Financial News for the Week Ending April 12th

US stocks suffered their worst week as technology stocks sold off. The S&P 500 dropped 2.6% and the Dow fell 2.4% over the week. The tech heavy NASDAQ plummeted 3.1% for the week. The trouble ensnared international markets as well with Europe falling 3.1% and Japan posting their worst week in more than 3 years falling 7.3%. Investors moved to safe haven investments with the drop in stocks. The yield on the 10 year Treasury bill sank to 2.62%.

Photo courtesy of NASDAQ.com

Greece returned to the debt markets for the first time since its debt crisis threatened Europe as it issued $4 billion in bonds

The released Fed minutes showed officials have become increasingly worried about low inflation rates. They discussed making a more explicit stance of keeping short term interest rates near zero but elected to hold off. The minutes gave investors confidence that rates would stay low longer into the future.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

More car companies are issuing recalls to avoid fines by regulators as GM’s recall issues mount. Toyota recalled 6.4 million vehicles.

Wells Fargo posted a 14% increase in earnings as it focused on consumer and business lending, while JP Morgan saw its earnings fall 19% driven by weakness from its investment bank in the first quarter. Both posted a drop in revenue from reduced mortgage business.

Reposted from the Raffa Wealth Management Blog.

All the news you need to stay informed about what’s currently driving the market – courtesy of Raffa Wealth Management, LLC