The Markets today (27 January)

The Markets today (27 January)
Yesterday (26th) was a good day for the markets although Wallstreet disappointed a bit.
European Markets performed well, especially the Dutch Market (Amsterdam AEX), on results from ING and Philips. The AEX closed higher with a gain of almost 6%, despite ING is asking again the Dutch government for a 25 billion Euro emergency loan.
The financial sector has been heavy battered last year and investors grab any bit of relatively 'good' news about the sector to start buying.

The Dutch Finance Minister Wouter Bos is going to face tough questions from the opposition in Parliament about his generous helping hand for the ING bank.
News from the U.S. suggests that of 9 out of 10 bailed out banks the CEO's are still in place, although more than 100.000 employees are laid off. (The trouble with the bailout is that nobody in government ever stopped to figure out who caused the avalanche and who simply got buried, said University of Maryland business professor Peter Morici, http://angrybear.blogspot.com/ )

In general the Dutch Government is not yet coming up with an intelligent stimulus plan, a state of 'collective denial' seems to exist.
Some people are waiting for the first Postbus 51 (government propaganda) TV spots, with texts like "Recession? don't worry, there are plenty of jobs in health care!" or "Don't use the word recession, it's a negative." or "Be a good patriot, never use the word recession, it does not happen in Holland!"
The massive layoffs planned by ING, Philips and Corus did not impress the market.
This morning the newspaper 'De Telegraaf' opened with news about the layoffs, the rising unemployment and the deteriorating real estate market.

This morning rises in European markets are very modest and it looks like the bear market rally cannot gain momentum. De German Ifo was up but not enough to indicate a turnaround in the economy.
The Far East markets were a bit subdued with the exception of Tokyo with a healthy gain of almost 5 percent. Australia and India (Sensex) closed up as well. According to the news Tokyo rose on optimistic news from Barclays.
The outlook for U.S. markets is undecided, futures point to a higher opening.

News from Yahoo Finance about lower dividend forecasts across the board.

Dividends being cut at fastest pace in 50 years


Dividends being cut at fastest pace in 50 years; Pfizer slashes its dividend in half
NEW YORK (AP) -- Dividends are being cut at the fastest pace in at least 50 years, and many of the reductions are coming from U.S. companies investors have been relying on to provide income during the recession.
Already this year, seven companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index have decreased their dividends, removing some $12 billion from shareholders' pockets in the coming months. On Monday, Pfizer became the latest blue-chip company to do so.
These cuts serve up another hit to shareholders who have already been battered by the steep declines in the stock market. That is especially true of retirees, who tend to be attracted to so-called "widows and orphans" stocks that provide them with a steady cash flow.
If the trend continues, this will be the worst year for dividend cuts since 1958, when annual payments fell by 8.4 percent, according to new research from S&P.