The Dow lost 156.06 points to close at 12,442.49. It’s now down 6 percent for the month so far and could be headed for its first losing month since September. The two-week slump represents a sharp turn downward since May 1, when the index closed at a four-year high.

The slide, which is largely due to escalating worries about a breakup of the European currency union, has stripped the Dow of much of this year’s gains. As of the beginning of May it was up 8.7 percent for the year; now it’s up just 1.8 percent.

“Europe is very much on investors’ minds,” said Brian Gendreau, market strategist at broker-dealer Cetera Financial Group. “It’s been two years with multiple bailouts involving Ireland, Portugal and Greece and things don’t seem to be getting better.”

The dollar, Treasury prices and gold all rose as traders sought refuge in lower-risk assets. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note plunged to 1.70 percent, the lowest level of the year.

Caterpillar fell 4 percent, the most of the 30 stocks in the Dow, after reporting that global sales growth of construction and mining machinery slowed between February and April. Wal-Mart stock rose over 4 percent, the most in the Dow, after reporting a 10 percent jump in first-quarter income, beating Wall Street expectations.

Indexes opened lower on Wall Street following drops in European markets. The declines accelerated at mid-morning after the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said manufacturing slowed in the mid-Atlantic region for the first time in eight months. The report was far worse than analysts had been expecting.

In other trading, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 19.94 points to 1,304.86, its lowest close since Jan. 17. The Nasdaq composite fell 60.35 points to 2,813.69.

The Conference Board said its measure of future U.S. economic growth fell in April after six months of increases. The drop came from fewer requests for building permits and a spike in applications for unemployment benefits.

These gloomy reports were a surprise and exacerbated investors’ fears of turmoil in the global markets from developments in Europe where Greece seemed headed for an exit from the euro bloc.

Greece’s caretaker Cabinet was sworn in Thursday and will hold power at least until next month’s election. In the recently-held elections Greeks didn’t given any party a majority, but they did give strong support to politicians who rejected the tough austerity measures that came with the country’s financial bailout.

Without that rescue package, Greece will likely default and be forced to leave the 17-country euro zone, which would destabilize other countries that use the euro. German, French and Spanish stock markets all fell more than 1 percent.

The economic damage is already being felt by other members of the euro bloc.

Spain was forced to pay sharply higher interest rates to raise $3.18 billion in a debt auction Thursday. And shares of Bankia, which Spain nationalized last week, plunged 20 percent on a report from the newspaper El Mundo stating that depositors have withdrawn over $1 billion since last Wednesday.

Oil prices continued to trade lower, falling below $93 a barrel, extending a two-week sell-off, as traders worried about the potential impact on global growth from the European crisis. Crude oil has plummeted about 12 percent from $106 two weeks ago.

Energy companies fell. Chesapeake Energy declined over 3 percent, while WPX Energy fell over 4 percent.

The one bright spot for the markets was the excitement surrounding the initial public offering of Facebook. The uber-popular social media company set the price of its shares at $38 apiece late Thursday. The stock is expected to start trading at 11 am Friday. Facebook is set to raise $18.4 billion, becoming the second largest IPO ever after Visa.

Among other stocks making big moves:

_ Media General soared 33 percent after billionaire Warren Buffett’s company Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy 63 newspapers from the company for $142 million.

_ GameStop fell 11 percent after the world’s largest video game retailer reported its first-quarter profit fell 9.8 percent, as fewer customers visited its stores and bought new games and systems.

_ Sears Holdings rose 3 percent after the beleaguered retailer turned a profit in the first quarter, benefiting from a gain on the sale of some stores.

Source

Benchmark oil for June delivery was down $1.22 to $92.76 a barrel, the lowest since November, at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 80 cents to settle at $93.98 in New York on Tuesday.

Brent crude for July delivery was down $1.14 at $110.31 per barrel in London.

The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories rose 6.6 million barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had predicted an increase of 1.5 million barrels.

Inventories of gasoline fell 2.6 million barrels last week while distillates tumbled 1.6 million barrels, the API said.

The Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration reports its weekly supply data later Wednesday.

Crude has plunged more than 12 percent from $106 earlier this month amid investor concern global economic growth will slow more than previously expected this year. U.S. crude inventories are at a 22-year high amid weak demand and growing production.

Greece announced Tuesday it would hold new elections, probably next month, after politicians failed to form a government after a vote earlier this month. Traders fear Greece may drop the euro currency, which could trigger a loss of confidence in other debt-burdened European countries such as Spain and Italy.

Europe is already teetering near recession this year, and further political turmoil could hurt economic activity and demand for crude.

“The chances that Greece will leave the euro-zone sooner rather than later are growing,” Capital Economics said in a report. “The key question remains whether the policymakers can prevent contagion effects from prompting a bigger and much more damaging breakup of the currency union.”

In other energy trading, heating oil was down 1.7 cents at $2.92 per gallon and gasoline futures slid 1.3 cents at $2.88 per gallon. Natural gas rose 1.4 cents at $2.51 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source

But don’t get too excited: A source close to LinkedIn said the company has "zero interest" in buying Monster, and doesn’t plan to pursue a purchase in the future.

Monster, which has been a rumored takeover target for years, said in March that it was considering selling all or part of the company. According to a short report from Reuters, which cited anonymous sources, potential buyers include LinkedIn () and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners.

Monster’s () stock shot higher immediately after the news, and trading was halted temporarily guaranteed online payday loans. Shares ended the day 19% higher.

Reuters reported that Monster "plans to send out financial information to the interested parties by the end of next week."

Representatives from Monster, LinkedIn and Silver Lake declined to comment on the report.

Monster, which was founded in 1994, operates several websites. Monster.com is its main job search site, while other properties include the college-focused FastWeb.com and Admissions.com. 

Source

More than three years after the financial industry almost collapsed, the colossal misfire was cited as proof that big banks still do not understand the threats posed by their own speculation.

“It just shows they can’t manage risk _ and if JPMorgan can’t, no one can,” Simon Johnson, the former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund, said Friday.

JPMorgan is the largest bank in the United States and was the only major bank to remain profitable during the 2008 financial crisis. That lent credibility to its tough-talking CEO, Jamie Dimon, as he opposed stricter regulation in the aftermath.

But Dimon’s contention that the $2 billion loss came from a hedging strategy that backfired, not an opportunistic bet with the bank’s own money, faced doubt on Friday, if not outright ridicule.

“This is not a hedge,” said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chair of a subcommittee that investigated the crisis. He said the trades were instead a “major bet” on the direction of the economy, as published reports suggested.

On Friday, Dimon told NBC News, for an interview airing Sunday on “Meet the Press,” that he did not know whether JPMorgan had broken any laws or regulatory rules. He said the bank was “totally open” to regulators.

The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Schapiro, told reporters that the agency was focused on the JPMorgan loss but declined to comment further.

JPMorgan’s disclosure Thursday recharged a debate about how to ensure that banks are strong and competitive without allowing them to become so big and complex that they threaten the financial system when they falter.

The JPMorgan loss did not cause anything close to the panic that followed the September 2008 failure of the Lehman Brothers investment bank. But it shook the confidence of the financial industry.

Within minutes after trading began on Wall Street, JPMorgan stock had lost almost 10 percent, wiping out about $15 billion in market value. It closed down 9.3 percent.

Fitch Ratings downgraded the bank’s credit rating by one notch, while Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook JPMorgan to “negative,” indicating a credit-rating downgrade could follow.

Morgan Stanley and Citigroup closed down more than 4 percent, and Goldman Sachs closed down almost 4 percent. The broader stock market was down only slightly for the day.

Dimon gave few details about the trades Thursday beyond saying they involved “synthetic credit positions,” a type of the complex financial instruments known as derivatives.

Enhanced oversight of derivatives was a pillar of the 2010 financial overhaul law, known as Dodd-Frank, but the implementation has been delayed repeatedly and will not take effect until the end of this year at the earliest.

JPMorgan’s trades show that the derivatives market remains too opaque for regulators to oversee effectively, said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., one of the law’s namesakes.

“When a supposedly responsible, well-run organization could make such an enormous mistake with derivatives, that really blows up the argument, `Oh, leave us alone, we don’t need you to regulate us,’” he said.

Criticism of the bank did not stop with its traditional chorus of detractors. It also came from Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., a prominent member of the Senate Banking Committee who has received $10,000 since January 2011 from JPMorgan’s political action committee, the most any candidate has received.

Corker, a leader of a failed effort last year to block a Federal Reserve rule that slashed bank profits from debit cards, called for a hearing “as expeditiously as possible” into the events surrounding JPMorgan’s loss.

Tim Ryan, president of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, a trade group, said it was impossible to legislate or regulate risk out of the financial system free business cards.

“My hope is that this is viewed as bona fide hedging, but it went wrong,” he said in an interview. “A mistake was made. Money is going to be lost. It’s not customer money. It’s not government money. It’s JPMorgan’s money, the shareholders of JPMorgan.”

No one seemed to suggest Friday that JPMorgan had broken a law. But the mistake added a wrinkle to the still-unsettled discussion about how the financial industry should be regulated in the aftermath of 2008.

“This just tells you that we are a long, long way from getting our arms around this whole `too big to fail’ issue,” said Cliff Rossi, a former top risk executive for Citigroup, Countrywide and other big financial companies.

Immediately after the crisis, a time of popular outrage over bailouts and investment losses, there was broad public support for an overhaul of bank regulations.

The changes promoted by the Obama administration were in many cases similar to what the financial industry had sought before the crisis: Consolidation of regulators and oversight of the multi-trillion-dollar marketplace for derivatives.

Regulators are still drafting hundreds of rules under the 2010 law. As Wall Street has returned to record profits, and executives to million-dollar bonuses, banks have fought to soften those rules.

In particular, the industry has fought hard against a few provisions that might have prevented the problems at JPMorgan.

One is the so-called Volcker rule, which will prohibit banks from trading for their own profit. The rule is still being written, and the Federal Reserve has said it will begin enforcement in 2014.

JPMorgan said that its bets were made only to hedge against financial risk. Dimon conceded that the strategy was “egregious” and poorly monitored. But analysts, former bank executives and many lawmakers disagreed.

“This is an exact description of proprietary trading-style activity,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., told reporters Friday. “This really is a textbook illustration of why we need a strong Volcker rule firewall.”

Nancy Bush, a longtime bank analyst at NAB Research and a contributing editor at SNL Financial, said the trades probably crossed that line because they were making money for JPMorgan.

“So they made money on hedges and then they hedged some more,” she said. “At some point it goes from being a hedge to being a moneymaker.”

JPMorgan was seen as a savior of weaker banks during the financial crisis and the only big bank to escape relatively unscathed. His reputation enhanced, Dimon, 56, has been emboldened to challenge efforts to toughen regulation.

In an interview with the Fox Business Network earlier this year, Dimon said that Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman for whom the rule is named “doesn’t understand capital markets.”

Last year, he questioned the current Fed chair, Ben Bernanke, about the rules and said they might be delaying the recovering of the financial system and the broader economy.

“Has anyone bothered to study the cumulative effect of all these things?” he asked.

Dimon, who grew up in the Queens borough of New York and was groomed by the former Citigroup chief executive Sanford Weill, has also chafed against Occupy Wall Street protesters.

“Acting like everyone who’s been successful is bad and that everyone who is rich is bad _ I just don’t get it,” he said at a conference earlier this year.

On Thursday, at about the same time he was breaking news of the $2 billion loss to Wall Street, Dimon sent an email to JPMorgan’s 270,000 worldwide employees assuring them that the company was “very strong.”

Source

IAG reported a net loss of (EURO)146 million ($189 million) in the first three months of the year. A year earlier, a gain on the acquisition of Iberia nudged the company to a profit of (EURO)33 million.

Fuel costs were 25 percent higher than a year ago, adding (EURO)281 million to operating costs, and a strike by Iberia pilots cost another (EURO)25 million, IAG said. Costs other than fuel were up nearly 6 percent.

Revenue rose 7.8 percent to (EURO)3.9 billion, with revenue per passenger 8.5 percent higher.

IAG shares were down 0.8 percent at 161.7 pence in early trading in London.

British Airways reported an operating loss of 62 million pounds ($100 million) and Iberia’s operating loss was (EURO)170 million.

Willie Walsh, IAG’s chief executive, said the company’s performance was also undermined by government actions low interest rate personal loans.

“In addition to the U.K. government increasing the world’s highest aviation tax _ the so-called Air Passenger Duty _ by double the inflation rate, the Spanish government plans to increase departure taxes from Spain by up to (EURO)10 per passenger,” he said.

In April, IAG completed the acquisition of British-based carrier BMI, acquiring additional slots at London’s Heathrow Airport. Walsh said British Airways planned to add a route to Seoul this year, plus new services to Rotterdam and Zagreb.

IAG said demand for flights from London remains strong, with gains in premium services on North Atlantic routes, but the woes of the eurozone hit Iberia’s performance from its base in Madrid.

Source

Shares of Walt Disney Co. (, Fortune 500) passed their all-time high after the company reported strong earnings growth Tuesday, driven by rising revenues at ESPN, and promised to capitalize on the runaway success of "The Avengers."

Shares were as high as $45.80 in morning trading on Wednesday, before slipping back to $45 even, up about 1.5%.

Despite stumbling with "John Carter," the sci-fi epic that lost the company $200 million, Disney reported earnings for the first three months of the year that surged 18% versus 2011.

"The Avengers" smashed box-office records in its debut this past weekend, grossing more than $207 million and shaping up to be Disney’s highest-earning film ever. Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a call with analysts Tuesday that Disney would release an "Avengers" sequel "eventually, at a date to be determined."

"We’re incredibly optimistic about our future, given the strength of our core brands, Disney, Pixar, Marvel, ESPN, and ABC, and our extraordinary ability to grow franchises across our businesses," Iger said in a statement.

Disney reported earnings, excluding certain items, of 58 cents a share on $9.6 billion in revenue.  

Source

“As the economy continues to recover, and at a time when market interest rates are at historic lows, students who rely on loans to finance postsecondary education should not be burdened with additional college debt,” the White House said.

The statement, which seemed aimed at raising the discomfort level among GOP senators, came as the Senate debated a $6 billion Democratic bill keeping today’s subsidized Stafford loan interest rates of 3.4 percent from doubling for another year.

Republicans back freezing the interest rates too, but oppose how Democrats would finance their measure. Democrats would force owners of many privately owned companies to pay more Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes.

“They’d like to raise money in the middle of the largest recession we’ve had since the Great Depression on job creators,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

Alexander has introduced a GOP version paid for by eliminating a preventive health fund created by President Barack Obama’s 2010 revamping of the nation’s health care system. Republicans are demanding a vote on their alternative measure.

Republicans touted a letter sent to Senate leaders last week by 37 groups representing businesses from architects to wine wholesalers, saying the Democratic plan would be “less clear and less enforceable” than current law but could also end up increasing payroll taxes on businesses already complying with the law no teletrack payday loans.

The election-year standoff affects 7.4 million students, whose Stafford borrowing costs would rise by an average $1,000 over the lives of their loans if interest costs doubled.

The White House has threatened to veto a House-approved GOP bill similar to Alexander’s. Administration officials and congressional Democrats say they oppose cuts in preventive health programs.

With presidential and congressional elections in November, neither party wants to be seen as causing students’ college expenses to grow. Because neither appears to have the 60 votes needed to push its version through the Senate, it seems likely they will have to find a compromise way to pay for the effort.

Stafford loans are made to low- and middle-income students. The Department of Education estimates students will borrow $31.6 billion in Stafford loans in the year beginning July 1, average $4,226 for each student.

Source

The victim this time is Chesapeake Energy, whose name appears on the arena that hosts the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder.

The curse is a somewhat fanciful but surprisingly consistent factor that CNNMoney has tracked for about a decade. It appears to weigh on the stock performance of companies with enough hubris to put their names on major sporting venues.

Chesapeake (, Fortune 500)’s share price has been chopped nearly in half over the past 12 months, with the slide starting just after the company signed the $3 million a year naming rights deal last June.

That seems about right, as far as the curse is concerned. Of the 60 publicly traded sponsors, 37 of them — 62% — have had their stocks lose ground in the past 12 months, with an average drop of 21%. The S&P 500 is up 2.4% in the same period.

Of course, there’s little supernatural or superstitious involved in Chesapeake’s slide.

CEO Aubrey McClendon was just stripped of his title as company chairman due to controversy about an incentive program that allowed him to take personal stakes in wells drilled by the company. He used that stake to borrow as much as $1.1 billion in loans not disclosed to shareholders, according to published reports. The SEC is investigating.

In addition, Chesapeake’s profits have been hurt by rock-bottom natural gas prices.

If it’s any consolation, Chesapeake is getting positive buzz after the Thunder captured two exciting NBA playoff games at home and another on the road to take a 3-0 lead on the defending champion Dallas Mavericks. The Thunder are guaranteed of playing more games in the Chesapeake Energy Arena, either later in the first round, or in the next round.

The Thunder’s opponent in the NBA is the Dallas Mavericks, who play in another cursed arena — the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Last year, Dallas-based American had its name on both arenas used in the NBA Finals — the Miami Heat play its games in the American Airlines Arena.

But last November, American parent AMR () became the latest U.S. airline to file for bankruptcy, essentially wiping out shareholders. Its shares have lost 90%.

American’s trip to bankruptcy is not unique for stadium sponsors. There are also two other arenas bearing the names of airlines that flew in and out of bankruptcy while maintaining their sponsorship deals — the United (, Fortune 500) Center in Chicago, and Toronto’s Air Canada Centre.

In addition, 12 other stadiums or arenas used by the four major North American team sports leagues were once adorned with the name of a company that went bankrupt. The former Enron Field in Houston, now Minute Maid Park, is probably the most famous.

Several other former sponsors have vanished, bought in a weaken state by a competitor or shut down by a corporate parent tired of losses.

So even as Chesapeake struggles with its run of bad news this weak, its shareholders can take solace. The curse might be hurting, but it could be worse. 

Source

The Wichita, Kan.-based aircraft maker filed for bankruptcy protection this week, seeking approval for a plan that would write an estimated $2.5 billion in debt off its books.

It’s the latest piece of bad news for Wichita’s aviation economy. But it carries a special significance for Hawker Beechcraft, which has not only suffered as the aviation market soured but has done so with a large amount of debt no fax payday loan.

Sales of small and midsize business jets have fallen by more than 50 percent in recent years.

Wichita is home to three makers of such planes, and Kansas has lost more than 13,000 aviation jobs since 2008.

Source