• For the week ending Feb. 13, 2009
  
  
• U.S. government aid plans get tepid reception
• Companies forecast future slowdown, announce job cuts
• Consumer confidence falls as job losses mount
• Cisco sells bonds as credit markets begin thaw
• Eurozone economy contracts

Stocks lost ground this week as investors reacted with skepticism to the U.S. government’s $789.5 billion stimulus package and the U.S. Treasury’s bank rescue plan. Markets seemed to conclude that the stimulus plan would be insufficient to turn the U.S. economy around and the bank rescue plan lacked details. Reports that the U.S. government may subsidize mortgage payments helped stocks recover some lost ground late in the week. Read the rest of this entry »