Election Day brought out the bulls on Wall Street as the feeling of uncertainty over the last several weeks turned into confidence, pushing the markets forward dramatically. The Dow surged 305.45, or 3.28%, to 9.625.28 while the Nasdaq increased 53.79, or 3.12%, to 1,780.12. Financial stocks and most every sector finished in the green as media reports and poll after poll predict that Sen. Barack Obama is a strong favorite over Sen. John McCain for the presidential office.
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One major advancer was financial services firm CIT Group Inc., which reportedly could receive a Treasury investment. In the meantime, CIT announced it completed a $500 million loan from Wells Fargo & Co. The move is just another sign that the credit freeze may be thawing -- and may make the debate over whether TARP should be expanded to finance companies moot. CIT closed up $1.63, or 36.06%, to $6.15.
Meanwhile, other financial firms such as Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. showed strong gains in hopes that a new administration will turn around the sickly economy. Even Swiss-based UBS jumped $1.21, or $7.48%, to $17.39 as the bank predicted a fourth-quarter loss.
Meanwhile, as the two presidential candidates promised to fix our nation's healthcare system, one of the major players in the system, hospital operator Tenet Healthcare Corp., continued to feel the pain after Tuesday's trading, dropping more than 30%. Investors abandoned the stock after the hospital operator announced disappointing earnings, disclosing, after excluding a $140 million gain from the sale of an investment and other items, the company lost 6 cents per share. - Gerald Magpily
Troubled Wall Street
Prices at close |
| Name |
Price at
open |
Price
at close |
Change |
Mkt cap |
| J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. |
41.25 |
42.17 |
1.44 |
157.16B |
| Merrill Lynch & Co. |
19.3 |
19.99 |
1.05 |
31.98B |
| Goldman Sachs Group Inc. |
90.69 |
95.00 |
5.91 |
37.56B |
| Morgan Stanley |
18.45 |
18.90 |
0.90 |
20.07B |
| Citigroup Inc. |
14.42 |
14.68 |
0.69 |
79.99B |
| Fannie Mae |
0.91 |
0.90 |
0.05 |
962.83M |
| Freddie Mac |
1.07 |
1.05 |
0.04 |
679.37M |
| Bank of America Corp. |
24.03 |
24.50 |
0.89 |
122.91B |
| Wachovia Corp. |
6.53 |
6.75 |
0.35 |
14.58B |
| Wells Fargo & Co. |
34.48 |
35.11 |
1.31 |
116.74B |
| American International Group Inc. |
2.36 |
2.41 |
0.27 |
6.48B |
| Sovereign Bancorp Inc. |
3 |
3.06 |
0.23 |
2.03B |
| National City Corp. |
2.6 |
2.71 |
0.18 |
5.51B |
| Fifth Third Bancorp |
11.79 |
12.35 |
0.85 |
7.13B |
| Capital One Financial Corp. |
40.01 |
42.82 |
3.20 |
16.65B |
| SunTrust Banks Inc. |
41.16 |
43.08 |
2.82 |
15.24B |
| U.S. Bancorp |
30.78 |
32.20 |
1.90 |
56.47B |
| Regions Financial Corp. |
12 |
12.51 |
0.74 |
8.65B |
| KeyCorp |
13 |
13.59 |
0.83 |
6.72B |
| PNC Financial Services |
69.36 |
72.63 |
4.26 |
25.27B |
| BB&T Corp. |
36.49 |
36.15 |
0.65 |
19.86B |
| Bank of New York Mellon Corp. |
33.24 |
34.42 |
1.58 |
39.49B |
| State Street Corp. |
43.67 |
46.26 |
2.51 |
19.96B |
|
Source: The Deal |
