| | Weekly Roundup MAY 11, 2012 MarketWatch Top 10 stories May - 11 By MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks closed lower for the week on Friday as continued fears about the economic crisis in Europe and a big drop in J.P. Morgan drove the e Dow Jones Industrial Average to its biggest weekly drop in five months.Down 1.7% for the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell 34.44 points, or 0.3%, at 12,820.60.The S&P 500 Index (SPX) close off 1.2% on the week.The Nasdaq Composite Index (COMP) ended off 0.8% from last Friday's close. Please also watch our Week Ahead videos. U.S. Week Ahead:Greece, U.S. Economic Data Europe Week Ahead; Eurozone GDP Greg Morcroft, assistant managing editorJ. P. Morgan hit by sharp trading loss Reuters Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) slumped on Friday, hit by the bank's revelation that it had accumulated a $2 billion trading loss, with the news coming only weeks after its chief executive dismissed concerns about the unit responsible for the loss. In its chief investment office, or CIO, the bank had suffered a pretax trading loss of about $2 billion on its synthetic credit positions, partially offset by $1 billion of gains from sales of credit-related positions. Read more about J.P. Morgan's surprising loss, on MarketWatch How Buffett may keep Avon independent Avon Products Inc.(AVP) is in deep trouble. It's hard to tell which is worst: the shrinking sales; the year-long, 55% slide in stock price; the management upheaval or the flat-lining profits. And yet Warren Buffett, the investor who finds value where others don't, sees something here — in fact, he sees enough to add his name and Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s (BRK.A) (BRK.B) cash to Coty Inc.'s $10.69 billion offer for Avon /quotes/zigman/218767/quotes/nls/avp AVP -2.63%. Here's why. Read David Weidner's take on Buffett's part in Avon bid, on MarketWatch Commentary: Major correction unlikely Contrarians believe that a correction in excess of 10% is unlikely anytime soon.That's because there is little evidence of the stubbornly held bullishness that is the typical hallmark of major tops. Investors may worry about a replay of the serious market breaks that began in each of the last two years around this time of year, but at least from a sentiment perspective, there is little similarity. Read Mark Hulbert commentary, on MarketWatch Commentary: Unfairness to homeowners blocks recovery Discrimination against homeowners is blocking economic recovery. Our legal system permits every kind of property owner to reduce their mortgages. With one exception; homeowners are given no way to reduce excess mortgages. As a result, four years after the crash of real estate, homeowners are still buried in debt. This is why consumer demand has not recovered and a big reason why the recovery has been so weak. Read about laws preventing homeowners from using breaks available to investors, on MarketWatch McDonald's same-store sales up less than expected McDonald's Corp.'s (MCD) global same-store sales rose a smaller-than-expected 3.3% in April as the world's largest fast-food chain wrestles with a challenging global economic environment.Last month, the company said it expected global sales at restaurants that have been open at least 13 months to rise about 4%. Meanwhile, analysts were expecting a 4.29% rise, according to Consensus Metrix.McDonald's has been able to boost guest traffic and sales faster than most of its competitors with its increasingly diverse menu, ranging from value-price offerings to higher-margin products like blended-ice drinks, and its growing global operations. Read about surprise same-store sales data from McDonald's, on MarketWatch China April economic data look weak: analysts Chinese economic data for April printed weaker than expected, adding to evidence of an accelerating slowdown and highlighting what some analysts said was the need for government action to stabilize the rate of decline.China's industrial output rose 9.3% in April, while retail sales were up 14.1% for the month, official data showed Friday. A Dow Jones Newswires had tipped industrial production to rise 12.2%, while a Bloomberg News survey had forecast a 15.1% for retail sales."Today's data on April spending and output put another nail into hopes that China's economy is bottoming out," Capital Economic analysts said in a note following the data release. Read more about China's economic growth, on MarketWatch. Earnings outlooks falter on election uncertainty Earnings estimates are being scaled back as economic uncertainty heading into the U.S. presidential election prompts companies to soft peddle their own outlooks.Last week, it appeared second-quarter earnings projections from analysts had improved, compared with their levels at the end of the first quarter, but that all shifted in the past week.The consensus second-quarter earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 (SPX) had fallen to 5.9% by Friday from 6.4% on March 31, according to John Butters, FactSet senior earnings analyst. Read about falling earnings outlook for S&P 500, on MarketWatch Your retirement health-care tab will run $240,000 Retirement health-care costs are enough to cause a severe anxiety attack. Even with Medicare benefits, a 65-year-old couple retiring in 2012 will spend at least $240,000 in retirement, according to the latest estimate from Fidelity Investments. That doesn't include long-term-care costs, over-the-counter medications and most dental costs.Plus, that $240,000 estimate is based on average life expectancy for a 65-year-old—the husband living until age 82 and the wife until 85—but "average" means half of people live longer than that. Read about heath-care costs in retirement, On MarketWatch 5 secrets for saving on a home remodel Home-improvement spending is expected to rise this year, but consumers remain cautious with their finances. They may be more willing to remodel, but still want a heck of a deal.First, some numbers: Annual spending on remodeling projects is expected to rise 5.9% by the end of 2012, according to a recent forecast from the Remodeling Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. Smaller-scale projects are still the norm, said Kermit Baker, director of the Remodeling Futures Program. Read Amy Hoak's Home Economics, on MarketWatch Facebook IPO: Investors should wait Most investors realize that unless they work for a big mutual fund or institution, they won't likely be able to buy shares of Facebook when it makes its debut late next week. Facebook's (FB) upcoming IPO, which is expected to value the company at around $95 billion, is the biggest Internet IPO since Google Inc. (GOOG) went public in 2004. There even will be shares allotted to retail investors, with perhaps 20% to 25% of the offering going to retail or online brokerage firms catering to average investors and day traders. However, some red flags merit attention and scrutiny. Read Therese Polletti commentary on Facebook IPO, on MarketWatch 
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