US markets ended mostly lower as home sales dip

22 Mar 2012 Evaluate

The US markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday, as home sales dipped and Hewlett-Packard Company’s restructuring plans which exerted pressure on the Dow average. Investors expressed skepticism about a decision to combine Hewlett-Packard’s printing and personal computing lines into a single unit. The National Association of Realtors’ reported that home sales fell 0.9% in February to 4.59 million versus an upwardly revised 4.6 million in January. Sales of existing homes fell 0.9% in February after an upward revision to the prior month, as improving job prospects, cheaper homes and warm weather led to the best start to the year since the bursting of the housing bubble. However, the association stated that the January and February levels were the best in five years. Besides, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke stated that increase in oil may slow economic growth, at least in the short term. The Fed bought $4.03 billion in US debt as part of its program to swap $400 billion of shorter-term securities with longer-term bonds. Bernanke also stated that Fed has reviewed the credit-default swaps or contracts that US banks have used to insure against defaults in Europe, and that they are widely dispersed. The central bank doesn’t expect a repeat of 2008, when American International Group Inc., a large counterparty on swaps, collapsed, Bernanke stated.

In Europe, the Greek parliament approved the €130 billion bailout with 213 lawmakers voting in favor and 79 against it. The Bank of England policymakers retained its quantitative easing unchanged at £325 billion through a split vote as two members, sought a £25 billion increase in the program, the minutes of the meeting showed. Also, German yield rose and Portuguese yields fell after successful bond auctions.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower by 45.57 points, or 0.35 percent, at 13,124.60. The S&P 500 lost 2.63 points, or 0.19 percent, at 1,402.89, while the Nasdaq was up by 1.17 points, or 0.04 percent, at 3,075.32.

Indian ADRs closed in green on Wednesday, ICICI Bank was up 0.80%, HDFC Bank was up 0.50%, Tata Motors was up 0.29%, Sterlite Industries was up 0.18% and Wipro was up 0.11%.

Create stable, long-term investment portfolio with strong, consistent stocks.

Start Research-backed Investing ...Now. Subscribe to Sapphire

About MoneyWorks4Me

MoneyWorks4Me is a SEBI-registered Investment Adviser (IA) dedicated to helping investors build long-term wealth through transparent, research-driven, conflict-free guidance. Founded in 2008, we started our journey as a Research Analyst (RA), providing deep fundamental analysis, intrinsic value insights, and long-term investing frameworks for Indian equities. In 2017, we transitioned to a full-fledged SEBI-registered Investment Adviser, strengthening our commitment to acting as a fiduciary—always putting the investor’s interest first.

Our Vision

To become India’s most trusted, research-powered fiduciary advisory platform—where every investor, regardless of experience, can make calm, confident, and well-reasoned investment decisions.

What Makes MoneyWorks4Me Different

Fiduciary-first advisory model.
As SEBI-registered IAs, we are legally and ethically bound to act in the best interests of our clients. We do not sell or distribute any financial products. This ensures our guidance is 100% unbiased and conflict-free.
Deep fundamental research + robust valuation discipline.
Built on more than 15 years of equity research, our framework combines quality assessment, intrinsic value estimation, and a sensible margin-of-safety approach.
Process—not predictions.
We don’t rely on guesswork or market timing. Instead, we focus on asset allocation, risk management, and long-term compounding.
Technology + Human Intelligence.
We believe a combination of both is essential for investing success. We constantly innovate and upgrade in-house tools, financial X-rays, and portfolio analytics so that our team of analysts and advisors are equipped with the best.
Partner with Clients.
We follow a DIWM (Do-It-With-Me) approach where we partner clients in setting goals, financial planning, educating on our investing process and share decision-enabling resources transparently with our clients who retain control on execution.

Our Approach: Ensuring compounding work its magic on client portfolio.

MoneyWorks4Me ensures this through:

Investing in stocks, mutual funds, debt, and gold
Quality-at-Reasonable-Price way of investing in stocks
Constructing Direct Stock Portfolios with Core, Booster, and Amplifier stocks
A Mutual Fund Portfolio that delivers consistent out-performance and meaningful diversification (low overlap)
Periodic review and rebalancing
Clear Buy-Sell-Hold, and Position-sizing frameworks

Name of the IA registered with SEBI:	The Alchemists Ark Pvt. Ltd.
Logo:
Trade/Brand Name of IA:	MoneyWorks4Me Investment Advisers
Brand Logo:
SEBI Registration Number:	INA000013323 Validity – May 16, 2019 – Perpetual
Registration:	Non-Individual
BSE Enlistment No:	1187
Address:	B-101, Signet Corner Building, Balewadi Phata, Baner, Pune, Maharashtra 411045
Compliance officer Details:	Name: Shrikant Jagtap Email: shrikant.jagtap@moneyworks4me.com Telephone: +919860359463 Address: Same as IA
Grievance Officer Details:	Name: Mukta Vaze Email: mukta.vaze@moneyworks4me.com Telephone: +91 98609 19463 Address: Same as IA
Principal Officer Details:	Name: Atharva Bhide Email: atharva.bhide@moneyworks4me.com Telephone: +91 91758 99463 Address: Same as IA
Standard Warning:	Investment in securities market are subject to market risks. Read all the related documents carefully before investing.
Disclaimer:	Registration granted by SEBI, enlistment with exchange and certification from NISM in no way guarantee performance of the intermediary or provide any assurance of returns to investors.