Wall Street -- and the rest of the world -- paused this morning to remember the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Eleven years ago terrorists attacked the financial district of New York by crashing two commercial aircraft into the towers of the World Trade Center as well as the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. A fourth plane, possibly headed toward the U.S. Capitol building, crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought off the hijackers. In all, nearly 3,000 people died that day and tens of thousands continue to carry the physical and emotional scars of those attacks.
******
The events that unfolded on 9/11 occurred just before the scheduled start of trading in the U.S. markets. Obviously, trading never began that day and the markets remained closed until Monday, Sept. 17. The Dow Industrials had closed on Sept. 10 at 9,605 and when trading resumed the markets tumbled, finishing the week down more than 14 percent and falling as low as 8,235. It is impossible to try and measure the economic damage done to the economy as a result of the attacks and some would suggest the Great Recession and the lingering problems today are, in part, directly related to those attacks.
******
One of the most emotional stories of 9/11 involved the securities firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost 733 employees that day. The company's offices were located on the 101st floor of the North Tower and no one escaped. However, CEO Howard Lutnik had not arrived for work that morning and witnessed the events that killed two-thirds of this staff, including his own brother. Lutnik said he would help the families of the Cantor Fitzgerald company even though it had been financially destroyed. He has spent the past 11 years living up to that promise. To this day the pain of 9/11 is still etched on his face. He is a hero to the families of those killed that day.
******
Life goes on. The markets are trading higher today as investors await the two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve. There is lots of anticipation the Bernanke Bunch will take some action to shore up the still wavering U.S. economy, as evidenced by the weak employment numbers.
******
One place where the economy seems to be humming is Nevada. The state's gaming commission reports July gambling revenues were up 17 percent, topping $1 billion. More than half of the state's gambling take comes from casinos on the Las Vegas Strip, where revenues rose by 28 percent. Some will remember how Las Vegas nearly shut down after 9/11 when people were afraid to get on an airplane and tourism everywhere tumbled.
******
U.S. corporations took advantage of the historic low levels of interest rates yesterday by issuing nearly $19 billion in bonds. It was the third largest single day of borrowing in history, topped only by two other days, including Feb. 18, 2009, when companies issued $27.5 billion in debt. Many of the bonds issued will be used to refinance existing corporate debt, similar to when people refinance their home loans. Drug store chain Walgreens led the way yesterday, issuing $4 billion in bonds, including a three-year note with a fixed interest rate of 1.0 percent.
******
Speaking of bonds, analysts at Moody's Investors Services have warned a lack of action by Congress and the White House in addressing the U.S. government debt could lead to a rating downgrade on Treasury obligations. Moody's currently carries a AAA rating on U.S. debt but might consider a downgrade if the situation is not dealt with in an "orderly manner."
******
For the first time since the ill-fated IPO of Facebook back in May, CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg will make a public presentation when he speaks at a conference in San Francisco. Investors will be watching two things: Will he comment on the IPO fiasco, which has seen the stock drop from $38 to $19, and will he dress like a CEO or will he wear another one of his designer hoodies?
******
Congrats to the Chargers for winning their final exhibition game against the Raiders. What? You mean that was a real, regular season game? Well, I guess a win is a win. By the way, the biggest -- and longest -- sporting event of the day was the five-hour match between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic for the championship of the U.S. Open tennis tournament. I watched the first set and a half, left to go to a board meeting at New Haven Family Services and when I got home watched the final set. It is fun to watch a match when you don't really care who wins, you just get to watch some great tennis.
Press ESC | Close [X]
