Groundhog Day on Wall Street

By Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney
2009-2-2 12:25:24

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning. Does that mean another six weeks of horrific stock-market losses?

The worst January for stocks in history is over. But so far, February is looking no different, with the Dow and S&P 500 each falling about 1% early Monday morning before recovering as the trading session wore on.

Forgive investors if they feel like Bill Murray's character in "Groundhog Day." Every morning, they wake up and it seems like the same old day all over again. Bad economic news. More layoffs. Companies reporting disappointing financial results.

The crisis facing the nation's banks lies at the heart of the problem. There was hope as the year begun that the worst was behind us, but that clearly has not been the case.

Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) lost more money than expected and announced it is breaking into two. Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) needed another $20 billion from the Treasury to help it get over Merrill Lynch-induced indigestion. Six small banks have already failed this year.

	Investment Basic Investment Overview Investment Approache Fundamentals Data Investment Stories www.fxj108.com	Groundhog Day on Wall Street By Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney 2009-2-2 12:25:24 NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning. Does that mean another six weeks of horrific stock-market losses? The worst January for stocks in history is over. But so far, February is looking no different, with the Dow and S&P 500 each falling about 1% early Monday morning before recovering as the trading session wore on. Forgive investors if they feel like Bill Murray's character in "Groundhog Day." Every morning, they wake up and it seems like the same old day all over again. Bad economic news. More layoffs. Companies reporting disappointing financial results. The crisis facing the nation's banks lies at the heart of the problem. There was hope as the year begun that the worst was behind us, but that clearly has not been the case. Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) lost more money than expected and announced it is breaking into two. Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) needed another $20 billion from the Treasury to help it get over Merrill Lynch-induced indigestion. Six small banks have already failed this year.