Stocks Ease Out of Winning Week

Treasury prices were reversing early gains. The 10-year note was off 9/32 in price to yield 3.85% and the 30-year bond slumped 16/32 in price, yielding 4.58%.

The prices of Treasury securities have been in retreat since March, when panic over the credit crisis reached its pinnacle amid the near-collapse of Bear Stearns (BSC Quote), and investors embarked on what Morgan Stanley analyst George Gonclaves called a "major flight to quality."

In a research note, Gonclaves pointed out that investors bagged a net total of $55 billion in bonds that month, nearly tripling the February amount, driving up prices and yanking yields sharply lower. "But after this demand was satisfied and we moved past the cathartic moments of March," he said, "yields could only go one way -- higher."

Meanwhile, the United Nations said in its mid-2008 report that "the world economy is teetering on the brink of a severe global economic downturn" spawned by the U.S. credit crisis, the dollar's long fall, spiking oil and food prices, and "persisting global imbalances." The U.N. predicted that global growth will pull back sharply this year, to 1.8% from last year's 3.8%, and pegged a recovery only to 2.1% in 2009.

Overseas markets were mainly rising. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost 0.2% overnight, but the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 0.4%. As for Europe, the FTSE 100 climbed 0.8% and Germany's Xetra Dax jumped 1.1%. The Paris Cac was higher by 0.4%.

1 What would best describe your stance heading into the coming week of trading? Bullish Bearish Neutral 2 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move up in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities 3 Which of these sectors do you think is set to move down in the coming week? --Choose One--Aerospace and DefenseAirlinesAutomobilesBeverages and Food ProductsBiotechnologyCommercial BanksComputers and PeripheralsConsumer NondurablesEnergy Equipment & ServicesHMOs and HospitalsHomebuildingInsuranceIntegrated OilInternet, Software ServicesInvestment Bankers and BrokersMediaMultiline RetailPharmaceuticalsPrecious MetalsSemis, Semi EquipmentTelecom EquipmentTobacco and AlcoholWireless CommunicationsUtilities View the results without voting