Finance

Market Recap: Euphoria Boosts Stocks as Greek Parliament Votes for Austerity

Markets closed up on Wall Street today:

▲ Dow +0.57 percent
▲ S&P +0.68 percent
▲ Nasdaq +0.95 percent
▲ Oil +1.92 percent
▼ Gold -0.02 percent

On the commodities front:

▲ Oil (NYSE:USO) rose to $100.56 a barrel
▼ Gold (NYSE:GLD) falling slightly to $1,724.90 an ounce
▲ Silver (NYSE:SLV) rose 0.29 percent to settle at $33.70

(Related: Warren Buffett: All Gold is Fool’s Gold)

Today’s markets were up because:

1) Greece: The Greek Parliament cleared the first of three hurdles it must overcome to qualify for a second bailout worth 130 billion euros when lawmakers approved a package of austerity reforms on Sunday.

Critics say Greece needs the bailout funds to avoid a potential default on a 14.5 billion-euro bond redemption on March 20. Now the government need only identify another 325 million euros in spending cuts and give assurances that the program will be implemented even after elections are held later this year. If those conditions are met, euro-zone finance ministers are expected to endorse the program at a meeting on Wednesday.

2) Budget: The day held no major economic news, but President Obama did unveil a $3.8 trillion budget request that would impose a 30 percent minimum tax on millionaires while earmarking more than $800 billion for job creation and infrastructure investment.

The bill will supposedly add more than $300 billion to the U.S. economy this year alone, as it would not only increase tax revenue, but also add an estimated $6 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.

3) Financials: Financial stocks posted early gains today in the wake of Greece’s debt deal. Shares of Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and JPMorgan were all up more than 1 percent. Bank stocks tend to track developments in the sovereign debt crisis in Europe because of fears over their exposure to foreign debt. Positive developments abroad also helped Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland post moderate gains.

[Editor’s note: the above is across post that originally appeared on Wall St. Cheat Sheet.]

Comments (9)

  • ZeroOff4impact
    Posted on February 14, 2012 at 9:08am

    Again the Greeks will become the shining example of FAILURE…

    Report Post » ZeroOff4impact  
  • txn4justice
    Posted on February 13, 2012 at 10:57pm

    It’s another Greek Tragedy.

    Tragedy (Ancient Greek: τραγῳδία, tragōidia, “he-goat-song”) is a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes in its audience

    Report Post »  
  • progressiveslayer
    Posted on February 13, 2012 at 7:34pm

    (Related: Warren Buffett: All Gold is Fool’s Gold) I know he’s the oracle of Omaha but what good is the funny money when uncle Ben does Qe3 4 5? At least gold will increase in value while the funny money will be good to start a fire.

    Report Post » progressiveslayer  
    • Stoic one
      Posted on February 13, 2012 at 7:49pm

      YEA! after a fire the gold gill still be there, the dollars will be dust in the wind.

      Report Post » Stoic one  
    • We are Americans
      Posted on February 13, 2012 at 8:47pm

      He us right though. It’s called market
      value. How much is something worth? Whatever
      somebody is willing to pay for it. Worked in
      real estate for a long time. Houses were worth 100k.
      Values rose. Same house 3 yrs later is worth 300k.
      Same house. More demand. Now market stinks.
      Same house worth 150k. Still same house. Less
      demand. If everything falls apart, food, water ,
      fuel, and guns and ammo are currency. What
      value would gold have then. If I have fuel, water, food
      I’m not selling it for gold.

      Report Post »  
  • AxelPhantom
    Posted on February 13, 2012 at 7:05pm

    What are the stockmarkets going to do after the Greek Citizenry casts thier “Vote” on the austerity measures, this week? This is just the beginning.

    Report Post »  
  • seeker9
    Posted on February 13, 2012 at 6:54pm

    AAPL clposed above $500. What a ride! Must enjoy while it lasts.

    Report Post » seeker9  
  • FLYOVERSTATEIOWA
    Posted on February 13, 2012 at 6:46pm

    Smoke and mirrors i’d say!

    Report Post » FLYOVERSTATEIOWA  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on February 13, 2012 at 6:40pm

    So the world sings before the destruction comes. I still remember the film of a man declaring that there will be peace in Europe with Hitler just before the second world war broke out.

    Remember what the good book says “They will cry out Peace! Peace! and then comes sudden destruction.”

    They are singing out good times, when destruction is about to come to fruition.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  

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