The global markets were largely to the upside this past week. The S&P 500 inched upward by 0.1%, the NASDAQ jumped 1.1%, the FTSE rose 0.1%, the DAX increased 1.7% and the Hang Seng soared 2.0%.  The Dow and the CAC 40 finished lower by 0.5% and 0.1%, respectively.  GDP came in slightly below the robust expectations of 3.0% but even more disappointing was that this growth was largely the result of inventory rebuilding and the scale witnessed in 4Q11 is unlikely to persist.  The Obama administration extended its Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) by one year until year-end 2013.  The goal was to modify 3-4 million loans and this program has fallen short of those projections.  Newt won the South Carolina primary last week and Mitt produced his voluminous returns–Up this week is the Florida primary!

RIM’s …

The global markets rallied this week, cheered on by relatively healthy earnings by US companies, better than expected US economic data and Eurozone stability.  The Dow jumped 2.4%, the S&P 500 rose 2.0%, and the FTSE increased 1.6%, while the DAX and the Hang Seng soared 4.3% and 4.7%, respectively.  The 10-year Treasury fell modestly which produced a yield back above 2%, at 2.03% to finish the week.

The Dow Jones inched up 0.5% to finish at 12,482.07, the S&P 500 increased 0.4% to 1,293.67 and the NASDAQ rose 0.6% to 2,728.08.  The Empire State Manufacturing Survey, out on Tuesday, indicated improved conditions in January for New York manufacturers including areas such as general business conditions, new orders, shipments, inventories, prices paid and received …

  For the week, the Dow Jones rose 0.5%, the S&P 500 gained 0.9%, and the NASDAQ jumped 1.4% which underperformed the S&P Bank and NASDAQ Bank indices which soared 3.4% and 2.2%, respectively. To recap the week, the broader markets posted solid gains despite a slash of cold water from the European debt downgrades and lackluster revenue growth from JPMorgan.

The markets posted modest gains with the Dow Jones up 0.3% to 12,392.69, the S&P 500 increased 0.2% to 1,280.70, and the NASDAQ rose 0.1% to 2,676.56 as it waits, in anticipation of fourth quarter and year-end earnings reports. European leaders continued to work towards a resolution of the debt crises.  Talk of a March 1 date for the …

The financials outpaced the broader markets for the week with the S&P Bank index up 4.7% and the NASDAQ Bank rising 3.8%.  The Dow rose 1.2%, the S&P 500 increased 1.6% and the NASDAQ jumped 2.7% during the first week of 2012.  This week we also witnessed the first, Iowa, of several caucuses with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney finishing in the lead by a few lengths.

The broader markets opened strong in the New Year, as the Dow Jones added 1.5% to finish at 12,397.38, the S&P 500 was up 1.6% to 1,277.06, and the NASDAQ gained 1.7% to 2,648.72.  The December PMI came in better than expected, depicting faster growth in manufacturing, rising 1.2% to 53.9.  In addition, global PMI readings came in above projections which helped …