One interesting way to find out what is going on in the minds of investors is to look at Google and Yahoo trending topics. Today, Unemployment Rate was one of the trending topics on Yahoo. On Google, the hot trending search was Obamacare. These two topics are both sources of general economic concern and are in perilous positions at the moment.
On an interview for the Bloomberg Surveillance radio program December 20th, 2010, Economist David Malpass’ predicted that the unemployment rate will remain above 9 percent in 2011. Concerns over this statement along with the recent ruling that parts of the Health Care Reform bill passed in 2010 may be unconstitutional seemed to leave investors unsure of what to do next, resulting in a day of rocky trading with little clear direction. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 13.78 points to 11,478.13. The Nasdaq climbed 6.59 points to 2,649.56 and the S&P 500 rose 3.17 points to 1,247.08.
European markets were up on Monday while Asian markets were down with China’s Shanghai Composite losing 1.41 percent.
Stocks in the news: Hess Corp (NYSE: HES), Sara Lee Corp (NYSE: SLE), Potash Corp Of Saskatchewan Inc (NYSE: POT).
