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March 01, 2010 at 07:00 PM
Last week we learned that in February, the Dow Jones industrials rose 2.6% to close out the month at 10,325.26–the best return for blue chips since November 2009′s 6.5% gain–while the Commerce Department announced that GDP rose at a revised annual rate of 5.9% (from the original 5.7% estimate) in Q4 of 2009. While AIG reported a fourth quarter loss of $8.9 billion; there are reports that Prudential plc of the U.K. has agreed to buy the troubled insurer’s Asian life insurance business, AIA, in a deal worth $35.5 billion; the deal could hasten the payback by AIG of TARP funds.
Also this week, the Federal Reserve will issue its beige book of economic conditions on Wednesday, March 3, while the Labor Dept. releases the February jobs report on March 5.
The lobbying is heavy in and around the Senate Banking Committee, where chairman Chris Dodd is expected to finally roll out a financial services reform bill which may or may not include a new consumer protection agency and a fiduciary responsibility for brokers–the most recent intel suggests the bill will call for an SEC study of the issue.
