Bernard Condon

October 11, 2011 | Daily Report Online

Are investors overreacting to the prospect of a recessionThe slightly better jobs report on Friday notwithstanding, the odds of a recession appear to be climbing, and that's bringing back scary memories. Though stocks may look cheap thanks to record corporate profits, that was also true the last time the U.S. was heading into a downturn.

By Bernard Condon

5 minute read

March 06, 2012 | Daily Report Online

What's not to like about Dow 13,000While some investors cheered when the blue-chip index closed above that level last Tuesday for the first time since May 2008, some were wringing their hands. The Dow Jones industrial average has left the Dow transportation average behind, and that could mean trouble."There's a risk that stocks could slide," says Bruce McCain, chief strategist at Key Private Bank.

By Bernard Condon

5 minute read

February 08, 2012 | Daily Report Online

Is the great profit engine of corporate America running out of steamWhile other parts of the economy struggled the past two years, large companies managed to rack up higher profits quarter after quarter. Now reality is catching up with big business.As companies close their books on the final three months of last year, the big ones that make up the Standard Poor's 500 stock index appear likely to earn about $230 billion.

By Bernard Condon

7 minute read

September 28, 2010 | Daily Report Online

It's Caterpillar's market.The Illinois maker of earth movers is just one of 30 companies in the Dow Jones industrial average, but you wouldn't know it from its impact on the index recently. Caterpillar's stock is responsible for 40 percent of the Dow's climb since the beginning of the year.Translation: If not for Caterpillar Inc.

By Bernard Condon

5 minute read

February 18, 2011 | Daily Report Online

While executives were finishing a deal to sell the New York Stock Exchange to a German rival, the NYSE was locked in a separate, smaller battle with three dozen competitors. The prize was the right to deliver shares of Coca-Cola stock to an investor who wanted 400 of them.About 8 billion shares trade every day in the United States, so this sale seems hardly worth mentioning, save for the telling outcome: The NYSE lost.

By Bernard Condon

5 minute read