Closing Bell: Markets rebound on speculation of more government aid; JPM, C, BAC, GE, ADSK all down

Filed under: General Electric (GE), Citigroup Inc. (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC)

Today's economic data came in largely as expected, but that failed to make much difference as the earnings front is a disaster and as more trouble is lurking at the major banking institutions. The good news is that shares were mixed rather than just down across the board. Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:

DJIA: 8,212.49 (+12.35)
S&P500: 843.73 (+1.11)
NASDAQ: 1,511.84 (+22.20)
Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) had a dismal quarter with a huge drop in earnings, but it did manage to post $0.07 EPS when many were expecting breakeven numbers at best. Credit quality and the pull of other financial stocks weighed on it and shares were down almost 7% at $24.12 at the end of the day.

Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) was again front and center in the news with another down day. The company denied rumors that there is a form of arranged nationalization with the government, but shares were still down almost another 20% at $3.65 late in the day.

Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) was under pressure all day on reports that it needs additional funds and guarantees to absorb more losses from the Merrill Lynch buyout. Shares were down 16% at $8.50 late in the day.

General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) fell after reports that it was cutting 1,000 jobs from its aviation unit. This has been trading as though worse news is coming. Shares were down almost 3% at $13.70 late in the day.

Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) warned on earnings agin with a range of $0.18 to $0.24 EPS rather than $0.28 to $0.34 EPS. It also sees revenues in a range of $475 to $500 million. Business here continues to slolw at a fervent pace never seen before and shares were down 13% at $15.36 late in the day.

Closing Bell: Markets rebound on speculation of more government aid; JPM, C, BAC, GE, ADSK all down originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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