Double-Dip Recession Threat Wanes

Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., says that the threat of a double-dip recession is receding. Bittles predicted that the stock market will be strained with uncertainties over the next round of quarterly earning reports and the November elections. However, he said, once those uncertainties are resolved, the market may be poised for a strong rally in November and December, the Small Business Times of Milwaukee reported.

WBA Economic Forecast: Slow Growth Ahead

While the economy should grow at a rate of about 3 percent, most of the major gains to be had from the stock market rebound already have occurred, University of Wisconsin-Madison Business School Dean Michael Knetter told about 500 business people gathered for the annual Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) Economic Forecast Luncheon at the Monona Terrace Convention Center. Read more in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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Wisconsin State Journal
Milwaukee Business Journal
WisBusiness.com
Wisconsin Radio Network

S&P Drops Metavante from Index

As Metavante Technologies Inc. prepares for the scheduled Oct. 1 closing of its sale to Fidelity National Information Services Inc., Standard & Poor’s Index Services has announced that it will drop Metavante from the S&P Midcap 400 Index, according to the Business Journal of Milwaukee.

Citizens Stock Could Be Delisted

The parent company of Citizens Bank has been notified by the Nasdaq Stock Market that its stock will be delisted if shares don’t resume trading at $1 or more. Citizens Republic Bancorp Inc., based in Flint, Mich.., has about 50 Citizens Bank branches in Wisconsin. Read the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article.

Stocks Show Modest Improvement

M&I Corp. was among the Wisconsin companies that posted stock gains after a government report showed the rise in unemployment last month was not as bad as feared. M&I’s stock went up 6.6 percent for the day, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Stocks Rise in Response to Bank Plan

Stocks of financial institutions led the Dow Jones industrial average almost 500 points higher after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the government will team up with private investors to purchase bad assets and get them off the balance sheets of banks. Read more in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Wis. Mutual Funds Down

The awful start to the stock market year has delivered negative early returns for all 36 Milwaukee-based mutual funds, but as a group they’re doing better than their peers. Major stock indexes were down between 16 percent and 23 percent year-to-date. Read the Business Journal of Milwaukee article.

Farewell to Dismal Year on Wall St.

The book has closed on the worst year for Wall Street since the Great Depression, with the Dow Jones industrials losing almost 34 percent overall in 2008. Likewise, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ended the year 38.5 percent lower, while the Nasdaq Composite Index finished 2008 down about 40.5 percent, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.