Economy
-Euro-zone industrial production dropped 0.3% in March surprising analysts and increasing the likelihood that the region had entered recession. 5/15
-Retail sales were up 0.1% in April and year over year sales fell to 6.4%, the lowest level in more than a year. 5/16
-The CPI-U was flat between March and April ending three straight months of increases. The current rate of inflation is 2.3%, the lowest level since February 2011. The lack of an increase in April was driven by the fall in gas prices. 5/16
-The Euro-zone barely avoided recession in the first quarter as German growth outweighed falling growth in Italy and Spain. The Euro zone’s GDP was flat in the first quarter. 5/16
-Industrial production rose 1.1% in April over March and manufacturing rose 0.6% after falling in March. 5/17
-Japan’s GDP jumped 4.1% in the first quarter driven by government spending at the country recovers from the tsunami disaster last year. The result was stronger than expected. 5/17
-Mortgage delinquencies have dropped to their lowest level since 2008. 5/17
-New home starts rose a higher than expected 2.6% in April. 5/17
-The Conference Board’s index of leading economic indicators fell 0.1% in April after rising 0.3% in march. The drop was attributed to increasing jobless claims and a decline in housing permits. 5/18
Corporate
-Yahoo’s CEO, Scott Thompson, was forced to resign over his résumé that was in a regulatory filing, which included a degree he did not earn. 5/14
-Groupon’s earnings improved with a smaller loss and an operating profit for the first time in two years. The daily deals site’s revenue jumped 89%, but the pace trails its early rate. 5/15
-BestBuy’s founder will step down as chairman of the board after he failed to alert the board of a relationship the CEO was having with a subordinate. 5/15
-Moody’s lowered the credit rating of 26 Italian banks. 5/15
-J.P. Morgan announced the retirement of Ina Drew, who helmed the risk management unit behind the recent $2 billion plus trading loss. 5/15
-J.C. Penney reported a $163 million loss, double what was expected, said it would suspend its dividend and would not meet its prior earnings guidance. 5/16
-GM announced it plans to stop advertising on Facebook questioning the benefits. 5/16
-Wal-Mart’s first quarter profit rose 10% on improving sales in the U.S. and abroad. 5/18
-HP announced plan to cut between 25,000 and 30,000 jobs. 5/18
-Facebook priced shares for its IPO at $38 resulting in a valuation of the company at $104 billion when it begins trading. 5/18
-Facebook struggled out of the gates on its first day of trading. Underwriters struggled to keep the price of the stock above its offering price of $38. The stock finished up 23 cents or 0.6%. It was the highest traded IPO of all time and was best by trading glitches on the NASDAQ. 5/19
Market
-Global markets continued their slide as investors feared the potential fallout from a Greek exit from the Euro. Spanish yields soared to levels last seen in the panic last November. The Spanish stock market dropped 2.7% as well. Italy saw its market drop 2.7% as well and the Euro fell to $1.284, its lowest level in four months. Europe was down 1.8% on the whole. The S&P 500 fell 1.1% and the Dow dropped 1.0%. 5/15
-Global markets continued to head south over increasing concerns Greece will leave the euro-zone. The S&P fell 0.6%, the Dow dropped 0.5%, Europe fell 0.7%, and Japan was down 0.8%. Oil fell 0.8% to $93.98 a barrel. 5/16
-Weak economic news in the U.S. and rumors of a bank run in Spain led to global equity markets falling, and a rise in fixed income. The yield on the 10 year treasury reached 1.702% setting an all time closing low. The S&P 500 fell 1.5% and the Dow dropped 1.2% for their lowest levels since early January. The Russell 2000 fell 2.3%. Internationally, Europe was down 1.1%, but Japan was up 0.9%. 5/18
-World markets had their worst week of the year over continued concerns over Europe’s sovereign debt and banking crisis and the pace of global growth. The S&P 500 fell 4.2% for the week reaching its lowest level since mid January. The Dow fell 0.6% its 6th losing day in a row and its 12 drop in 13 days and fell 3.5% for the week. The FTSE fell 5.5%, and Spain dropped 6.1%. Overall, Europe dropped 5.2%, and Japan slide 3.8%. Oil fell to $91.48 a barrel its lowest close since October. 5/19