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Stocks zigzag all day but in the end barely budge. The Dow lost 25 points. The S&P down nearly 2 points. While the Nasdaq was up almost 5 points. The weekly US government report on crude oil stockpiles- they fell to their lowest level in nearly three years. Fog and an ice storm caused shipping and pipeline problems. Prices up to over $91 a barrel as a reaction to those reignited worries of a winter supply crunch. That caused energy stocks to head upwards. Little Christmas cheer for Morgan Stanley. The Wall Street giant reported much larger than expected quarterly losses on Wednesday. The company blamed write downs of over 9 billion dollars on the subprime mortgage crisis and an "error in judgment". Morgan Stanley also said it will suspend stock buybacks and consider staffing. One thing the markets took as a positive: the company will get a 5 billion dollar cash infusion from a China sovereign fund. As a result, Morgan Stanley shares were up over 4%. More credit crisis news for financials- the world's biggest bond insurers Ambac Financial Group and MBIA Insurance were given a 'negative' outlook by Standard and Poor's. An attempt at some relief from the Federal Reserve. It auctioned off 20 billion dollars, as part of a coordinated move by central banks around the world to unlock the credit markets. The rate was 4.65 percent and there was high demand from banks. There will be another auction on Thursday. In Europe, that cash injection from the Federal Reserve failed to comfort investors. Germany's DAX lost 13 points, the Paris CAC-40 fell 11, while the UK's FTSE added a paltry 5 points. Manoush Zomorodi, Reuters, NY
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Added: Dec 20, 2007 |
| Category: Business |
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