The Dow and S&P 500 stock indexes both slid for the third week in a row, this time joined by the Nasdaq, which was flat last time around. Wall Street investors continue to worry over European government finances, with possible Greek debt restructuring and Spanish elections causing concern.
On the home front, some folks fretted about a U.S. economic slowdown, as corporate earnings season, after a strong beginning, is ending with big players like HP, Home Depot and Wal-Mart failing to impress.
But there still were corporate winners, including Dell, John Deere, Abercrombie & Fitch and Target and, for the quarter, many more companies have done well than have disappointed.
It was also good to see that initial unemployment claims for the week came in better than anticipated, dropping to 409,000, with continuing claims falling as well. Economists are now talking about getting back to the 380,000 level shortly.
Industrial Production was reported flat for last month, although still up for the year, and New York's Empire Index and the Philadelphia Fed Index both showed the manufacturing sector growing in those regions, though at a slower pace.
For the week, the Dow ended down 0.7%, at 12,512; the S&P 500 was down 0.3%, to 1,333; and the Nasdaq was down 0.9%, at 2,803.
From my weekly enewsletter for real estate pros, INSIDE LENDING, for the week of May 23, 2011
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