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By
Vincent Trivett
Feb 02, 2012 1:00 pm
Here's what was going on while Bernanke was on the Hill.
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Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was grilled by Paul Ryan and company in the House Budget Committee today. Bernanke recommended that Congress should make bringing down the deficit a "top priority" but cautioned against austerity measures that would "unnecessarily impede the current economic recovery."
Bernanke stressed that the dollar is still a safe haven currency and pointed toward data such as last week's drop in initial jobless claims as evidence that the economy is steadily improving, though vulnerable to shocks.
Stock markets mostly reacted positively to the speech. Here's the skinny on US indices:
This morning's earnings highlights:
Deutsche Bank (DB) profits were severely hurt by the European debt crisis. The German bank's net income fell 76% in the fourth quarter, missing analyst expectations. Deutsche Bank is suffering from writedowns on Greek government debt.
Merck (MRK) is down 1.55% this morning despite reporting better-than-expected Q4 earnings. Sales growth in the quarter disappointed and the company's own guidance predicts that FY 2012 earnings will be about the same as last year. Sales of Merck's diabetes drug, Januvia, increased by 42%.
Weak demand in Europe caused Dow Chemical (DOW) to miss earnings expectations. Dow is currently down 0.5%.
The New York Times Company (NYT) is down 1.67% after the media company posted lower profits and revenues than expected. Despite putting nytimes.com behind a partial pay wall, 2011 revenues dropped to $643 million from $661.7 million in 2010.
Macy's (M) raised its forecast for its fourth fiscal quarter. Despite reporting that same-store sales grew less than expected during the holiday season, Macy's is up 2.82% this morning.
Earnings at Blackstone Group (BX), the world's largest private-equity firm, fell by 12% in the fourth quarter due to lower investment income and performance fees. These results were in line with expectations, but shares of Blackstone fell 1.92% this morning after the earnings release.
Master Card (MA) jumped 6.05% this morning after the credit card card processor beat analyst estimates for its seventh straight quarter.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) is still riding high on better-than-expected sales of Keurig cups. Green Mountain is up 20.70% this morning.
Greece is in the hole for even more than expected. The European Commission found today that the 130 billion euro bailout and 100 billion euro in debt relief being sought from private investors still leaves Greece 15 billion euros short.
Twitter: @vincent_trivett
Bernanke stressed that the dollar is still a safe haven currency and pointed toward data such as last week's drop in initial jobless claims as evidence that the economy is steadily improving, though vulnerable to shocks.
Stock markets mostly reacted positively to the speech. Here's the skinny on US indices:
- The Dow (DJI) rose in early trading before falling 0.22% to 12,688.05 as of pixel time.
- The S&P (SPY) is up 0.07% to 1,325.06.
- The Nasdaq (^IXIC) rose 0.30% to 2,856.88.
This morning's earnings highlights:
Deutsche Bank (DB) profits were severely hurt by the European debt crisis. The German bank's net income fell 76% in the fourth quarter, missing analyst expectations. Deutsche Bank is suffering from writedowns on Greek government debt.
Merck (MRK) is down 1.55% this morning despite reporting better-than-expected Q4 earnings. Sales growth in the quarter disappointed and the company's own guidance predicts that FY 2012 earnings will be about the same as last year. Sales of Merck's diabetes drug, Januvia, increased by 42%.
Weak demand in Europe caused Dow Chemical (DOW) to miss earnings expectations. Dow is currently down 0.5%.
The New York Times Company (NYT) is down 1.67% after the media company posted lower profits and revenues than expected. Despite putting nytimes.com behind a partial pay wall, 2011 revenues dropped to $643 million from $661.7 million in 2010.
Macy's (M) raised its forecast for its fourth fiscal quarter. Despite reporting that same-store sales grew less than expected during the holiday season, Macy's is up 2.82% this morning.
Earnings at Blackstone Group (BX), the world's largest private-equity firm, fell by 12% in the fourth quarter due to lower investment income and performance fees. These results were in line with expectations, but shares of Blackstone fell 1.92% this morning after the earnings release.
Master Card (MA) jumped 6.05% this morning after the credit card card processor beat analyst estimates for its seventh straight quarter.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) is still riding high on better-than-expected sales of Keurig cups. Green Mountain is up 20.70% this morning.
Greece is in the hole for even more than expected. The European Commission found today that the 130 billion euro bailout and 100 billion euro in debt relief being sought from private investors still leaves Greece 15 billion euros short.
Twitter: @vincent_trivett
No positions in stocks mentioned.
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