Afternoon Review

S&P 500 companies
As of today’s close, 117 stocks in the S&P 500 index are now trading for less than $10 a share, which is the greatest number of sub-$10 stocks in the index in at least 28 years. In October 2001, only 59 companies in the S&P 500 had share prices below $10. In October 1987, only 35 companies in the S&P 500 were below $10.

$10 is more than just a psychological barrier since some institutional investors cannot invest in shares below $10 and some bond contracts require companies above that level.

One-third of the entire index is not even qualified to be in the index – 182 stocks have market caps under $4 billion, the minimum value for consideration for S&P 500 membership. Plunging 47.71 percent so far this year, the S&P 500 is now worth just over $7 trillion, the index’s lowest collective market value in 11 years.

Financial Companies
Bailout Scorecard: Bloomberg compiled this list of all of the companies receiving money from the U.S. Treasury.

Financial shares tumbled on concerns that a deepening recession will generate more losses and weaken demand for financial services. Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. analysts estimate that the U.S. may need to spend as much as $1.2 trillion to stabilize the eight largest financial institutions.

• Bank of America (BAC) -13.86%
• JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) -17.88%
• Citigroup (C) -26.41%
  

General Electric (GE) -11.14%
GE in Talks With Four Asian Sovereign Wealth Funds

Wal-Mart (WMT) -0.67%, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) -3.63%
Wal-Mart Holds Key to Holiday Success for Dell, Hewlett-Packard

Dell (DELL) -5.22%
Dell Profit Beats Analyst Estimates as Expenses Fall

Amgen (AMGN) -6.54%
Amgen, Takeda’s Drug for Lung Cancer Suspended After Deaths

Crude Oil
Brent Falls Below $50, First Time Since 2005, as Demand Slumps
Pirates Demand $25 Million Ransom for Hijacked Oil-Laden Tanker

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Peter Lazaroff, Junior Analyst