The Week That Was---6/2 to 6/8/07
THE MARKET
The market was up again this week despite significant European and Chinese market declines on Thursday (These E & C declines seemed to have been mostly a So What event for the U.S. markets).
The Nasdaq is now the leader.
Overall, volume was light as the big institutional players headed for the cool mountains or the sandy beaches.
THE ECONOMY
Jobs grew by 132,000 which was a bit more than economists expected. (Does anyone keep track of their prediction record?) The jobLESS rate is 4.5% which is near a 6-year low. (I didn't realize the job market was that good.) Hourly pay is up 3.9% versus a year ago. (That means I could raise my prices 4%---don't intend to do so.)
Good News/Bad News---It's still the same story: stronger economic growth brings concerns of inflation.
OIL
The price of crude hit $72.81---the highest in nearly a year. (Our gasoline is still $2.97 a gallon---$40 to fill the tank on Friday instead of the old $20. It seems as though existing supplies of crude are not a problem so gasoline prices are staying down.) The world was nervous about Iran playing the oil trump card, and worried about the trouble in Nigeria, the #6 OPEC producer.
THE BIG BOYS
Blackstone, a private-equity company that went public two weeks ago, is buying Hilton Hotels (Paris Hilton?) for $26 billion. They will pay shareholders $47.50 a share which is about 45% more than the price of the stock before the buyout was announced (Oh, to have happened to have owned Hilton stock---that would be a painless 45% bonus!). Blackstone shareholders-to-be must have liked the idea and wanted a piece of the company doing the big buying. Their demand for Blackstone shares drove its price up 8 percent. Usually, the stock of the acquiring company goes down three or four percent because initially the acquisition acts as a drag on the company.
Have a good week---the one coming up.
5:46:03 PM 
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