wenn sich die Zocker auf den Weltuntergang eindecken müssen und klar wird, welche unsinnigen Abschreibungen auf Wertpapiere getätigt wurden, die von den Schuldnern ordentlicht mit Zinsen und Tilgungen bedient werden. Große Teile der Krise sind sicher den Bängstern mit ihren Leveragaing-Strategien zuzuorden, aber auch große Teile der Hysterie der Anbeter des Weltuntergangs.
Bernanke: Recession may end in '09; Stocks climb
Stocks rise as Bernanke tells Congress the difficult recession may end this year
Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Tuesday February 24, 2009, 2:39 pm EST
Yahoo! Buzz Print Related:The Home Depot, Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Macy's, Inc.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has reassured Wall Street by telling Congress the recession might end this year.
AP - Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2009, before the ...
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{"s" : "hd,jpm,m,odp,tgt","k" : "c10,l10,p20,t10","o" : "","j" : ""} In his semiannual report to the Senate Banking Committee, Bernanke predicted the economy is likely to keep contracting in the first six months of 2009. But he also said "there is a reasonable prospect" the recession will end this year. He warned that a recovery will require getting credit and financial markets to operate normally.
While Bernanke's assessment of the economy helped ease some pressure on the market, it also came after days of heavy selling that left the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index near 12-year lows, so a bounce in stocks wasn't a surprise. Stocks made cheaper by the selloff attracted bargain-hunting traders. Also, some, better-than-expected quarterly numbers from Home Depot Inc. helped cool some anxiety about the economy.
Stocks were also up ahead of a speech by President Barack Obama. Beaten-down financial shares gained as investors hoped for better insight into the government's plans to aid the industry which is struggling with bad debt.
The White House said Tuesday that Obama will provide more details about his plans to help stabilize the financial system. He is also expected to make the case that more has to be done to revive the economy. The speech is scheduled for 9 p.m. EST.
The continued focus on the stability of the financial system comes a day after the government moved closer to dramatically expanding its ownership stakes in the nation's banks, including Citigroup Inc. The Treasury Department, the Fed and other banking regulators said Monday they could convert the government's stock in the banks from preferred shares to common shares.
Investors are hoping Obama's speech will give them a better sense of how the government will proceed in its efforts to alleviate the effects of a recession now in its 14th month.
In mid afternoon trading, the Dow rose 151.81, or 2.1 percent, to 7,266.59. On Monday, the major indexes tumbled more than 3 percent, including the Dow, which fell 251 points. It was the lowest close for the blue chips since May 7, 1997.
Broader stock indicators also rose Tuesday. The S&P 500 index rose 19.79, or 2.7 percent, to 763.12. On Monday, it logged its lowest finish since April 11, 1997.
The Nasdaq composite index rose 30.40, or 2.2 percent, Tuesday to 1,418.12.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 10.00, or 2.5 percent, to 404.58.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume amounted to 762.1 million shares.
Many analysts expect the market to remain volatile for the foreseeable future.
Ryan Larson, head of equity trading at Voyageur Asset Management, said the market is looking for insights into the Treasury Department's plans to "stress test" the banks and remove the toxic assets from their books.
"The market is desperately looking for more clues to piece together this bailout," he said.
Rich Hughes, co-president of Portfolio Management Consultants in Los Angeles, said the stock market's rallies are likely to be based on hope or on rebounds from selloffs. He contends Wall Street still hasn't seen the wrenching decline that is often needed to scare investors from the market and set the ground for a lasting recovery.
"The underlying fundamentals just aren't there to support anything that's sustainable right now," he said. "We haven't seen the capitulation that you'd want to see before you'd get thoroughly enthused."
The market's slide has been tough on long-term savers. An investor who in 1997 had $50,000 in a fund that tracks the S&P 500 would have lost money; the fund would now be worth $46,256. Still, stocks tend to perform better after steep pullbacks and their long-term returns often outpace other investments.
Bond prices fell Tuesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 2.77 percent from 2.76 percent late Monday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.30 percent from 0.29 percent Monday.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Light, sweet crude rose 65 cents to $39.09 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Home Depot posted a loss but the nation's largest home improvement retailer's results topped expectations when excluding costs for shutting four home-improvement brands. The stock rose $1.79, or 9.6 percent, to $20.50.
Target Corp. and Macy's Inc. said fiscal fourth-quarter earnings fell sharply as shoppers cut back on purchases. Office Depot Inc. posted a loss for the quarter. Target fell 15 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $28.28, while Macy's rose 78 cents, or 10.5 percent, to $8.18.
JPMorgan Chase Co. rose 99 cents, or 5.1 percent, to $20.50 after announcing late Monday it would slash its quarterly dividend to 5 cents from 38 cents in a move to preserve capital to protect itself should the ongoing recession worsen. The decision will save the bank about $5 billion per year.
Stocks fell in Europe after Monday's drop on Wall Street. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.78 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 0.73 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.73 percent. Earlier, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.5 percent.
New York Stock Exchange: www.nyse.com