Lehman Brothers
A court-appointed investigator said in a 2,200 page document that Lehman Brothers failure was due to the company's own senior executives and auditor. Lehman Bothers, who filed for bankruptcy is 2008, used "materially misleading" accounting gimmicks to try to hide the bad investments on the company's books, and to play off the amount of borrowed money. In the report, it is said that Lehman used financial engineering to remove around $50 billion of undesirable assets from its balance sheet at the end of the first and second quarters of 2008, instead of selling those assets at a loss. Coincidently, the company made those moves just months before it filed for bankruptcy; Lehman accountants at Ernst & Young, along with senior executives were all well aware of the money shuffling, according to examiner Mr. Valukas. A major part of the report focused on those accounting maneuvers, known as "Repo 105." included in the report were e-mails from Lehman's global financial controller confirming that "the only purpose or motive for [Repo 105] transactions was reduction in the balance sheet," also stating, "there was no substance to the transactions." Putting aside money shuffling and hiding bad investments, the report was very critical of Lehman's executives, who according to Valukas, "should have done more, done better." However, "the demands for collateral by Lehman's lenders had direct impact on Lehman's liquidity," Valukas also said, "the demands for collateral by Lehman's lenders had direct impact on Lehman's liquidity," "Lehman's available liquidity is central to the question of why Lehman failed." The lenders he mentioned were Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase. Since Lehman Brother's filed for bankruptcy Wall Street crashed, stocks hit 12 year lows and we were faced with the biggest crisis since the Great Depression. Federal Government officials had to pump billions of dollars into the nation's financial system to prevent further damage. Stocks traded in a tight range yet again today, volume was light. Investors were given a better than expected report from the Commerce Department, they reported retail sales rose 0.3% last month. Commodity prices along with the dollar fell; gold fell $1.20 to $1,107.00 and crude oil fell $0.83 to $81.28. Bond prices rose, the yield on the benchmark 10-year note fell to 3.70 from 3.72 Thursday.
Economic data released today:
Retail Sales (MoM):
January Retail & Food Sales Revised to rise 0.1% from an increase by 0.5%; February Mail-Order and Internet Sales Flat; February Auto Sales fell 2.0%; U.S. February Retail & Food Sales Excluding-Autos rose 0.8%; U.S. February Retail & Food Sales rose 0.3%; Compared to Consensus of a decrease by 0.3%.
University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index:
University Michigan Mid-March Expectations 67.2; February 68.4; University Michigan 12-Montg Inflation Forecast rose 2.8%; February rose 2.7%; University Michigan Mid-March Current Index 80.8; February 81.8; University Michigan Mid-March Sentiment 72.5; February 73.6.
Business Inventories (MoM):
U.S. January Retail Inventories fell 0.1%; U.S. January Business Inventories Unchanged; Expected to rise 0.1%.
At the NYSE closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, here is how the major world indices and major U.S. stock indices ended the trading session on the world markets as well as the emerging markets including the stock market closing bell price:
DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) gain 10.36 points, EOD 10,622.20
NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) gain 9.59, EOD 7,362.83
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) gain 1.85 points, EOD 2,366.61
S&P 500 (SPX) shed 0.3 points, EOD 1,149.94
BEL 20 (BEL20) gain 11.76 points, EOD 2,625.28
CAC 40 (CAC40) shed 1.55 points, EOD 3,927.40
FTSE100 (UKX100) gain 8.39, EOD 5,625.65
NIKKEI 225 (NIK/O) gain 3.46 points, EOD 10,751.26
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 1,648, declined stock prices 1,432, unchanged stock prices 111, stock prices hitting new highs 437 and stock prices hitting new lows 6. NYSE quotes for volatile stocks and market trends, as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the New York Stock Exchange stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: POT gain 8.32, HOD 126.98, LOD 123.10, EOD 125.25; IPI gain 3.07, HOD 31.99, LOD 30.03, EOD 31.49; ARO gain 1.13, HOD 28.94, LOD 27.98, EOD 28.18; CF shed 3.88, HOD 98.15, LOD 94.86, EOD 96.73; FAS shed 0.55, HOD 92.25, LOD 88.10, EOD 89.20; MOS gain 3.87, HOD 64.70, LOD 63.11, EOD 63.80.
National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations (NASDAQ) stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 1,225, declined stock prices 1,480, unchanged stock prices 120, stock prices hitting new highs 217 and stock prices hitting new lows 7. NASDAQ quotes, volatile stocks and market trends, as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the NASDAQ stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: BIDU shed 3.86, HOD 559.47, LOD 549.76, EOD 550.24; AAPL gain 1.10, HOD 227.73, LOD 225.75, EOD 226.60; GOOG shed 1.60, HOD 588.28, LOD 579.16, EOD 579.54; ZUMZ shed 1.24, HOD 19.23, LOD 18.05, EOD 19.01.
Market trends on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and stock market indicators for the trading session today:
Advanced stock prices 244, declined stock prices 235, unchanged stock prices 45, stock prices hitting new highs 28 and stock prices hitting new lows 1.
Chicago Board of Trade Futures Market for the day, at time of this posting:
E-mini S&P 500 (ES) Mar 10: EOD 1149.50; Change -1.00
E-mini NASDAQ-100 (NQ) Mar 10: EOD 1,921.00; Change -1.50
E-mini DOW $5 (YM) Mar 10: EOD 10,622; Change 12
E-mini S&P MidCap 400 (MF) Mar 10: EOD 780.40; Change 1.40
Nikkei 225 (Yen) Mar 10: EOD 10,740; Change 90
World Currencies for the Forex Market, for Forex Trading by active Forex Traders, at time of this posting:
Euro 0.7268 U.S. Dollars 1.3759
Japanese Yen 90.4600 to U.S. Dollars 0.0111
British Pound 0.6588 to U.S. Dollars 1.5178
Canadian Dollar 1.0178 to U.S. Dollars 0.9825
Swiss Franc 1.0581 to U.S. Dollars 0.9451
COMMODITY MARKETS:
Energy Sector - Nymex:
Light Crude (April 10) shed $0.83, EOD $81.28 per barrel ($US per barrel)
Heating Oil (April 10) shed $0.02, EOD $2.09 a gallon ($US per gallon)
Natural Gas (May 10) shed $0.05, EOD $4.46 per million BTU ($US per mmbtu.)
Unleaded Gas (April 10) shed $0.02, EOD $2.26 gallon ($US per gallon)
Metals Markets - Comex:
Gold (April 10) shed $1.20, EOD $1,107.00 ($US per Troy ounce)
Silver (May 10) shed $0.13, EOD $17.04 ($US per Troy ounce)
Platinum (April 10) shed $2.80, EOD $1,609.90 ($US per Troy ounce)
Copper (May 10) shed $0.01, EOD $3.37 ($US per pound)
Livestock and Meat Markets - Chicago Mercantile Exchange (cents per lb.):
Lean Hogs (June 10) gain $0.60, EOD $80.80
Pork Bellies (May 10) shed $0.45, EOD $92.05
Live Cattle (June 10) gain $0.85, EOD $92.80
Feeder Cattle (April 10) gain $1.55, EOD $107.30
Other Commodities - Chicago Board of Trade (cents per bushel):
Corn (May 10) shed $0.75 , EOD $364.25
Soybeans (May 10) shed $4.50, EOD $925.50
BOND MARKET:
2 year EOD 99 26/32, change -1/32, Yield 0.95, Yield change 0.01
5 year EOD 99 27/32, change 2/32, Yield 2.40 Yield change -0.01
10 year EOD 99 11/32, change 7/32, Yield 3.70 Yield change -0.02
30 year EOD 99 30/32, change 25.89/32, Yield 4.62, change -0.03
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