Finance Roundtable

Finance Roundtable

The market forecasters and personal finance blogs complement the Economics Roundtable.

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February 4, 2012, 3:15 pm, 948255
The right attitude for trading success? Mission critical: Fear is the dream killer, the silent voice that pushes us to lose our passion in a vain attempt to seek safety. True that.


February 3, 2012, 11:16 pm, 948216
Friday was a good day for stocks, the S&P 500 gaining 1.5 percent as investors responded to some strong economic data from the US.

US nonfarm payrolls increased by 243,000 in January, the fastest pace in nine months, pushing the unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent, the lowest since ...


February 3, 2012, 7:17 pm, 948203

A tear down of the government’s jobs report – Ritholz

It’s okay to celebrate the labor market’s good news – Felix Salmon

Gold’s rally won’t last – MarketWatch

What will be the fallout from the Facebook IPO – Howard Lindzon

Photo ops with Warren Buffett - 


February 3, 2012, 7:17 pm, 948202
Everett

Economic calendar

Monday

No major data

Tuesday

NFIB Small Business Survey

Job Openings and Labor Turnover

Consumer Credit

Wednesday

No major data

Thursday

Jobless claims

Wholesale inventories

Friday

US Trade Deficit

Reuters/UMich consumer sentiment (preliminary)

Federal Budget


February 3, 2012, 7:17 pm, 948201

Here’s Deal Journal’s scorecard of some of the week’s biggest winners and losers in the world of business, M&A, and banking.

WINNERS

Getty Images

...


February 3, 2012, 7:17 pm, 948200

Goldman Sachs Group granted Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein restricted stock valued at $7 million as of Wednesday’s close as part of his 2011 compensation.

AP

The grant is 43% lower ...


February 3, 2012, 5:17 pm, 948184

Nymex crude for March delivery lost $1.72 per barrel this week, or 1.73% to $97.84.

Today Nymex Crude Oil gained $1.48 per barrel, or 1.54%. Snaps a five-day losing streak.

Comex gold for February delivery gained $5.70 per troy ounce this week, or 0.33% to $1737.90.

Up for five consecutive ...


February 3, 2012, 5:17 pm, 948183

Bloomberg News

By John Shipman and Paul Vigna

Based on the stock market’s strong rally, emboldened by the encouraging January jobs report, it would seem investors think earnings growth is ...


February 3, 2012, 5:17 pm, 948182

Dow Industrials, up 201.77 points this week, or 1.59% to 12862.23.

Highest close since May 19, 2008. Today, it rose 156.82 points, or 1.23%. Today’s top contributors to the Dow’s movement and their point contribution: CAT (27.32), IBM (15.97), CVX (13.70), XOM (10.52), MCD (10.52). Today’s laggards and their point ...


February 3, 2012, 5:17 pm, 948181
Reuters

S&P’s Index guru Howard Silverblatt sent a quick factoid that got our attention: The S&P 500 has jumped 6.9% in 2012, its best start to a year since 1987.

And ...


February 3, 2012, 5:17 pm, 948180

By Amy Or

The Carlyle Group has dropped a controversial forced arbitration clause that would have stripped investors of the ability to hold the private-equity firm publicly accountable for fraud, misconduct or negligence in a court of law, the company said Friday.

In a statement, Carlyle said the decision was made after ...


February 3, 2012, 3:17 pm, 948160
Bloomberg Steve Appleton (left), outside the White House in Feb. 2011

Micron Chairman and CEO Steve Appleton passed away this morning in a small plane accident, the company ...


February 3, 2012, 3:17 pm, 948161
Reuters

Zynga shares are off to the races again as the Facebook IPO love has extended for a second straight day.

Facebook disclosed late Wednesday that 12% of its ...


February 3, 2012, 3:17 pm, 948159
Getty Images

Look, this morning’s jobs report was a big step in the right direction. Let’s get that out of the way right now so there’s no confusion.

There’s a ...


February 3, 2012, 3:17 pm, 948158
REUTERS

A running debate in the markets for the last few years has been the degree to which exchange traded funds have been driving the ups and downs of underlying ...


February 3, 2012, 3:17 pm, 948157

Let’s call this the Facebook effect.

Getty Images

Stock markets are surging today and the Nasdaq has hit its highest point since 2001. Of course, ...


February 3, 2012, 3:14 pm, 948156
...


February 3, 2012, 1:17 pm, 948137

Joe Saluzzi at Themis Trading has penned an open letter Mark Zuckerberg (why he didn’t just friend Zuckerberg and message him, we don’t know) welcoming the company to wild and wooly world ...


February 3, 2012, 1:17 pm, 948136
AP

With the Nasdaq Composite jumping to an 11-year high, the inevitable question will arise: are we back in a bubble? We asked the very same question last year ...


February 3, 2012, 1:17 pm, 948135
AFP/Getty Images

Well, it didn’t take long for President Obama to boast about the job numbers.

The president says this morning’s jobs report is good news for the recovery and ...


February 3, 2012, 1:17 pm, 948132
Jason Alden/Bloomberg

Quarterly earnings season keeps chugging along, as more than half of companies in the S&P 500 have posted results. The big takeaway is earnings are still ...


February 3, 2012, 1:17 pm, 948134
Bloomberg

The stock market has ditched its once-tight correlation to the euro for a host of currencies from faster-growing parts of the world.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, the conventional ...


February 3, 2012, 1:17 pm, 948133

FTSE 100, up 167.62 points this week, or 2.92%, to 5901.07.

Up 264.43 points, or 4.69%, over the last three weeks. Best week since the week ending Friday, December 02, 2011. Today, it is up 105.00 points, or 1.81%. Up 229.98 points, or 4.06%, over the last four trading days. ...


February 3, 2012, 1:17 pm, 948131

AIG has spent the last four years selling off assets — more than $50 billion all told.

That might be about to change. AIG Chairman Steve Miller tells Bloomberg TV that the insurer is ready to go on the offensive. He says the AIG is now focused on growth and returning ...


February 3, 2012, 1:17 pm, 948130

Phil Falcone’s Harbinger Capital lost 47% last year in its biggest fund, a spokesman for the fund confirmed.

Reuters

The drop is because the fund took a large writedown on ...


February 3, 2012, 1:15 pm, 948129

Game day is almost here, and thanks to the Super Bowl advertising sweepstakes, the event is probably as big a deal for corporate America as it is for sports fans. But a stroll through companies’ public disclosures shows ...


February 3, 2012, 11:17 am, 948098
AP Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke

Today’s blowout jobs figures have raised plenty of questions about what’s next for the Fed.

The central bank’s forecast of ...


February 3, 2012, 11:17 am, 948099
Associated Press

Stocks have opened sharply higher following the blockbuster jobs report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 124 points, or 1%, to 12829, surpassing its highest closing level ...


February 3, 2012, 11:17 am, 948097
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Nobody wants to enjoy  a solid jobs-report-fueled –TGIF parade more than us working stiffs at the MarketBeat blog, but our London colleague Costas Paris is out ...


February 3, 2012, 11:17 am, 948096

Deals of the Day compiles this morning’s biggest news about mergers and acquisitions, banking, bankruptcy and more. Catch us on Twitter, @WSJDealJournal.

Warren Buffett

When it comes to investing, the Berkshire Hathaway chief executive is a serious man. But put him in front of a camera with young business students and he ...


February 3, 2012, 11:17 am, 948094

Warren Buffett has been known to love a little comedy, and today’s WSJ gives some new color on how he’s willing to let it all loose for a good photo.

When the Oracle hosts business students, he allows them to pose for two pictures each.

Click below for the proof the ...


February 3, 2012, 11:17 am, 948095

By Andrew R. Johnson

Traditional payments companies like Visa, MasterCard and American Express are constantly looking over their shoulders for new competition. Do they need to keep an eye on Facebook?


February 3, 2012, 11:14 am, 948093
...


February 3, 2012, 9:17 am, 948061
National Archives

Yes, it’s that time again, folks. It’s the first Friday of the month, when for one ever-so-brief moment the interests of Wall Street, Washington and Main Street ...


February 3, 2012, 9:17 am, 948060

One gigantic loser when Facebook goes public: the secondary market — Heard on the Street

The $100 billion question: What is Facebook worth? — WSJ

Why Facebook should ditch its offering – FT.com

The lack of start-ups is keeping the job market tight — Ahead of the Tape

Will the ...


February 3, 2012, 9:17 am, 948059

By Maya Pope-Chappell and Ian Thomson

Among the companies whose shares are expected to actively trade in Friday’s session are Estee Lauder, Sony and Tyson Foods.

Estee Lauder’s fiscal second-quarter earnings rose 15% ...


February 3, 2012, 9:17 am, 948058

Over at MarketBeat, a bunch of Deal Journal pals have been live-blogging away on the jobs report, and they have all the full details and a whole bunch of reaction to the blow-away report.

But as an aside for Wall Streeters, the numbers for financial activities were down.

The number of ...


February 3, 2012, 9:14 am, 948057

Whether you agree with it or not, the reason this country has supported programs like welfare, Social Security, the GI Bill, food stamps, Medicare, government-backed mortgages, FEMA insurance, and other social programs is because a modern society benefits when as many citizens as possible have opportunities to succeed financially. Social ...


February 3, 2012, 7:17 am, 948041

Pre-Market Brief:

Market tone: Stocks set for modest gains ahead of nonfarm payrolls; sterling, dollar lower; Treasurys seeking direction; Nymex March crude up 48c at $96.84, March ...


February 3, 2012, 5:17 am, 948032
TORU YAMANAKA/AFP/Getty Images

As the earnings reports keep rolling in, Japan’s exporters are posting some ugly losses.

Panasonic Corp. said Friday it expects to record a 780 billion ...


February 3, 2012, 1:17 am, 948019
Bloomberg News

Japanese drug makers, sitting on piles of cash, have been one of the most aggressive industries turning to costly acquisitions in order to combat the earnings blow ...


February 3, 2012, 1:14 am, 948018