dow gained 8.68 points or 0.1%, the NASDAQ gained 11.87 points or 0.7% and the S&P500 gained 4.12 points or 0.5%.
The Week Ahead. The next few weeks could be pivotal for Wall Street. Stocks have been in somewhat of a
holding pattern recently after the major indexes rallied some 30% from the lows of early March. The sense of economic optimism
that propelled the market higher over the last few months has faded, and investors are now looking for more concrete signs of
recovery. If no such signs emerge, analysts say the market could be in for a significant pullback.
This week brings a host of key indicators that could put the economic picture
into sharper focus. The Conference Board will release its monthly report on consumer confidence; The S&P/CaseShiller Home Price Index,
which tracks 20 of the largest housing markets, is due out Tuesday; A report from the National Association of Realtors will show
sales of existing homes in April; April durable goods orders, weekly jobless claims and new home sales are all due on Thursday; and
Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, for the first quarter is expected to have shrank at a 5.5% annual
rate.
Earnings are fairly light this week with Take-Two (TTWO), American Eagle (AEO), AutoZone (AZO), Dollar Tree (DLTR), Polo Ralph
Lauren (RL), Staples (SPLS), Big Lots (BIG), Costco (COST), Dell (DELL) and Tiffany & Co (TIF) on deck to report.
The most discussed keywords on FeedTheBull last week were
Gold, Oil,
Financial, Banks,
General Market News, Bonds,
Investment Ideas, Technical Analysis,
Buffett, Stocks,
Stock Market and Basic Materials.
Find out what all the talk is about and join in the discussion!
With all of the market volatility and the worsening global crisis, it is hard to tell when we will see a bottom. We would like
to hear your thoughts on a bottom. Do you think the market will bottom in 2009?
You can even guess where the DOW will
bottom. We are also curious to know if you
are still buying and holding onto your stocks or are you moving into shorter term trades and cash?
How many stocks do you own? How confident
are you in the U.S. stock market? You can view all of
the polls here and if you have a question you would like to
ask on FeedTheBull, send them here.
If you have any questions, please check out the Frequently Asked Questions
page or contact us here.
