The price of crude oil (gas) is down by over $2.50/share today and if the descent continues, it could serve as a possible boost to the economy (lower prices at the pump means people have more discretionary income to spend).
As of 2.30, the U.S. markets are down by approximately 1% as investors are upset with the bad Chinese food I wrote about earlier today.
In stock specific news, Yahoo (which is a stock I own) is in the news as one of the company's largest shareholders, Thirdpoint Avenue (a money management firm), has notified Yahoo's board that they are going to aggressively push Yahoo to sell itself in order to unlock shareholder value. Also of note, a money manager I know has heard a rumor that another large money manager is soon to file with the government that he has acquired over 5% of Yahoo's shares..this could be a catalyst for the stock as two large investors could potentially work to force Yahoo's Board of Directors to do something to reward it's shareholders. Yahoo is trading at $15.25/share and I believe there is value in the company at that price. Interestingly of note, three years ago Microsoft tried to buy Yahoo for $25/share...I believe at some point Yahoo will be acquired for somewhere around $18-$22/share.
