U.S. Stocks Tumble at the Start
11/14/08 - 09:43 AM EST
Mike Taylor
Updated from 9:09 a.m. EST
Stocks in New York sagged at the open Friday as traders sought to lock in some of their gains following a sharp rally late Thursday and as credit troubles continued to rock the hurting financial sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was losing 128 points to 8707, and the S&P 500 was giving back 16 points to 896. The Nasdaq shed 32 points to 1565. On Thursday, stocks staged an afternoon comeback off steep morning losses stemming from a high unemployment number and bearish corporate earnings. The Dow ended up more than 500 points. As the new day's trading began, new signs emerged of the credit troubles that are continuing to rock the ailing financial sector. The Wall Street Journal reported that Citigroup (C Quote - Cramer on C - Stock Picks) is gearing up to cut 10,000 jobs and raise interest rates on many credit-card customers. Elsewhere among financials, Dexia SA is getting set to sell its bond-insurance segment FSA Holding to Assured Guaranty (AGO Quote - Cramer on AGO - Stock Picks). Meanwhile, the BBC reported that the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS Quote - Cramer on RBS - Stock Picks) is eliminating 3,000 jobs over the next several weeks. At a time when financial and consumer firms were facing difficulties offering credit to customers, the Journal reported that software behemoth Microsoft (MSFT Quote - Cramer on MSFT - Stock Picks) would offer 0% financing for clients who spend $20,000 to $1 million on its customer-management and accounting software. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke at the European Central Banking Conference. Bernanke said that turmoil in the financial system has warranted international help and that markets remain severely strained. His speech comes as world leaders prepare for a summit in Washington over the next couple of days. The Group of Twenty finance ministers and central bank officials plan to meet to discuss the worldwide financial meltdown.
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