U.S.

The $5 trillion mess
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created by Congress to help more Americans buy homes. Now their shaky condition threatens the entire housing market.
By Katie Benner, writer Last Updated: July 11, 2008: 5:38 PM EDT
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- They own or guarantee $5 trillion worth of mortgages­ - nearly half of all the country's outstanding home loan debt-and they're crashing. Big time.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are struggling with an investor loss of confidence so great that, while they're unlikely to go under, they could conceivably see their ability to function impaired. That would wreak yet more havoc on an already wrecked housing market- making loans tougher to come by and possibly pushing hundreds of billions of dollars in cost onto U.S. taxpayers.

Friday June 6th - The Dow's decline, which left all 30 of its components in the red, is the heaviest hit in terms of points lost, since Feb. 27, 2007, when it fell 416.02 points

Five signs the stock market has bottomed
Investor sentiment, technical indicators, Treasury yields are your best clues
t's a tough wish at a time when the U.S. economy is clearly contracting and likely in recession. The good news is that stocks typically recover several months ahead of the economy. The bad news is that we're probably closer to the beginning of this slump than the end.

US Markets.nl al sinds 1998 op het Internet..... eerst met de nieuwsbrief en columns en sinds 2002 met de eigen website in de huidige opzet...Biedt advies voor de Amerikaanse aandelenmarkt.

Global P/E Ratios: How the U.S. Stacks Up
April 04, 2008
As shown in the table and charts, the trailing and forward P/E ratios of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are high compared to the valuations of other markets in other countries. While it has historically had high valuations, the Nasdaq's current trailing and forward P/E ranks highest among 12 other country indices, including China's Shanghai Composite.
The S&P 500's trailing 12-month P/E ranks 3rd, although it is in the middle of the pack when looking at forward estimates. The lowest P/Es are currently in Europe. Valuations in the U.S. are higher because earnings haven't slowed as much in foreign markets and price declines in the U.S. have been less extreme, even though we're the root cause of the global market selloff.