Bernanke," said unveils Tom Di colgate examines Galoma, head of Treasuries trading at brokerage Jefferies & Co in New York, referring to Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. After two days of higher prices, the stock market on Thursday gave back some of its Fed-inspired gains. The Dow Jones industrial average eased 48. 86 points, or 0. 4%, to 13,766. 70. As in the Treasury bond market, the action in currencies and commodities suggested a backlash against the Fed's rate cut. The dollar resumed its decline against other major currencies, with the euro reaching a record high of $1. 408, up from $1. 396 on Wednesday. The greenback also fell to a 31-year low against the Canadian dollar. Lower short-term interest rates could make dollar-denominated debt less attractive to foreign investors, reducing overseas demand for dollars. And a weaker dollar threatens to boost the price of imported goods, adding to inflation risks. In commodity trading, gold -- a key barometer of inflation expectations -- soared $9. 40 to $732. 40 an ounce in New York, a fresh 27-year high. Inflation fears also were fanned by the continuing rise in oil prices. Crude futures in New York advanced $1. 39 to a record $83. 32 a barrel. Many analysts said it was too early to say the drop in the Fed's key rate, from 5. 25% to 4. 75%, would do more harm than good. "I don't think [the Fed's move] has in any way backfired," said Brian Bethune, an economist at Global Insight Inc in Waltham, Mass "This has worked exactly the way the Fed wanted it to with. a little bit less anxiety about the future of the economy and some movement back into the stock market and other types of risky assets. "Indeed, the jump in long-term Treasury bond yields in recent days has in part stemmed from some investors' decisions to sell those securities in favor of riskier corporate debt, bond traders said. The yield on an index of 100 junk bonds slipped to 8% on Thursday from 8. 02% on Wednesday, according to KDP Investment Advisors.
The rate now is the lowest since July 18. Some analysts have pointed to rising Treasury bond yields as a sign that investors were demanding higher returns to compensate for the risk of higher inflation, which is the principal threat to fixed bond rates. If cheaper credit fuels a sharp turnaround in the economy, inflation pressures could increase. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond, the most sensitive to inflation issues, ended at 4. 97% on Thursday, up from 4. 83% the day before. But David Ader, head of government bond strategy at RBS Greenwich Capital Markets, said he doubted that inflation concerns were more than "a good excuse" for an unwinding of some investors' rush into Treasuries during the height of the global credit crunch in August. Whatever is driving long-term Treasury yields up, it's bad news for the housing market. "The cost of getting a mortgage has gone up, not down, since rates were cut," said Jim Keegan, a bond fund manager at American Century Investments in Kansas City, Mo colgate toothbrush . "So far the market's voting that [the Fed cut was] not the right thing to do. "The average rate nationwide for 30-year mortgages edged up to 6. 34% this week from 6. 31% last week, mortgage finance giant Freddie Mac said Thursday colgate toothbrushes . The 30-year loan rate has mostly been falling since mid-July. After skyrocketing the day of the Fed rate cut, stocks of most home builders slumped Thursday Standard Pacific fell 74 cents, or 8. 1%, to $8. 41 red raiders . Ryland Group slid $1. 96, or 7. 5%, to $24. 29 . In the broader stock market, the Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 10. 28 points, or 0. 7%, to 1,518. 75. The Nasdaq composite eased 12. 19 points, or 0. 5%, to 2,654. 29. Losers topped winners by more than 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock market is grappling with the mixed effects of the dollar's ongoing slide, analysts say. A weaker dollar is good news for U. S.
exporters because it makes their products less expensive for foreign buyers. But if the dollar falls too quickly it could cause new turmoil in global markets . Each drop in the dollar devalues the substantial dollar-denominated investments of foreigners, raising the risk that they will seek to sell some of their holdings. Many experts believe the dollar is likely to continue to depreciate colgate toothpaste Colgate Red Raiders . "I haven't seen anything that would reverse the course," said Dixon Fung, chief of MG Financial Group, a foreign-exchange trading firm in New York. As it has historically, gold is climbing as the dollar weakens colgate tooth paste . Gold is considered a haven in uncertain financial times, and the struggling dollar underscores worries about the U. S tech red raiders . economy, some analysts say. "Gold has been the best long-term barometer of people's perception of a country or an economy," said Peter Grandich, who writes the Grandich Letter from Wall, N. J. "And in this case it's obvious that foreigners don't have much confidence in the U. S. "--walter. hamilton. Los Angeles-based TCW Group, one of the biggest managers of so-called collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, said it sold $3. 2 billion of mortgage securities backing one CDO after the value of the bonds fell. A decline in the price of securities in the CDO, called Westways Funding X, triggered a clause that demanded that assets be sold so holders of the highest-rated pieces wouldn't incur losses, TCW said Thursday in a statement. "Westways X did not experience any delinquencies or credit-performance issues, but did experience widening [interest-rate] spreads consistent with all non-Treasury fixed income sectors," TCW said.
"The resulting pricing declines, while modest by most financial market standards, have been sufficient to cause the structure's net asset value to fall below a critical threshold. "CDOs take pools of securities and divide them into pieces with different credit ratings, from no rating through AAA Most CDOs can hold assets until they mature . Others, such as Westways, have tests based on the price of their holdings that are designed to protect investors who buy higher-rated portions of the CDOs before losses eat through lower-rated classes. Citigroup Inc colgate whitening toothpaste . managed the sale of the Westways X CDO securities to investors in February, according to the prospectus for the issue colgate products Colgate Red Raiders - gocolgateraiders . Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a spokeswoman for Citigroup, didn't have an immediate comment Colgate Red Raiders - gocolgateraiders . CDOs are complex securities that were highly popular with institutional investors until the mortgage market's troubles began to deepen this summer. . Colgate Red Raiders tickets SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA — With just over two weeks to go before Costa Ricans head to the polls to vote on a free-trade agreement with the United States and six other countries, Alfredo Volio should be a happy man. As head of the "yes" campaign championing the pact, known as CAFTA, he has watched public support climb in recent months. The latest opinion polls showed Costa Ricans leaning toward backing the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which would dismantle most trade barriers between the United States and half a dozen Latin countries. But that was before a memo written by CAFTA advocates was leaked to the public this month, fueling outrage here. The document, dated July 29 and written by two high-level government officials with close ties to Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, outlined a campaign of dirty tricks intended to sway voters. The authors proposed smearing CAFTA opponents by linking them to leftist firebrands such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuban President Fidel Castro.
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