Econ Illinois:
The Stock Market Game Program
Teacher Resources - Week In Review
Week In Review
Week In Review is a weekly article bringing together current events with The Stock Market Game program. Week in Review is published during the fall and spring sessions.
Spring 2010
- May 21 (Final issue for Spring 2010): The Dow tumbled; weaker Euro; the effects of external events on our economy and capital markets.
- May 7: Decline in the value of the Euro; 1,000 point drop in the Dow; Labor Department reported a gain of 290,000 jobs; growing fears about U.S. debt levels.
- April 30: The environmental impact of the Gulf oil spill; Greece' debt crisis; GDP growth; Federal Reserve Bank announcement.
- April 23: Dow closes up for 8th straight week; new home sales jumped, giving strength to recovery; NYSE summer program for teachers.
- April 16: Positive earnings reports; consumer sentiment; taxable events (i.e. capital gains taxes.)
- April 9: The European Union agreed on a rescue plan ... in the US, the Dow closed just below 11,000 ... strongest retail sales in a decade ... and the Top Ten List of stocks in SMG students' portfolios.
- April 1 (Thursday): US automakers posted double digit sales gains for March; optimism about positive reports on initial jobless claims and manufacturing; Apple's new i-Pad arrives ...
- March 26: "Voices of Fear and Confidence" - Euro zone countries with shaky finances; how does that affect you as an investor?
- March 19: Wall Street's winning streak ending; International news and it's effect on the US markets; congressional vote on the US healthcare system; bonds allow students to add stability to their portfolio.
- March 12: Stocks have risen modestly over the last two weeks as investors have struggled to balance expectations for a broader economic recovery with the reality of more modest signs of improvement. Through Thursday’s close, the Dow had risen in eight of the last ten sessions ... retail sales rose 0.3% last month.
- March 5: spring cannot come fast enough ... the stock markets are responding (to the forecast of better weather) in a similar positive manner upon the news that U.S. employers cut fewer jobs than expected last month, offering relief to investors braced for bad labor market news. Analysts were concerned ... good news for stocks often means bad news for bonds ...
- February 26: Wall Street is trying to rebound from the latest round of downbeat economic data. Tuesday brought news that consumer confidence fell in February to the lowest point in ten months while on Wednesday it was announced the index of home prices experienced an unexpected slip in December.
- February 19: The Federal Reserve’s increase in the emergency funding rate, the rate it charges banks that borrow from the central bank when they run short of funds ... the discount rate will increase 25 basis points to 0.75%, its first move on interest rates since December 2008. The Consumer Price Index rose 2.6% during the past 12 months ...
- February 12: There was an old saying that if the US economy caught a cold (i.e., a recession), the world got the flu. The opposite was also true. As the US economy recovered, other nations around the world began to grow again as well ...
- February 5: The labor department reported Friday that the economy lost 20,000
jobs in January, but the unemployment rate dropped from 10% to 9.7%. Huh? How can unemployment drop if we’re still losing jobs ... - January 29: President Obama, in his State of the Union address stated that, “the
worst of the storm has passed, but the devastation remains.” He was speaking about the economy, which is front and center in our national dialogue and in the year ahead will continue to be a major concern for markets, policy makers and citizens alike ...
Fall, 2009
- December 11: Retail sales more than double analyst expectations and the consumer mood survey rose five points higher than expected. The U.S House of Representatives passed the long awaited Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act ...
- December 3: Retailers lured shoppers both in-store and online. Despite the crowds, shoppers on average actually spent about $30 less per person than they did last year due to the deep discounts to lure them in the door.
- November 25: While the large number of jobless Americans remains a serious concern to economists and the powers that be in Washington, market participants appear to be heading into the holiday season with a positive outlook. Take a look at the top five SMG stocks through 11/24.
- November 13: While many are gearing up for the holiday spending season, it’s a good time to talk about different types of investments and risk tolerance ... different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk ...
- November 6: Despite an overall growth in the economy during the third quarter, the unemployment reading is a sign of the continued weakness in the labor market... many investors are starting to reevaluate gold and bonds as safe investment havens ...
- October 30: ... the big news of this past week was the SIFMA Annual Meeting in New York City. The current state of the economy was discussed by such power players as Timothy Geithner ... the resurgence of the overseas markets ...
- October 23: While many are bleary eyed from the late night baseball games this past week, quarterly earnings and the Dow’s continued straddling of 10,000 occupied market headlines ... TARP ...
- October 16: Investors have reason to be cautious as we enter into earnings season where companies report on their financials from the previous three months.
- October 9:. . .while interest rates will stay low for awhile, the Fed will have to start boosting rates as the recovery picks up, in order to fight off the threat of inflation - further signaling potential economic recovery.
- October 2: Just when we thought we were rounding the corner towards economic recovery, the job numbers for the month of September were recently released and they’re not pretty ...
- September 25: For many, being “green” means recycling plastic and glass containers and newspapers .... For investors, it can also mean investing in companies that do all of this as well as generate a healthy return to your investment. Socially responsible investing (SRI) ...
- September 18: President Obama addressed Wall Street on Tuesday’s one-year anniversary of the collapse of the U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers by vowing that there will not be another bailout ...
- September 11: While the passing of Michael Jackson and Teddy Kennedy, the H1N1 virus, healthcare, and the new Chief Justice were in the headlines over the summer, the hot topic as of late has been the question of whether or not the economy is truly on the rebound.