Market Rallies on Corporate Gains, Labor News

(AP) - United Auto Workers members have ratified a package of concessions designed to reduce General Motors' labor costs. Union president Ron Gettelfinger said today 74% of GM's production and skilled-trade workers voted in favor. The vote comes before the company's expected Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing Monday. Bankruptcy experts say having an agreement in place before the filing will help move the process through court more quickly. More»

(NEWSER) - Financials dipped today as firms continued stock sell-offs to finance TARP repayments, but strong performance by drug and energy companies stabilized the market, the Wall Street Journal reports. Merck and Pfizer were up as much as 2% and 6%, respectively; oil got a boost from $60 barrels. The Dow was up 50.34 to 8,469.11. The S&P fell 0.89 to 908.35 on bank concerns; the Nasdaq lost 15.32, ending at 1,715.92. More»

(NEWSER) - The new class of temporary workers created by European labor reform is suffering most in the current wave of job cuts, the Wall Street Journal reports, testing the new policies amid the threat of backlash. Short-term employees—easier and cheaper to fire than permanent ones—also get fewer unemployment benefits, widening the gap between the haves and the mostly young and immigrant have-nots. More»

2008 finishes as the worst year for the Dow since 1931

(NEWSER) - Weary relief that 2008 was finally over greeted the final bell at the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, but shaken investors worry about what 2009 holds, the New York Times reports. The final tally confirmed that the year was the worst for stockholders since the Great Depression. Stock plunges across the board wiped out the gains of the previous 6 years, erasing $7 trillion in wealth. More»

When fear is rampant, the markets discount America's future

(NEWSER) - “I’ve been buying American stocks,” Warren Buffett writes in the New York Times, and he'd like to see a stampede of others following suit. Sure, the financial system is a mess, global economies are faltering, unemployment is rising, and headlines will continue to terrorize markets. But markets will repair themselves, says the Oracle of Omaha, and those who wait for "the comfort of good news" will lose out. More»