Tuesday’s Market Recap: Stocks Down For 5th Day Straight Day

For the fifth straight day in a row, markets fell on news that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress an economic recovery depends on the government’s ability to stabilize weak financial markets while stating that efforts were needed to avoid a prolonged episode of economic stagnation.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell another -0.55% to a close of 6,726.02 while the Nasdaq (^IXIC) and S&P (^GSPC) fell equally down -0.14% and -0.64% respectively to closes of 1,321.01 and 696.33.  Gold gained on the day increasing $1.90 to a close of $915.50 while copper also increased gaining 0.095 cents to a close of $1.61. The government launched a much-awaited program today to spur lending for autos, education, credit cards, and other consumer loans by providing up to $200 billion in financing to investors in order to buy up debt.

Auto makers posted their biggest U.S. sales decline of the six-month plunge as consumers with record-low confidence remained out of showrooms.  General Motors Corp. (GM) said its U.S. light-vehicle sales fell 53% in February, while Ford Motor Co.’s (F) declined 48% and Chrysler LLC’s (DAI) fell 44%.  Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) reported a 40% decline.  GM, which is scrambling to stabilize its operations as it seeks additional emergency federal loans, forecast a 34% drop in second-quarter North American output while Ford projected a 38% cut.  GM and Chrysler LLC are scrambling to stabilize their operations as they seek $21.6 billion in emergency federal loans on top of the $17.4 billion the auto makers already received.

Citigroup Inc. (C) announced today that it will lower mortgage payments for some homeowners to an average of $500 a month for three months as part of a new program to help the unemployed.  Citigroup’s new mortgage efforts also come on the heels of the latest attempt to bail out the company, which includes the U.S. government’s exchange of up to $25 billion in emergency bailout money given to Citigroup for as much as a 36% percent equity stake in the company.

Alcohol-beverage giant Diageo PLC (DEO) is cutting 150 jobs in North America to streamline operations and trim costs in a sign of how the global recession is creating challenges for even the most-resilient industries.

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