Depression Watch - Monday Nov 10th 2008

Dow Close (Mon) 8,870.54 75.27 (-)
Dow Close (Fri) 8,943.81 248.02

The news of China's stimulus package, that buoyed the market in Asia, pushed the Dow futures up Monday morning, but were muted by the economic outlook in the U.S..

Continued contraction forecast in 2009 for Japanese, U.S., British and eurozone economies. Blue Chip Economic Indicators predicts current recession will be deeper, longer than 2001 or 1990-91. - MarketWatch

Shares in US car group General Motors (GM) have closed at a 60-year low after the firm was hit by a broker downgrade. --- The 23% fall to $3.36 came after Barclays Capital said the stock may slump as low as $1 as GM continues to struggle to turnaround its fortunes. -- BBC

Starbucks has seen its fourth-quarter profit almost wiped out by the cost of closing under-performing outlets and falling customer numbers. --- Reporting its global results for the three months to 28 September, its net profits totalled $5.4m (£3.5m), down from $158.5m a year earlier. -- BBC

US mortgage finance firm Fannie Mae has reported a significant increase in third-quarter losses in the wake of the slowing housing sector. --- Losses hit $28.99bn (£18.3bn) in the three months to 30 September from a loss of $1.4bn a year earlier, largely due to a tax-related charge of $21.4bn. -- BBC

US electronics firm Circuit City has filed for bankruptcy protection, one week after saying it would close about 20% of its stores. --- The retailer filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors at the US bankruptcy court in Richmond, Virginia, where it has its headquarters. -- BBC

note: (-) denotes a downward trend

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