An East Coast earthquake on Tuesday and the threat of a monster hurricane ravishing the eastern seaboard by the weekend did not daunt US Equity markets.  Trading was not interrupted on Tuesday after the 1:55 pm earthquake that rattled through the East Coast, centered in the hills of Virginia.  Nor were the markets rattled by the resignation of Steve Jobs from Apple.  Mixed economic dated was scattered through the week and Friday’s  Fed meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, did not yield any definitive action by the Fed to boost the economy.  No matter, the major indices managed to pull out a positive return for the week, the first weekly gain since the end of July. 

US Equity markets opened strongly on Monday, only to fade back …

The US Equity markets posted another week of negative performance, primarily driven by news from Europe.  Investor sentiment remains emotional and cautious, taking profits on any gains and hunkering down on negative trading days.  A flight to quality is evident as consumer staples and utilities have outperformed for the week, actually posting gains.  Investors are seeking security and income from dividend paying stocks.   

US Equities rose for the third consecutive session on Monday.   The S&P 500 Index gained 25.68 points to close at 1204.49 and the DJIA jumped 213.88 points to 11,482.90.  Investors are anxiously awaiting the Sarkozy/Merkel meeting on Tuesday to discuss the Eurozone debt situation, with a press conference expected to follow.  Financials and energy stocks had the strongest performance for the day with Bank …

Fear of a global economic growth slow down has investors spooked.  Trading in US equity markets was mixed for the week ending August 5, 2011.  The DJIA lost 698.63 points for the week and the S&P 500 Index fell 92.9 points for the week.  As the US debt crisis seemed to have been alleviated, renewed fears in Europe came to the front of investors’ minds.  Trading activity seemed almost skittish, particularly during the trading session on Friday where the major indices whipsawed to and fro for most of the day.   

More political posturing regarding debt ceiling “compromises” flooded the news over the weekend.  Monday’s equity markets opened in positive territory, optimistic of a resolution to the debt debate in Congress.  Stocks quickly retreated as focus turned to corporate earnings concerns.  Markets turned negative even before the disappointing Institute for Supply Management …

While the prior weekend brought a lot of posturing from Washington DC on the debt ceiling debate and fear mongering that the market could plummet globally Monday morning traders took all the news in stride.  The worries certainly did not go ignored as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost a half a percent of its value to close at $1337.43.  While some technology shares showed strength Monday and Apple shares hit $400 during the trading day, it was not enough to offset shares like HCA Holdings that reported a 22% decline in profits which led the shares down 19.19% Monday.  Another Moody’s Investor Service downgrade of debt in Greece to further junk status hit other European banks namely the Italian banks. Intesa Sanpaulo lost 8.3% of its value and Unicredit fell 7.1%.  

Tuesday brought continued concerns over a plan to raise the debt ceiling in the US as the President and Speaker of the House had dueling TV …