Rocket News » Stock Market News

As Facebook IPO nears, the case for dull stocks (AP)

Editor - Stock Markets News — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:25:58 +0000

NEW YORK – Investors thinking of buying a piece of Facebook after it goes public are hoping it will perform like Google, whose stock has risen 500 percent since its debut seven and a half years ago.

But they may want to spare a thought for companies slightly less exciting — a truck leasing company, perhaps, or a manufacturer of ball bearings.

Stocks of those two have left Google, and the investors who didn’t get into it early, in the dust in the past several years. So have more than half the companies in the Standard Poor’s 500 index.

Since the stock market peaked on Oct. 9, 2007, Ryder System Inc., which rents moving trucks, has returned 26 percent, counting dividends. Timken, the ball bearing company, 49 percent.

And the staid Johnson Johnson, the 125-year-old maker of Tucks ointment to relieve hemorrhoids among thousands of other products, has trounced Google, too —

How the major stock indexes fared on Friday (AP)

Editor - Stock Markets News — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:25:40 +0000

Stocks had their worst day of the year Friday after Greece hit a roadblock on its way to a critical bailout. The SP 500 index had its first down week of the year.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 89.23 points, or 0.7 percent, at 12,801.23.

The Standard Poor’s 500 finished down 9.31 points to 1,342.64.

The Nasdaq composite closed down 23.35 points at 2,903.88.

For the week:

The Dow is down 61 points, or 0.5 percent.

The SP 500 is down 2.26 points, or 0.2 percent.

The Nasdaq is down 1.78 points, or 0.1 percent.

For the year so far:

The Dow is up 583.67 points, or 4.8 percent.

The SP 500 is up 85.04 points, or 6.8 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 298.73 points, or 11.5 percent.

As Facebook IPO nears, the case for dull stocks (AP)

Editor - Stock Markets News — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:25:22 +0000

But they may want to spare a thought for companies slightly less exciting — a truck leasing company, perhaps, or a manufacturer of ball bearings.

Stocks of those two have left Google, and the investors who didn’t get into it early, in the dust in the past several years. So have more than half the companies in the Standard Poor’s 500 index.

Since the stock market peaked on Oct. 9, 2007, Ryder System Inc., which rents moving trucks, has returned 26 percent, counting dividends. Timken, the ball bearing company, 49 percent.

And the staid Johnson Johnson, the 125-year-old maker of Tucks ointment to relieve hemorrhoids among thousands of other products, has trounced Google, too —

Summary Box: Stocks fall as Greek deal is held up (AP)

Editor - Stock Markets News — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:25:19 +0000

BAILOUT BLUES: U.S. stocks took their biggest slide so far this year on news that European countries that share the euro with Greece want it to make deeper spending cuts in exchange for bailout money. Stocks had risen just a day before on hopes the bailout was imminent.

EVERYONE DOWN: The declines were broad with all ten industry groups in the SP 500 stock index down. Materials stocks fell the most, 1.8 percent. Jeans maker True Religion Apparel plunged 28 percent after its earnings fell far below what analysts were expecting.

GOLD DID WHAT?: The safe-haven metal usually rises when stocks fall, but on Friday it fell 1 percent. “People are speculating, and so the drop could get bigger,” said Mark Matson, CEO of Matson Money.

How the major stock indexes fared on Friday (AP)

Editor - Stock Markets News — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:25:13 +0000

Stocks had their worst day of the year Friday after Greece hit a roadblock on its way to a critical bailout. The SP 500 index had its first down week of the year.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 89.23 points, or 0.7 percent, at 12,801.23.

The Standard Poor’s 500 finished down 9.31 points to 1,342.64.

The Nasdaq composite closed down 23.35 points at 2,903.88.

For the week:

The Dow is down 61 points, or 0.5 percent.

The SP 500 is down 2.26 points, or 0.2 percent.

The Nasdaq is down 1.78 points, or 0.1 percent.

For the year so far:

The Dow is up 583.67 points, or 4.8 percent.

The SP 500 is up 85.04 points, or 6.8 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 298.73 points, or 11.5 percent.

SEC looks into private equity industry practices: WSJ (Reuters)

Editor - Stock Markets News — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:24:58 +0000

(Reuters) – The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an inquiry into how the private equity industry values its investments, how those investments are marketed, and other practices, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

Federal regulators sent letters to numerous private equity firms in December in an “informal inquiry” into the $1.2 trillion industry, which historically has not been a major focus of scrutiny by the SEC, the newspaper said.

It was unclear which firms received the SEC letter which “requested information related to 12 broad areas, including fund raising and fund formation,” it said.

One focus of the SEC inquiry will be how private equity firms value investments and discrepancies in valuations from firm to firm, it said, citing the letter and people familiar with the matter.

The SEC has increased resources policing private equity as the industry has grown since the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Regulators have several cases involving private equity

Summary Box: Stocks fall as Greek deal is held up (AP)

Editor - Stock Markets News — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:24:53 +0000

SEC looks into private equity industry practices: WSJ (Reuters)

Editor - Stock Markets News — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 03:24:34 +0000

It was unclear which firms received the SEC letter which “requested information related to 12 broad areas, including fund raising and fund formation,” it said.

One focus of the SEC inquiry will be how private equity firms value investments and discrepancies in valuations from firm to firm, it said, citing the letter and people familiar with the matter.

The SEC has increased resources policing private equity as the industry has grown since the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Regulators have several cases involving private equity

How the major stock indexes fared on Friday (AP)

Editor - Stock Markets News — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:23:14 +0000

Stocks had their worst day of the year Friday after Greece hit a roadblock on its way to a critical bailout. The SP 500 index had its first down week of the year.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 89.23 points, or 0.7 percent, at 12,801.23.

The Standard Poor’s 500 finished down 9.31 points to 1,342.64.

The Nasdaq composite closed down 23.35 points at 2,903.88.

For the week:

The Dow is down 61 points, or 0.5 percent.

The SP 500 is down 2.26 points, or 0.2 percent.

The Nasdaq is down 1.78 points, or 0.1 percent.

For the year so far:

The Dow is up 583.67 points, or 4.8 percent.

The SP 500 is up 85.04 points, or 6.8 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 298.73 points, or 11.5 percent.

Summary Box: Stocks fall as Greek deal is held up (AP)

Editor - Stock Markets News — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:23:02 +0000