Career News 24/7: STOCKS MAKE HUGE COMEBACK AND PORTUGAL IS PUSHED TO THE BRINK: Here's What You Need To Know, January 30, 2012

Monday, January 30, 2012

STOCKS MAKE HUGE COMEBACK AND PORTUGAL IS PUSHED TO THE BRINK: Here's What You Need To Know, January 30, 2012

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Monday, January 30, 2012

It was a relatively quiet day for news in the U.S. This allowed traders to refocus their attentions on Europe, which continues to be a huge mess.

First, the scoreboard:

Dow: 12,653.7, -6.7, -0.1%
S&P 500: 1,313.0, -3.3, -0.3%
NASDAQ: 2,811.9, -4.6, -0.2%

And now, the top stories:

One by one, each of the eurozone debt-laden PIIGS have managed to steal the financial market headlines. The stories of Greece, Italy, and Spain are well-known. But the PIIGS du jour was Portugal. The yield on the Portugese 10-year note soared north of 17 percent, which had everyone freaking out. Now Here's Who Gets Crushed If Portugal Goes Bust >
Meanwhile, Greece hasn't exactly escaped the headlines either. Last Friday, reports surfaced that Germany would push Greece to cede control of its budgetary processes. Greece obviously wasn't having any of that.
Then again, Greece might not have many other options. The country continues to negotiate with its private creditors regarding a potential debt swap deal. According to one recent report, private creditors may have to take up to a 70 percent write down on their Greek debt holdings.
U.S. economic data painted a mixed picture this morning. Personal income jumped 0.5 percent in December, which was higher than the 0.4 percent increase expected. However, spending was flat; economists were hoping for 0.1 percent. Based on the moves in these two measures, it's probably obvious that the savings rate went up.
The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index flew under the radar, but the reading was quite bullish for the region. The general business index jumped to 15.3 from December's reading of -0.3. Economists were only looking for 1.5. Readings on orders and labor were bullish.
Merger Monday: Switzerland's ABB, an engineering firm, agreed to buy electrical parts maker Thomas & Betts at a 24 percent premium to its recent stock price. This news came as Thomas & Betts reported that quarterly earnings jumped by a better-than-expected 42 percent.
Don't Miss: Here's What Big Companies Are Telling Us About The World Economy >