Current Event "wallstreet"

The federal government’s latest plan to pump billions of dollars into ailing credit markets drew a tepid response from Wall Street on Tuesday, as shares gave up early gains and flattened at midday, halting the market’s two-day rally.
After rising sharply in early trading, financial markets swung into negative territory as Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. explained the government’s latest efforts to address the crises in financial and credit markets. The move is an effort to unfreeze the market for consumer credit. While the costs of bank-to-bank borrowing have dropped after billions of dollars’ worth of government intervention, rates on mortgages and other consumer loans have remained stubbornly high.

Current Event "wallstreet"

Wall Street stumbled in midday trading on Wednesday after Best Buy warned of a sharp downturn in consumer spending, adding to pessimism about a holiday season that already appeared bleak.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down nearly 300 points at 2 p.m., and the broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index was down 3.8 percent as financial markets extended losses into a third day.
The financial markets had been trading down all morning, but began a sharp slide just before Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. appeared at a lectern to discuss the $700 billion financial bailout. Mr. Paulson said that government assets would not be used to buy up troubled assets, as originally planned, but would instead go to buying stock in banks and infusing money into other financial institutions.
As he spoke, markets headed for their session lows.
Wednesday began with more troubling news from the retail sector. Best Buy said its same-store sales could decline 5 percent to 15 percent from November until February. Best Buy lowered its earnings expectations to $2.30 to $2.90 a share, compared with an earlier prediction of $3.25 to $3.40

The Bank of England unexpectedly reduced its benchmark rate by 1.5 percentage points, its biggest rate reduction in more than a decade, and the European Central Bank lowered its interest rate as expected by half a percentage point to 3.25 percent.
The Bank of England cut was to 3 percent, the lowest level since 1954, surprising investors and economists who had predicted a cut of half a percentage point.Both banks cut their rates by a half percentage point on Oct. 8 in a coordinated response with other central banks around the world as they tried to loosen credit markets.