Wall St. walloped
Stocks slumped Wednesday, with the Dow closing at a 7-month low, as worries about the credit and mortgage market and higher oil prices hit investors hard ahead of what for many will be a long holiday weekend.

30-year mortgage rate 6.20%, lowest since May
Mortgage rates sank this week, with rates on 30-year mortgages dropping to a six-month low, a spot of welcome news to would-be home buyers.

10-year note yield sinks below 4%
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell below 4 percent for the first time in two years early Wednesday. Treasury prices rallied Wednesday, as fresh stock market losses spurred demand for the relative safety of U.S. government debt.


Oil Flirts With $100 In Volatile Trade; Copper Slides On Economic Worries
Oil came within cents of $100 a barrel, heightening concerns about the U.S. economy, while copper prices wallowed on those same worries. Gold returned briefly to above $800 an ounce before closing just under that level on inflation pressures from oil and a persistently weak dollar.

Home Prices Continues to Fall
Housing price drops, driven by soaring foreclosure rates, accelerated during the three months ended September 30, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Jobless Claims Fell 11,000 to 330,000
The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits fell last week to a level that still suggests the labor market is softening. Initial jobless claims decreased by 11,000 to 330,000 in the week that ended Nov. 17, the Labor Department said today in Washington.

Gap's Profit Up 26% on Costs Cut, but with a weak outlook
Gap Inc. said Wednesday that its third-quarter profit rose 26 percent as marketing costs fell.
But the company’s cost-cutting campaign could not compensate for a slowdown in sales at its Gap and Old Navy chains. Companywide revenue was flat, and same-store sales — at stores open at least a year — fell 5 percent.

A&F shares up as profit rises
Abercrombie & Fitch Co (ANF.N: Quote, Profile, Research) reported a 15 percent rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday, helped by strength in its namesake chain of stores and improved margins, and stuck by its profit outlook for the second half of the year, which includes the holiday season.


Google extends market lead in search
Google Inc. retained its position as the top search engine in October and increased its share of the U.S. search market over September, according to data released Wednesday by comScore Inc.
Google captured 58.5 percent of the market in October, up from 57 percent in September. Users performed 6.15 billion searches on Google sites during the month, comScore reported. Globally, 7.47 billion searches were performed on Google sites in October, compared with 6.59 billion in September.

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This entry was posted by David Choi, on Wednesday, November 21, 2007. You can leave your response.