US financial companies under pressure

March 10, 2008

Dear friends,

US stocks are in full retreat today, with financial companies leading the way.

As mentioned before, Sun and Jupiter are key indicators of financial companies. Sun has additional role as 2nd lord of wealth in the SAMVA USA chart. Jupiter has an additional role as lord of debts or financial stabilty. Currently, the financial companies are being pushed lower over mounting concerns their earnings will be reduced by the ongoing problems in the housing market.

Transit Jupiter is currently afflicting exactly natal Venus, which is 4th lord of housing.

Transit Sun is currently in the 8th house of obstacles and endings, along with 3rd lord Mercury and 4th lord Venus, which also happen to be exactly afflicted by transit Rahu.

Transit Saturn, as 8th lord, is further afflicting natal Moon, which as 1st lord in the 11th house, also has domain over the currency, the dollar. With both Sun and Moon under some stress, given the other problems, it is no wonder that the dollar is at rock bottom value on the foreign exchange markets.

Transit Mars as 10th lord is also in the 12th house of losses, undermining confidence of the investors based on their concerns that there will be bigger losses in the housing market.

In short, the transits explain the dire situation in US financial markets at present.

Best wishes,

Thor

U.S. Stocks Retreat, Led by Financials, Commodity Producers

By Eric Martin

March 10 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell for a third day, led by financial companies after analysts said bank earnings estimates were too high and commodity producers as prices of metals and grains declined.

Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. led financial shares to the lowest since May 2003 after Morgan Stanley cut earnings estimates. Bear Stearns Cos. tumbled the most in more than 20 years. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., the world's second-largest copper producer, retreated as the metal dropped the most in seven weeks.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index declined 11.65 points, or 0.9 percent, to 1,281.72 at 11:54 a.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 61.3, or 0.5 percent, to 11,832.39. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 19.14, or 0.9 percent, to 2,193.35. About three stocks retreated for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange.

``What's really moving the market are fears about a recession,'' said Edward Hemmelgarn, who oversees about $350 million as president of Shaker Investments Inc. in Cleveland. ``People have stepped in and gotten burned so many times that they're getting fairly reluctant to put money to work. It's tough to find anything that's going up.''

The S & P 500 dropped to the lowest since August 2006 and extended its decline from its Oct. 9 record to 18 percent on growing conviction that $188 billion in credit losses and writedowns at the world's biggest banks will drag the U.S. into a recession. The benchmark for U.S. equities is approaching a so-called bear market, marked by a decline of at least 20 percent from a peak.

European stocks fell for a third day and Asia's regional benchmark slid to a seven-week low.

Freeport Falls

Freeport-McMoRan lost $3.40 to $96.48. Copper fell on speculation a U.S. slowdown will exacerbate slowing demand from China, the world's largest user of the metal. Aluminum, zinc and tin also declined.

Concern that the U.S. has tipped into a recession grew last week after the Labor Department reported a drop of 63,000 jobs last month, the most since 2003, and home foreclosures climbed to a record.

Financial shares in the S & P 500 slumped 2.2 percent as a group and contributed the most to the overall index's retreat.

Citigroup, Bank of America

Citigroup slipped 15 cents to $20.76. Bank of America declined 19 cents to $36.55.

Citigroup and other U.S. banks had their combined earnings estimates cut by $8.8 billion at Morgan Stanley, which cited slower equity capital markets and a ``severe'' deterioration in credit conditions this year.

Citigroup's estimated earnings in 2008 were trimmed to $2.09 from $2.60 a share at Morgan Stanley, analysts led by Betsy Graseck said in a note to clients today. Citigroup's shares may fall to $20, down from the earlier estimate of $22, Graseck said.

Bear Stearns fell $8.66, or 12 percent, to $61.42.

Blackstone Group LP, manager of the largest buyout fund, slumped 47 cents, or 3.2 percent, to $14.11, 54 percent below the offering price in its June initial public offering. The manager of the world's largest leveraged-buyout fund said fourth-quarter profit decreased 89 percent on lower takeover fees and the writedown of its holdings in bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Co.

Profit excluding some compensation costs declined to $88 million, or 8 cents a share, from $808.1 million, or 72 cents, a year earlier, the New York-based company said. That fell short of the average estimate of 20 cents a share by seven analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

McDonald's Corp. climbed $1.78, or 3.4 percent, to $54.05, the most since January. The world's largest restaurant company said Europe and Asia spurred the sales increase. U.S. same-store sales rose 8.3 percent, exceeding the 7.3 percent median analyst estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Martin in New York at emartin21. Last Updated: March 10, 2008 11:59 EDT

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