At Mid day the market indexes were all trending in the red with retail and auto
sales both falling short of economists expectations. Reports indicate that
inclement weather may have deterred consumers in the month of January as they
primarily focused on grocery and gasoline purchases. A government report showed
that business inventories rose 0.8% for the month of December exceeding the 0.6%
forecast by economists. NYSE Euronext, the parent company of the New York Stock
Exchange, announced it will merge with Germanys Deutsche Boerse in a $10 billion
deal. The merger will make it the worlds largest exchange for stocks and
derivatives. The deal is expected to draw strong opposition from both U.S. and
European regulators as well as diversified political and public groups. The deal
will make the company 60% owned by Deutsche Boerse shareholders and 40% owned by
NYSE Euronext shareholders and create a new Dutch holding company that will have
dual headquarters in New York and Frankfurt. No new name has been released and,
pending regulatory and shareholder approval, the transaction is anticipated to
be completed by the end of 2011. The National Association of Homebuilders
reported its preliminary housing market index for February held at 16, falling
below expectations forecast at 17. Approaching close the major market indexes
continue in the red. Dow dropped 67.09 points or 0.55% to 12201.10. Nasdaq lost
15.32 points or 0.54% to 2801.86. S&P 500 decreased by 6.76 points or 0.51% to
1325.56. The U.S. Treasuries 10-year yield gained 0.0090 to 3.62%. Oil is down
0.59 to $84.22 a barrel. The U.S. dollar is down 0.0003 to the Euro at $ 1.35.
Author: Pamela Frost
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