U.S. Stock Futures Slide on Bank Outlook, Economy; Shares in Europe Slump

[marmar]

from Bloomberg:



U.S. Stock Futures Tumble, Led by Fannie, Freddie, Wachovia

By Elizabeth Stanton

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock futures slumped as investors speculated government support for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac won't help shareholders and Oppenheimer & Co.'s Meredith Whitney predicted bank stocks will keep falling.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tumbled, suggesting the two largest U.S. mortgage-finance companies will add to their 2008 losses that exceed 75 percent. Wachovia Corp. slumped after Whitney, the analyst who correctly predicted Citigroup Inc. would reduce its dividend this year, said prospects for its shareholders are ``bleak.''

``This is a systemic financial crisis, there is no end to it,'' Nouriel Roubini, professor of economics and international business at New York University, told Bloomberg Television. ``It's a vicious circle between a contracting economy and greater credit and financial losses feeding on the economy.''

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in September lost 13.3 points, or 1.1 percent, to 1,215 at 8:38 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures retreated 116, or 1.1 percent, to 10,919, and Nasdaq-100 Index futures decreased 14.50, or 0.8 percent, to 1,788.

Futures indicated the Standard & Poor's 500 Index will extend a bear market slump that yesterday reached 22 percent. Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index retreated 2.3 percent today, while shares in Asia declined. Investors will also focus today on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's semiannual testimony on the economy to Congress. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ajXnB43E9D3E&refer=home