Stocks To Watch In Bull-Bear Debate

尽管周五的就业数据可能令人失望，20国峰会也难以令人鼓舞或者实现团结，但引人注目的是，股市却出现了上涨。最明显的利好来自于就业市场之外的经济数据。供应管理协会(ISM)制造业调查尽管依然疲弱，但也略有增强，成屋待完成销售量出人意料地温和上扬。虽然经济环境仍然相当暗淡，但事情可能不会再变得更糟的观点开始占据上风。包括美国联邦储备委员会主席贝南克(Ben Bernanke)在内的诸多美联储官员都对此发表了略显乐观的评论。然而，一些相反的数据让前景依然难以琢磨。2月份建筑数据温和走强，但经济学家预计非住宅房地产领域的收缩让这份报告黯然失色。ADP的调查预计，周五的3月份就业报告可能再次令人震惊，当月失业人口可能超过70万人。可用于观察牛熊之争的主要股票仍包括摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase & Co.)花旗集团(Citigroup Inc.)通用电气(General Electric Co.)微软(Microsoft Corp.)和3M公司(3M Co.)。摩根大通和花旗的交易受到了各种金融系统救助计划前景的影响，其中也包括20国峰会可能推出的各项方案。通用电气的交易在某种程度上有赖于金融系统的健康稳定，但鉴于该公司遍布全球的许多业务，它也同全球经济增长的前景有关。它的10美元保卫战是目前市场上的重头戏之一。3M公司也是这样，尤其是由于其“上游”业务同全球的大量制造业活动有关。拥有雄厚现金和良好商业前景的微软的交易同对科技投资升级和企业界信心恢复的预期有关。随着牛熊大战的白热化，关注这些股票将使投资者了解谁会最终获胜以及个中的原因。Dave Kansas 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年04月02日11:59', 'GE'));通用电气公司英文名称：General Electric Co.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：GEdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年04月02日11:59', 'JPM'));摩根大通公司英文名称：JPMorgan Chase & Co.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：JPMdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年04月02日11:59', 'C'));花旗集团英文名称：Citigroup Inc.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：Cdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年04月02日11:59', 'MMM'));3M公司英文名称：3M Co.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：MMMdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年04月02日11:59', 'MSFT'));Microsoft Corp.总部地点：美国上市地点：纳斯达克股票代码：MSFT


With Friday's jobs news likely to be grim and the G20 meeting promising very little in the way of encouragement or even comity, stocks are, remarkably, trading higher.The obvious positives are coming from non-jobs economic data. The ISM Manufacturing survey is marginally stronger, though still weak, and pending home sales surprised with a modest gain.While the economic landscape remains fairly bleak, the prospect that things may no longer be getting worse is starting to take hold. Various Federal Reserve officials, including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, have made mildly upbeat comments along these lines.However, countervailing forces continue to muddy the picture. Construction data came in modestly stronger for February, but economists anticipating a crunch in non-residential real estate largely dismissed the report. The ADP survey promises that Friday's March jobs report will likely be another humdinger, with possibly more than 700,000 jobs lost in the month.Key stocks to watch as the bull-bear fight continues include JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Citigroup Inc. (C), General Electric Co. (GE), Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and 3M Co. (MMM).JPMorgan and Citigroup are trading on the prospects of the various financial-system bailout plans, including anything that might come out of the G20 meeting.GE trades, in part, on financial-system health, but also on the prospects of global economic growth, given its many businesses around the world. Its battle to stick above $10 a share is one of the key skirmish lines in the current market. 3M fits in similarly, especially given its 'upstream' exposure to a lot of manufacturing globally.Microsoft, with oodles of cash and reasonable business prospects, trades on anticipation of technology investment, upgrades and a return of some confidence to the business sector. As the bull-bear battle rages, watching these stocks will give investors a picture into who is winning the fight and why.Dave Kansas