Market Recap: Financials Lead Stocks Higher as Europe Fears Ease

Markets closed up on Wall Street today:

  • Dow +0.56 percent
  • S&P +0.89 percent
  • Nasdaq +0.97 percent
  • Oil +0.86 percent
  • Gold +1.46 percent

On the commodities front:

  • Oil (NYSE:USO) climbed to $102.18 a barrel
  • Gold (NYSE:GLD) climbing to $1,631.60 an ounce
  • Silver (NYSE:SLV) rose 3.75 percent to settle at $29.86

(Related: DOJ Widens Scope of Settlement to Resolve Mortgage Abuses)

Today’s markets were up because:

1) Europe: Fitch Ratings said today that Europe is on the “right path” toward solving its debt problems, while reiterating the agency’s December stance that it does not plan to downgraded AAA-rated France this year.

The ratings agency will give a decision on all European countries it currently has on negative watch by the end of the month. Though the company indicated there’s a “significant chance” that Italy will be downgraded, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti was in the news today saying he would unveil a package of measures meant to encourage competition and expansion and stimulate economic growth at a meeting of European Union finance ministers later this month.

2) Earnings: An upbeat report from Alcoa kicked off earnings season after the bell on Monday, with investors brushing off the company’s fourth-quarter loss, instead focusing on the fact that the nation’s largest aluminum producer topped sales estimates and issued a positive outlook for aluminum demand in 2012. Though no major corporate reports are scheduled for today, Lennar  and JPMorgan are on deck for this week.

3) Banks: Financial stocks led today’s rally, with Bank of America surging 6 percent, making it the best performer on the Dow. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs were both up around 4 percent, while Citigroup and JPMorgan each rose more than 2 percent.

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

Comments (11)

  • Tretka
    Posted on January 10, 2012 at 10:03pm

    Not sure if my other post happened so one more time. This information is a crock. THE GOVERNMENTS ARE SWAPPING LIQUIDITY! Of course Europe is doing a little better-it’s the same money swishing around as we buy back our own bonds and just watch the dollar by March. I know the Blaze just picked this up somewhere else and they should know what we all are going to say to this! I am tracking everything. HINT: watch all the futures…research the movement of commodities between countries, and… we are printing money…they are not telling us they are because we WE ARE SWAPPING MONEY EVERY NIGHT WITH EUROPE. Right now the ECB is able to return the dollar slowly at a pre-established swap rate. The Wall Street Journal even did a article on this and I went out and figured out how the little gal could figure it out. I watch it every day.

    Report Post » Tretka  
  • BlackCrow
    Posted on January 10, 2012 at 6:23pm

    Short term German bonds are selling at a NEGATIVE interest rate. The banks and brokerage houses are paying the German government to hold their money. This is all sorts of WRONG!!!

    Report Post » BlackCrow  
    • Charles321123
      Posted on January 10, 2012 at 6:32pm

      Blackcrow where did you get your information? I am not saying it is incorrect I just want to pass it on to someone I know. Thanks

      Report Post »  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on January 10, 2012 at 6:35pm

      Well just remember how we got here.

      Report Post »  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on January 10, 2012 at 6:36pm

      Hmm, how we got here? It usually starts with numbering your people, all of them.

      Report Post »  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on January 10, 2012 at 6:40pm

      You also might know it as “Let it be done.”

      Report Post »  
    • Dumbwhiteguy
      Posted on January 10, 2012 at 6:56pm

      I hope it will be O.K.

      Report Post »  
    • Tretka
      Posted on January 10, 2012 at 10:05pm

      BlackCrow (BTW this was my great great maternal grandfather’s name) -read my post above (or below) YOU ARE RIGHT! They are swapping liquidity. Bad stuff.

      Report Post » Tretka  
  • AvengerK
    Posted on January 10, 2012 at 6:19pm

    LOL…sure Europe’s just fine. By the end of the first quarter Europe will be tanking. Know what the unemployment rate for youth is in Spain? Over 50%. The national unemployment rate is over 21%. You know why Germany is working so hard to save the Euro? Because a return to the Deuschmark would raise their currency by around 20% and price them out of the market. Make no mistake…Europe‘s problem isn’t liquidity, it’s government. They are beholden to nanny states and will not take the measures necessary to cut spending. Europe keeps kicking the can down the road until there’s no more road.

    Report Post »  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on January 10, 2012 at 6:27pm

      And the Doomsday Clock ticks closer to Midnight as it’s almost time to pay the Reaper.

      Report Post »  
  • The Eradicator
    Posted on January 10, 2012 at 6:13pm

    Phew!…Glad that got worked out overnight. I was getting worried. I will now go back to my normal life and ignore whats going on in our Nation and the world. I will not blame the admin and I will just continue to think we have a rockstar as a President.

    *Puts on good time dancing shoes*

    Ok, I am going to take my food insurance and throw it out now. There is no need for it anymore. I am just sorry that I blew my money on it and Gold. I will also be getting rid of my GBTV subscription and raise my family that their future is going to be OK because the Euro / dollar debt crisis was solved overnight.

    I am so glad.

    (For those of you who do not get sarcasm…this was sarcasm)

    Report Post » The Eradicator  

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