The major indexes kicked off the week on Monday with a small decline following the previous Friday’s huge upswing. Retail sales declined for the third month in a row, causing concern that the fragile economic recovery might be in jeopardy. On Tuesday, stocks initially fell after a non-committal speech by Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, but rebounded late in the day for a moderate gain on hope that Fed intervention might still happen despite Bernanke’s reticence. The gains continued on Wednesday, buoyed by a positive US home construction report, as well as several good earnings reports by major companies such as Honeywell. On Thursday, a strong earnings report by IBM outweighed disappointing US jobless, home sales, and manufacturing reports to lead the major indexes to another gain. Stocks finished the week on Friday with a triple-digit loss for the Dow on fresh concerns over a potential bailout of Spanish debt.
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