Stocks turn higher as jobless claims rise, retail sales dip, and General Electric gets rating cut
Stocks turned higher in early trading Thursday after mixed economic data and a cut in General Electric Co.’s credit rating.
Standard & Poor’s said it is lowering GE’s top rating one notch because of problems at the conglomerate’s lending arm. GE — the oldest component in the Dow Jones industrials — was one of only six companies that had a “AAA” rating from S&P.
The move did not appear to surprise shareholders — GE shares managed to trade in positive territory after the ratings cut. But the move nonetheless pointed out to the market that even the most stable U.S. companies are on shakier footing in the current economic environment.
Government data showed the economy continues to deteriorate. The Labor Department said first-time claims for unemployment benefits rose to 654,000 from the previous week’s figure of 639,000, more than analysts’ expectations.
AUSTIN, TX — (Marketwire) — 03/11/09 — On Tuesday, March 10, 2009, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger test drove Ronn Motor Company’s (PINKSHEETS: RNNM) acclaimed Scorpion(TM), a hydrogen assisted eco-exotic sports car capable of hitting 40 miles per gallon and 200 miles per hour. The test drive with Ronn Motor’s founder and CEO Ronn Maxwell in the passenger seat, came after Schwarzenegger read a recent article in Men’s Journal which proclaimed the Scorpion(TM) as “God’s Own Supercar.”
Stocks are mixed amid Merck’s announcement to acquire Schering-Plough
Wall Street managed an advance Monday after drugmakers Merck and Schering-Plough announced a $41 billion deal.
Big acquisitions tend to galvanize the stock market, and news of the Merck-Schering-Plough deal did help lift stocks from an early decline. Still, investors were still extremely pessimistic as they waited for clues about when the economy might turn around.
Merck & Co. has offered Schering-Plough shareholders $10.50 in cash and just over half of one Merck share for each of their shares. The price represents a 34 percent premium to Schering-Plough’s closing stock price on Friday.
AUSTIN, TX — (Marketwire) — 03/06/09 — Ronn Motor Company, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: RNNM) announced today the Company has entered into an Investment Banking Advisory Agreement with Pepperwood Partners of Dallas, Texas in order to enhance the Company’s growth plans and seek a best efforts capital infusion of $25 million, for ongoing development of their hydrogen, hydrogen fuel cell, electric and alternative environmentally clean automobile systems.