U.S. stocks reduce losses as Sears offsets Wal-Mart damage

Date: Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:01:12 -0500
U.S. stocks reduce losses as Sears offsets Wal-Mart damage

U.S. stocks scale back early losses as Sears Holdings Corp.'s forecast
helps lift the Nasdaq Composite and offsets disappointment that came
after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cut its earnings expectations.

RECESSION, JOB LOSSES SNOW ON RETAILERS' DECEMBER SALES

Severe winter storms before Christmas, coupled with the recession,
rising job losses and already worst consumer confidence on record,
snowed on retailers' sales in December, their biggest selling month of
the year.

TD AMERITRADE TO BUY THINKORSWIM FOR $606 MILLION

TD Ameritrade Holding said Thursday it has agreed to
buy online brokerage firm Thinkorswim Group in a deal valued at about
$606 million. TD Ameritrade is the industry leader in the number of
stock trades places each day, while Thinkorswim is the industry leader
in retail options trades. "This deal advances TD Ameritrade's growth
strategy for its active trader client segment by introducing new
trading functionality for traders, including advanced options trading,
futures, foreign exchange trading and
portfolio margining," said the company in a statement. Shares of TD
Ameritrade closed at $13.48 Wednesday, while Thinkorswim stock closed
at $5.65.

ECONOMIC REPORT: INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS FALL; CONTINUING CLAIMS
HIGHEST SINCE 1982

First-time applications for state unemployment benefits fall 24,000 to
a seasonally-adjusted 467,000 in the week ending Jan. 3, the Labor
Department saysThursday.

BANK OF ENGLAND CUTS KEY INTEREST RATE TO ALL-TIME LOW

The Bank of England drops its benchmark interest rate to the lowest
level since the central bank's founding in 1694, as policy makers fire
yet another salvo in
the battle against a deep and potentially lengthy recession.