Investors got some negative news today on the never-ending seesaw of economic data. The Department of Labor’s weekly Unemployment Claims Report released today (which you can read here) showed an increase of 13,000 claims last week. Also released today were the September Producer Price Indexes (see them here). The index showed an increase of .4 percent for finished goods, which can be taken as a sign of increased demand for goods or an indication of possible inflation.
Major banks were feeling the heat today as most were down thanks to the roiling controversy over shady foreclosure activities. Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC) was one of the hardest hit. BAC closed at $13.29 on October 13th and fell as low as $12.47 around 2:00 PM today.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down for the majority of the day, but managed to regain much of its losses before the market closed. By the end of the day, the Dow lost just 1.51 points to close at 11,094.57. The Nasdaq fell 5.85 points to 2,435.38 and the S&P dropped 4.29 points to 1,173.81.
European markets were mixed on Thursday while Asian markets were up.
Stocks in the news: CVS Caremark Corp (NYSE: CVS), Verizon Communications Inc (NYSE: VZ), At&t Incorporated (NYSE: T), JPMorgan Chase and Co (NYSE: JPM).
