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This is what happened last week…

Last Tuesday began what the world community views as a major event in US history, the inauguration of Barack H. Obama as its 44th President and its 1st Black American President.
Some of President Obama’s executive orders on his 1st day in office:

1. A freeze on salaries for White House staff earning $100,000 or more, about 100 people in all.

2. New Freedom of Information Act rules, making it harder to keep the workings of government secret.

3. Tighter ethics rules governing when administration officials can work on issues on which they previously lobbied governmental agencies, and banning them from lobbying the Obama administration after leaving government service.

The week in the markets, however, continued to be bathed in the glow of uncertainty within the financial sector and coupled with Qs about the timing of the economic recovery.
Couple that with headlines announcing that China’s Y 2008 Q 4 GDP contracted from 9% to 6.8%, the UK reporting a GDP decline of 1.5%, the largest since 1980, US housing starts fell to their lowest level on record, and initial jobless claims returned to Christmas levels, matching the 26 yr. high of 589,000 set in December 2008.
Though Microsoft disappointed, IBM and AAPL rang the bell with GOOG beating too, and coming in better than expected.
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As home values across the USA continue to slide, law enforcement officials are saying that a new breed of swindler is preying on homeowners desperate to avoid foreclosure.

Until recently, defrauders tried to swindle homeowners out of their equity. Now, with that equity often dried up, they are presenting themselves as “foreclosure rescue companies” charging illegal advance fees to modify loans but often do nothing to stave off foreclosure.

The US Federal Trade Commission brought lawsuits last year against five companies representing 20,000 consumers, and state and local prosecutors have brought more. In Florida, Attorney General recently sued a company that had more than 600 victims. “There’s no way for the consumer to sort out the legitimate companies,” the Florida Attorney General, who added that he had limited resources to fight the fraud.

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