Unemployement up to 9.8%...expects 10%+ soon

[Foxrac]

That link is all for Obama. Not even remotely a right wing site.

Who cares? You are just right winger...

I'm not going to deal with alot of lies and you are just act like 6 years old.

 

[Jiro]

Dow's best day in 3 months

A better-than-expected jump in third-quarter economic growth fired up the bulls, putting the blue-chip indicator and the S&P 500 at 3-month highs.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks rallied Thursday in a broad-based advance as a strong report on economic growth in the third quarter reassured investors that the recovery is on track.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) gained just shy of 200 points, or 2%, closing at 9962.58. It was the Dow's biggest one-day percentage gain since July 15, and came exactly 80 years after Wall Street's darkest day, the Crash of 1929.

The S&P 500 (SPX) index added 23 points, or 2.3%, managing its biggest one-day percentage gain since July 23.

The Nasdaq composite (COMP) climbed 38 points, or 1.8%, its biggest one-day percentage gain in about a month.

"The market sold off Wednesday in expectation of a lower number and today it got a positive surprise," said Karl Mills, president and chief investment officer at Jurika Mills & Keifer.

"This shows the economy is continuing to recover and heal," he said. "It's just not clear what that recovery is going to look like."

Gains were broad based, with 29 of 30 Dow issues rising, led by Boeing (BA, Fortune 500), Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500), Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500), Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500), IBM (IBM, Fortune 500) JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), 3M (MMM, Fortune 500), Travelers (TRV, Fortune 500), Wal-Mart Stores (WMT, Fortune 500) and Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500), which reported a better-than-expected profit.

The rally in the financial sector boosted the KBW Bank (BKX) index by 4%. Commodity shares spiked, with the Morgan Stanley Commodity (CSX, Fortune 500) index up 5%.

The Dow and S&P ended three of the last four sessions lower, and the Nasdaq declined in all four, as investors turned cautious after a seven-month stock rally. Early enthusiasm about better-than-expected third-quarter profit gave way to questions about the strength of the economy, causing investors to pull back.

The S&P 500 lost 5% between the rally peak on Oct. 19 and Wednesday's close. Both the better-than-expected GDP report and the preceding sharp, short selloff gave stocks a boost Thursday. Since bottoming at a 12-year low on March 9, the S&P 500 has gained 57.6% as of Thursday's close.

Reports on personal income and spending, consumer sentiment and manufacturing are all due Friday morning.

Dow component Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500), Duke Energy (DUK, Fortune 500), Alcatel-Lucent (ALA) and Sony (SNE) are among the corporations reporting quarterly results in the morning.

Economy: GDP grew at a 3.5% annualized rate in the third quarter, the government reported Thursday. That was better than the 3.2% rate economists surveyed by Briefing.com had predicted and also marked the first quarter of growth in a year. GDP fell at a 0.7% rate in the second quarter.

Some organic factors fueled the advance, including a slowdown in the pace of businesses reducing inventories. But other short-term factors played a role too, including the impact of government stimulus programs such as Cash for Clunkers. Yet some economists are concerned that when those short-term factors are removed, any recovery could be pretty flimsy.

"It was a little better than expected, but you have to wonder how much of the growth was pulled from another quarter, with the stimulus driving so much of it," said Drew Kanaly, chairman and CEO at Kanaly Trust.

"As you look to quarters down the road, you have to wonder how sustainable this level of GDP is," he said. "Can the government take away all the stimulus and make that handoff to the private sector?"

A separate government report showed that the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment fell to 530,000 last week from 531,000 the previous week. Economists thought it would drop to 525,000.

Continuing claims, a measure of Americans receiving benefits for a week or more, fell to 5,797,000 from 5,945,000 the week before. Economists thought claims would fall to 5,905,000.

Results: Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) said quarterly earnings plunged 68% in the quarter due to lower oil and natural gas prices. The No. 1 U.S. oil company reported weaker quarterly revenue as well. Both earnings and revenue missed estimates. Shares of the Dow component ended little changed.

Dow component Procter & Gamble (PG, Fortune 500) reported weaker quarterly earnings and revenue that topped estimates. The consumer products maker also boosted the low end of its fiscal 2010 earnings forecast. Shares gained 4%.

With 302 companies, or 60% of the S&P 500 having already reported results, profits are on track to have fallen 17.9% from a year ago, according to the latest results from Thomson Reuters.

Currency and commodities: The dollar fell versus the euro, resuming its slide after a few up days and moving closer to a 14-month low hit last week. The greenback gained versus the yen.

U.S. light crude oil for December delivery rallied $2.44 to settle at $79.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a gain of 3%.

COMEX gold for December delivery rallied $16.60 to settle at $1,047.10 an ounce. Gold has surpassed records repeatedly this month due to the weak dollar and longer-term worries about inflation.

World markets: Global markets were mixed. In Europe, London's FTSE 100, France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX all gained over 1%. Asian markets ended lower, with Japan's Nikkei losing 1.8%.

Bonds: Treasury prices tumbled, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 3.49% from 3.41% Wednesday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

Market breadth was positive. On the New York Stock Exchange, winners beat losers four to one on volume of 1.45 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers topped decliners nine to four on 2.33 billion shares.

wooooooo! Looks like it is working after all!

show me the money! show me the money!

 

[jillio]

Clearly, someone fails to recognize the expected linear effect at work. Unemployment rates drop subsequent to the beginnings of economic recovery. As we are seeing the economy starting to recover, we will also see unemployment rates start to go down as that recovery influences unemployment.

 

[kokonut]

Who cares? You are just right winger...

I'm not going to deal with alot of lies and you are just act like 6 years old.

Well, that's what they were saying about the stimulus package. Saying without it unemployment rate will get to a little over 9% which ironically we're at 9.8% WITH th stimulus package. A fact. Argue with the link that supports Obama stimulus package, not me.

 

[Beowulf]

It's a mixed bag I guess. I just completed a few jobs out of town on home improvements, and yup, I used union workers. I didn't see despair among my customers.

 

[kokonut]

It varies from state to state like North Dakota with around 4% unemployment rate but that's where there are a bunch of oil drilling taking place though.
North Dakota 4th largest oil producing state | KXNet.com North Dakota News

 

[Foxrac]

Well, that's what they were saying about the stimulus package. Saying without it unemployment rate will get to a little over 9% which ironically we're at 9.8% WITH th stimulus package. A fact. Argue with the link that supports Obama stimulus package, not me.

That's YOU who did brought link to here, not me.

You love to make yourself looks bad.

 

[jillio]

Well, that's what they were saying about the stimulus package. Saying without it unemployment rate will get to a little over 9% which ironically we're at 9.8% WITH th stimulus package. A fact. Argue with the link that supports Obama stimulus package, not me.

That's is why one looks at predictions with a little common sense, and realize that no one can predict to the .00 percentage point.:roll:

 

[kokonut]

That's YOU who did brought link to here, not me.

You love to make yourself looks bad.

Yeah, so? Which only proves that it was the Obama team who were saying that w/o the stimulus package unemployment rate would sky rocket to 9.0+% but the ironic thing is that it did sky rocket to 9.8% WITH the stimulus package. It's right there....in front of you. *shrugs*

 

[Jiro]

Yeah, so? Which only proves that it was the Obama team who were saying that w/o the stimulus package unemployment rate would sky rocket to 9.0+% but the ironic thing is that it did sky rocket to 9.8% WITH the stimulus package. It's right there....in front of you. *shrugs*

skyrocket to 9.8%? I love how you come to this conclusion. looking forward to another story with your spin. <-- my face's spinnin' spinnin'

 

[Foxrac]

Yeah, so? Which only proves that it was the Obama team who were saying that w/o the stimulus package unemployment rate would sky rocket to 9.0+% but the ironic thing is that it did sky rocket to 9.8% WITH the stimulus package. It's right there....in front of you. *shrugs*

I don't give a damn about projection so like I said, projection isn't ALWAYS ACCURATE so stop point at everything like 5 years old boy that who show father to point, point and point.

 

[Foxrac]

skyrocket to 9.8%? I love how you come to this conclusion. looking forward to another story with your spin. <-- my face's spinnin' spinnin'

Yup, his comment is nothing but horribly hilarious.

 

[kokonut]

I don't give a damn about projection so like I said, projection isn't ALWAYS ACCURATE so stop point at everything like 5 years old boy that who show father to point, point and point.

Well, you did say it would go to 12% w/o the stimulus package. Just pointing out the irony it went to almost 10% WITH the package.

 

[Foxrac]

Well, you did say it would go to 12% w/o the stimulus package. Just pointing out the irony it went to almost 10% WITH the package.

I'm give you a EXAMPLE about without stimulus package.

Now, I give you a word, unemployment rate isn't matters when come with stimulus package, it is getting worse before getting better.

 

[jillio]

I don't give a damn about projection so like I said, projection isn't ALWAYS ACCURATE so stop point at everything like 5 years old boy that who show father to point, point and point.

Some people are just too literal. Projections are never exactly on target, and they aren't even intended to be seen that way. They are estimates.

 

[Jiro]

Exxon Mobil earnings plunge 68%

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Exxon Mobil reported a 68% decline in third-quarter earnings Thursday as oil and natural gas prices tumbled from last year's highs.

The world's largest publicly traded oil company said it earned $4.73 billion in the second quarter, down 68% from $14.83 billion a year earlier. On a per-share basis, Exxon said it earned 98 cents, down from $2.85 in the third quarter of 2008.

The results were below forecasts. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting earnings of $1.03 per share.

Profits fell across all of Exxon's business units. But the larger-than-expected third-quarter decline was driven by weakness in the company's refining business, according to Oppenheimer analyst Fadel Gheit.

"The earnings miss was largely due to weaker-than-expected downstream earnings, including a loss in the U.S., as well as higher operating costs," Gheit wrote in a research report.

Exxon and other companies that convert crude oil into refined products such as gasoline and diesel have been squeezed as demand for fuels remains weak and oil prices have trended higher.

"We are in a very challenging environment in the refining business," David Rosenthal, Exxon's vice president of investor relations, said in a conference call with analysts. "The severity and depth of the downturn this year is very dramatic."

Exxon suffered a $203 million loss in its U.S. refining business, while profits from overseas refining operations fell 74% to $528 million in the quarter.

Earnings from Exxon's exploration and production unit were down 62% in the United States to $709 million and fell 63% overseas to $3.3 billion.

Despite ongoing weakness in fuel demand, Exxon said production rose 3% in the quarter.

Last year, Exxon reported the largest annual profit in U.S. history, making $45.22 billion on the back of record oil prices. But the company's earnings have declined along with oil prices as the global economy contracted.

Oil prices averaged around $68 a barrel in the third quarter, compared with an average price of $118 a barrel in the same period during 2008.

While prices remain below last year's highs, oil has rebounded 67% so far this year as economic conditions have improved, encouraging investors to jump back into the market.

"Oil prices have actually been pretty resilient," said Jason Gammel, an analyst who covers Exxon at Macquarie Research Equities. "Demand hasn't resurfaced yet, but the market is building in an expectation of economic recovery next year."

Exxon (XOM, Fortune 500) said revenue plunged to $82.26 billion in the quarter from $137.74 billion a year earlier. Analysts had forecast sales of $85.16 billion.

Capital and exploration spending fell 5% in the quarter to $6.5 billion.

The company said it invested $19 billion through the first three quarters of the year to develop new energy supplies.

"Despite ongoing global economic weakness and reduced demand for products, we continued our robust investment program and delivered strong results," Exxon chairman Rex Tillerson said in a statement.

Shares of the Irving, Texas-based company were down 1.1% to $72.76 at midday.

awwwww what's the matter? not getting any protection like they had from Bush Administration?

BUCK STOPS HERE!

 

[Jiro]

I'm give you a EXAMPLE about without stimulus package.

Now, I give you a word, unemployment rate isn't matters when come with stimulus package, it is getting worse before getting better.

yup right on the dot!

Are things really getting better?
Last quarter, the economy grew by the largest amount since the summer of 2007, but there are signs that things are still getting worse.

What it is: Gross domestic product is the broadest measure of the nation's economy. GDP measures what individuals, businesses and the government spend as well as the net impact of the nation's imports and exports.

Why it's important: Economists use GDP as one of several data points to determine whether the economy is in a period of recession or expansion. The 2008-2009 recession was one of the deepest ever -- it was the first time in history in which the economy retreated for four straight quarters.

Where we're headed: The economy returned to positive growth in the last three months after contracting by 3.7% since the recession began. But experts warn that government stimulus programs like Cash for Clunkers contributed strongly to the economic expansion and that the economic recovery is more fragile than the GDP numbers may suggest.

looks like the economist's opinion backs your statement.

 

[kokonut]

I'm give you a EXAMPLE about without stimulus package.

Now, I give you a word, unemployment rate isn't matters when come with stimulus package, it is getting worse before getting better.

You did know that they rushed to get the stimulus out, did you? And that most of the stimulus money won't be spent until in 2010? Why the hurry?

 

[Foxrac]

You did know that they rushed to get the stimulus out, did you? And that most of the stimulus money won't be spent until in 2010? Why the hurry?

I don't give a damn about "rushed", that's typical right wing to say and other countries got out of recession because of stimulus package and US is closer to get out of recession too, it is better to do stimulus package now before being late.

 

[jillio]

I don't give a damn about "rushed", that's typical right wing to say and other countries got out of recession because of stimulus package and US is closer to get out of recession too, it is better to do stimulus package now before being late.

Yep. There is always a delay before we see the benefits of it. The longer we wait to put it into effect, the longer the delay before we see benefits. Just makes common sense.