CHESSNOID

The markets just were in the pits today all day long.  I thought we might have a rally in the last hour even with the bad news, but that never did materialize.  Closing numbers were:

With President elect Obama getting ready to be sworn in, I really thought the New Year’s rally was going to last all month long. I didn’t think any of the bad news would get investors’ optimisim down.   All the reports that have come out have been negative, but none of them were a surprise.  These are results one could and should expect in an economy that is in a recession.

We started the year off great to my surprise, but now the trend is back to reality.  Most company earnings will reflect a drop  in production that will translate into lower profits or higher losses.  If there were any questions of certain companies being recession proof, I think this severe recession has pummeled them into submission.

Tomorrow may be another tough day.  One of my favorite companies will get hammered on the news of its CEO taking a medical leave of absence.  CNN.Money:

Apple Inc. (AAPL) Chief Executive Steve Jobs will take a medical leave of absence until the end of June, saying curiosity about his health was too distracting for the company, as he named Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook to lead Apple’s day-to-day operations.

“As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out,” he wrote in an email to Apple employees.

Apple shares were recently down 6.2% at $80 in late trading.

I view this company as a leader in its industry, so it may have a bigger impact not on just its own share price, but possibly the whole sector. The stock futures are also trending down at the moment.

	Dow	-38.00	-0.47%	8,121.00
	NASDAQ	-18.00	-1.54%	1,147.50
	S&P	-6.20	-0.74%	833.60