March 3, 2009 (FinancialWire) (By Philip Holmes) -- The Dow closed below 7,000 on Monday after a dismal trading day. Investors learned of yet another attempt to bail out moribund insurer American International Group and heard the normally upbeat Warren Buffet sounding downbeat on the economy's prospects. Monday saw the Dow Jones industrial close at 6,763.29, down 299.64 points and its worst showing since 1997. The S&P 500 index lost 34.27 points, for a 700.82 close, while the Nasdaq composite index sank by 54.99 points to end the trading session at 1,322.85. American International Group fried what was left of investors' tattered nerves. The insurer posted a $61.7 billion loss for the first quarter, its biggest ever. This prompted the federal government to provide another $30 billion of bailout money to the company, which has so far lost $99.3 billion, or $37.84 a share, for the year. This is Uncle Sugar's fourth attempt at righting the troubled AIG. The Feds have loaned the company $60 billion, bought $40 billion of preferred shares and heaped another $50 billion into a seemingly bottomless attempt to clean toxic assets off its books. For their troubles, the American taxpayer now own 80% of the insurance giant. Looked at another way, taxpayers own 80% of that bottomless pit of despair. It's like getting the house in a divorce, only to find that it's worth $300,000 less than the mortgage. Or, in AIG's case, maybe hundreds of billions less. Many experts see no end to the bailouts, and criticize the Obama administration's economic team for failing to offer a comprehensive approach. Fair enough, but can you imagine the cable news screamfests were the administration to suggest that taxpayers pony up the true cost of a comprehensive bailout? Nevertheless, confidence is being shredded. As proof of this, Warren Buffet declared the U.S. economy a "shambles" as his Berkshire Hathaway posted a Q4 loss. The company's net income fell by 96% over the quarter.

The Investrend Earnings Calendar features Autozone (NYSE: AZO), expected at $1.84; GreatBatch (NYSE: GB), expected at $0.36; Jackson Hewitt Tax (NYSE: JTX), expected at $0.73; USA Mobility (NASDAQ: USMO), expected at $0.34.

The Investrend Economics Calendar lists Weekly Chain Store Sales (8:55 a.m.) , Pending Home Sales Index for January (10 a.m.), Auto Sales for February.

The Investrend Events Calendar showcases BP Strategy Presentation; CBS, NYT, SDXC, DTV at Deutsche Bank Securities Media and Telecommunications Conference; CNH, OSK, DE, TKR at ISI Industrial Investor Conference; DELL, JNPR, MSFT, TXN, GOOG, YHOO at Morgan Stanley Technology Conference; PCBK, UDR, CPF, PFBC at Sandler O'Neill & Partners West Coast Financial Services Conference; SKT, UDR, BPO, AIV at Citi 2009 Global Property CEO Conference; WRB, HCC, ALL, HIG, THG at AIFA Conference.

The Investrend Money Index is an indicator of the depth of market direction or indirection. While not always including the same stocks, the NYSE/NASDAQ 50 Most Actives indicate the direction in which the mass of money is flowing. Last session's trading showed two advancers versus 48 decliners. Advancers were led by Pt Ultrshrt Sp500 Ps (NYSE: SDS) up 8.81%, Ps Utlrshrt Qqq (NYSE: QID) up 6.46%. Decliners followed Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) down 20.00%, Financial Bull 3x (NYSE: FAS) down 18.98%, Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) down 16.11%, Powershares Db Crude (NYSE: DXO) down 15.32%, Seagate Technology (NYSE: STX) down 14.42%, Dryships Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) down 13.83%, Alcoa Inc (NYSE: AA) down 11.88%, Ultra Financials Pro (NYSE: UYG) down 10.96%, Gen Electric Co (NYSE: GE) down 10.69%, Wells Fargo & Co New (NYSE: WFC) down 10.41%, U.S. Oil Fund Etf (NYSE: USO) down 9.50%, Ultra S&P500 Proshrs (NYSE: SSO) down 9.02%, Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR) down 8.73%, Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) down 8.45%, Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) down 8.14%, Bk Of America Cp (NYSE: BAC) down 8.10%, Research In Motion Limited (NASDAQ: RIMM) down 7.66%, Jp Morgan Chase Co (NYSE: JPM) down 7.40%, Companhia Vale Ads (NYSE: RIO) down 7.37%, Proshares Ultra Qqq (NYSE: QLD) down 6.31%, Ishares Tr Ftse Indx (NYSE: FXI) down 6.21%.

Vote in the Investrend Poll Question of the Day at Investrend Information (http://www.investrendinformation.com).

Investrend Website of the Day: http://www.textonphone.com

Quote of the Day: "You can build a throne with bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long." Boris Yeltsin

Today is: National Anthem Day.

Happy Birthday: George Pullman, Alexander Graham Bell, Jean Harlow, Julius Boros, James Doohan, Doc Watson, Lee Radziwill, Jessica Biel.

Today in History: The United States Mint was created by the U.S. Congress in 1791. The U.S. Congress passed the Missouri Compromise in 1820. Florida was admitted as the 27th U.S. state in 1845. The United States Department of the Interior was established in 1849. The U.S. Congress enacted the Comstock Law in 1873, making it illegal to send any "obscene, lewd, or lascivious" books through the mail. The United States Geological Survey was created in 1879. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany became the first person to make a sound recording of a political document, using Thomas Edison's cylinder in 1904. J.D. Rockefeller Jr. retired from managing his businesses in 1910 so that he could devote full time to being a philanthropist. TIME magazine was first published in 1923. The United States officially adopted "The Star-Spangled Banner" as its national anthem in 1931. Elvis Presley appeared on television for the first time in 1955. Nuri as-Said became the prime minister of Iraq for the 14th time in 1958. The tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, Sky Tower in downtown Auckland, New Zealand, opened in 1997 after two-and-a-half years of construction.

[FirstAlert" was created by Gayle Essary, founder of Investrend Communications, Inc., parent of Investrend Information (http://www.investrendinformation.com). The opinions expressed in FirstAlert" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Investrend.]

FinancialWire" ( http://www.financialwire.net ), an independent, proprietary news service of Investrend Communications, Inc., receives no compensation for its news or opinions. Further disclosure is at http://www.investrend.com/articles/secondlevel.asp?level=472 . To contact FinancialWire" write to inquiries@financialwire.net .

Free annual reports for companies mentioned in the news are accessible via http://investrend.ar.wilink.com/?level=279 .

Copyright(C)2009 by financialwire.net, Inc. All rights reserved.

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.