EARNINGS OUTLOOK Losses in financials, autos paint bleak profit picture High energy prices to support oil patch; technology likely to weather storm By Laura Mandaro, MarketWatch - Last update: 5:43 p.m. EDT July 4, 2008 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The profits of large U.S. companies are poised for their fourth straight year-over-year drop, with the housing market collapse and high energy prices accounting for much of the second quarter's pain.
Stock Market Forecast for Summer 2008 Stock-Markets / US Stock Markets Jun 06, 2008 - 02:07 PM By: HansWagner To make money in the stock market it is important to follow the trend. I believe it is best to begin with the big picture in mind and then work our way down to weekly and then daily views of the charts. You will notice that the chart and the value of the indicators change as we move from a monthly to a weekly and then a daily chart. This is a normal part of the technical analysis
Really bad bear markets have always started when P/E ratios were excessively high -- not average. "I think we're in a garden-variety bear market, which means a loss of 20% to 30%," says James Stack, president of InvesTech Research.
Google Sees Weakness In Clicks on Search Ads By SCOTT MORRISON April 16, 2008 5:12 a.m. SAN FRANCISCO -- The number of U.S. consumers clicking on Google Inc.'s search ads was weak once again in March, according to data that renewed questions about the Internet search and advertising giant's ability to meet consensus estimates when it reports first-quarter results on Thursday. The March data from research group comScore Inc., released late Tuesday, marked the third-straight month that Google's paid clicks, the source of nearly all of its revenue, has disappointed analysts. ComScore said Google's U.S. paid clicks grew 2.7% in March compared with the same month last year. That meant Google's U.S. paid clicks for the first quarter grew just 1.8% compared with the year-earlier period, a sharp deceleration from the company's 25% growth rate in fourth quarter and 48% growth in the third quarter.
Home Foreclosures Hit Record High Thursday March 6, 2:43 pm ET - By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer Industry Group Says Home Foreclosures at Record High Last Quarter WASHINGTON (AP) -- Home foreclosures soared to an all-time high in the final three months of 2007 and probably will keep rising, evidence of homeowners' suffering and the economic danger from the meltdown. The Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday the proportion of all mortgages that slipped into foreclosure set a record, 0.83 percent, from October through December. The previous high, 0.78 percent, came in the July-through-September period. Homeowners with tarnished credit who have subprime adjustable-rate loans took the hardest hits. Foreclosures and late payments for these borrowers swelled to all-time highs, too, in the fourth quarter. The portion of subprime adjustable-rate mortgages that entered the foreclosure process set a record, 5.29 percent. The previous high, 4.72 percent, came only three months earlier. Late payments skyrocketed to a record, 20.02 percent, compared with the mark of 18.81 percent from July through September.
