US stocks rise for 2nd day led by financial shares

CNBC’s Margaret Brennan – US stocks rallied to their biggest gain of the month with the Dow up 133-points. The Nasdaq in the meantime persuaded its first drop in four days, off just fractionally. The Dow gained after billionaire Warren Buffett offer to reinsure USD 800 billion in municipal bond that held by three of the nation’s bond insurers.
 
The markets moved down the news despite the fact that Buffett’s offer would not offset exposure to risky subprime mortgages and at least one insurer turned it down. A handful of financial shares gained with Citigroup, Bank of America up 1%, AIG gained 3%. Lenders MBIA and Ambac shares still lost 15%.
 
We are seeing job cuts in the auto industry with GM shares down 2% after the automaker reported a record quarterly loss; GM also announced the buyout offer for 74000 UAW hourly workers. Competitor Ford gained 1% on the day.
 
After the bell, chipmaker Plide materials announced that it’s cutting 7% of it’s workforce after earnings fell the USD 262 million.