MarketWatch top 10 stories, July 23 - 27
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks whipsawed higher this week, closing out the five-day period with two consecutive sessions marked by steep gains.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) topped the 13,000 last seen in May, up 2% for the week. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) , for its part, posted a 1.7% weekly rise. The rally didn't seem to be clouded by a Friday report that the U.S. economy took a turn for the worse, as consumers pared spending and businesses invested at a slower pace, and with little evidence of new founts of growth.
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The period also was capped by the opening of the 2012 London Olympic Games, which are finally under way after some of the usual and unusual glitches and even a couple of interesting comments by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Be sure to get a jump on the coming week with out look-ahead videos:
U.S. Week Ahead: Federal Reserve and cars
Europe's Week Ahead: HSBC, RBS, UBS and Fiat news
Draghi pledge puts ECB bond buys back on table
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi indicated that the institution is ready to resume purchases of Spanish and Italian government bonds in a bid to bring down borrowing costs and ensure the survival of the euro. "Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro," Draghi said, at an investor conference in London. "And believe me, it will be enough." Read more about ECB policy, on MarketWatch
3 takeaways on Facebook
Despite meeting Wall Street's adjusted estimates, Facebook's first earnings report showed three worrisome signs, writes John Shinal. Read the 3 takeaways on Facebook on MarketWatch
Buffett's winning ways, 50 years on
Seen with the benefit of 50-year hindsight, Warren Buffett's shareholder letters from the early 1960s hold extremely valuable lessons for today's investors. Read about Buffett's winning ways, 50 years on, on MarketWatch
Why the Fed will look past food prices
Drought gripping the Midwest is expected to hit cost of food, but won't stop Fed from easing again, analysts say. Read why the Fed will look past food prices
Olympic Games only a sponsor could love
As the 2012 Summer Games get under way, the presence of the so-called brand police, on the lookout for any sign of suspected infringement, tell a sorry tale: The next two weeks are all about marketing. Read about the London 2012 Olympics sponsors on MarketWatch
Did Apple break the market?
Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way." - Edward de Bono There's no sugar coating it -- Apple's earnings certainly disappointed, and the recent slew of data is confirming that a slowdown is getting more and more entrenched in the economy. Markets have been faltering as of late, starting July 5, which I have noted in several of my writings is when market internals began deteriorating once again. I have argued that a mini-correction sequel was unlikely, but that thesis is now getting more challenged. Read about Apple's broader effect on the market on MarketWatch
Weill, father of too-big-to-fail, disowns it
Did you catch that one? Sandy Weill, the architect of modern conglomerate banking went on CNBC Wednesday to say the banks had become too big and should be broken up. What "we should probably do is go and split up investment banking from banking and have banks be deposit takers, have banks make commercial and real estate loans," Weill said. Weill, of course, spent an entire career throwing together disparate financial institutions -- banks, insurance companies, brokerages, subprime credit companies and more -- into single entities. Read about Weill's call to dismantle his own creation on MarketWatch
Global economy's cure is worse than the disease
Dear Doctor: Thank you for referring Mr. Global Economy to me. The patient's history includes a seizure in 2007-08 -- financial losses, banking problems, a major recession. Liberal injections of taxpayer cash avoided catastrophic multiple organ failure, assisting a modest recovery. Mr. Economy is now addicted to monetary heroin. Increasing doses are necessary for the patient to function at all. Mr. Economy has not made the changes necessary for a return to full health. He seems to have taken rock star Steven Tyler's advice: "Fake it until you make it." Read more, on MarketWatch
A contrarian handicaps the election
A Mitt Romney win would be good for the stock market? That certainly is the overwhelming consensus on Wall Street. And that should worry anyone with a contrarian instinct. One adviser who possesses such instincts is Norman Fosback, who has been a close student of the stock market for five decades. For three of those decades he was head of the Institute for Econometric Research, during which he authored a widely followed investment textbook entitled "Stock Market Logic" and edited several investment advisory services. Read about one man's contrarian view about markets and Mitt on MarketWatch
Latin America's new tigers forge ahead
While Peru's While the country's decadelong economic boom has lifted many Peruvians out of poverty, about 30% of the population is still classified as poor with poverty especially widespread in rural areas. When he was running for office, Ollanta Humala was seen as a left-wing radical. He won last June's election by promising he would ensure that the poor get the benefits from the country's mineral wealth. But, once in power, Humala dramatically reversed course, pursuing orthodox free-market policies. Read more about Peru's economic revolution on MarketWatch
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