Weekly Roundup: Top 10: Not a week for apologies

	Weekly Roundup AUGUST 23, 2013 Top 10: Not a week for apologies Top stories for week of Aug. 19-24 For Steve Ballmer's ego, it may have been better had the Nasdaq outage come Friday instead of Thursday. That way, he wouldn't have faced the ignominy of seeing Microsoft's stock price shoot up because he announced he was leaving. Bloomberg Nasdaq CEO Robert Greifeld.No apology was forthcoming from Ballmer for the lackluster performance during his Microsoft tenure. And he wasn't alone in avoiding forgiveness. An outage that kept $5.7 trillion worth of companies locked up for an afternoon didn't prompt a "sorry" from Nasdaq's chief, just a refrain about "defensive driving." How about Target's disappointing results? The company blamed Canada — there was a movie about that — and the demise of the payroll-tax cut. Hewlett-Packard? The company's substandard results were blamed on the global economy as well as a top executive. Elton John was right: "Sorry" seems to be the hardest word. Did your portfolio need to apologize? Depends. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) finished with a 0.5% loss on the week, but the S&P 500 (SPX) rose 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) gained 1.5%. Stay tuned to MarketWatch this weekend for all your investing and retirement news. — Steve Goldstein The lights were out on Wall Street For three hours Thursday, there was no trading in Nasdaq-listed securities. The Nasdaq said it fixed its problem in just half an hour, and it took the rest of that time to get everyone on board about reopening. What we learned from the 'black squirrel' event. Critics say Nasdaq shouldn't run industry's price processor. Ballmer to step down There will be a new chief executive of Microsoft within 12 months, the company announced . Ballmer has led the company since 2000. Therese Poletti: The CEO search will be daunting. Mark Hulbert: Who cares who Microsoft's CEO is? Hewlett-Packard struggles Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) disappointed investors with another big earnings decline and a weak forecast, as the high-tech giant admitted to "very disappointing" performance from its enterprise unit. John Shinal: Break up H-P before it sinks to the bottom. Therese Poletti: H-P's Meg Whitman now under the gun. Teen retail angst It has been an ugly week for the retail sector's "A-teen": Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), Aeropostale (ARO) and American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) each posted disappointing results. Where are teens going instead? Forever 21, H&M (HNNMY)  and Urban Outfitters (URBN). See: Aeropostale, Abercrombie, American Eagle finally wake up to teens' changing uniform Target not on target Target's profit dropped 13% on the cost of its Canadian expansion. Read transcript of the live blog of Target's conference call. Fed mystery When? Tell us when? Please — when? WHEN WILL YOU TAPER, FEDERAL RESERVE??? Fed says taper on track by the end of the year. 5 things Ben Bernanke could do in his next life. Follow all the action from the Jackson Hole Fed conference. The puzzle in housing So, rising interest rates spurred buyers off the sidelines, sending existing-home sales to a nearly four-year high. So, rising interest rates deterred home buyers, sending new-home sales to their worst level since October. Right, it's clear as mud. Week in Charts: See how mortgage rates jumped on Fed taper talk. UPS to take spouses off health insurance United Parcel Service (UPS) is eliminating coverage for 15,000 working spouses, in a move that should save the company about $60 million. By denying coverage to spouses, employers not only save the annual premiums but also the new fees that went into effect as part of the Affordable Care Act, explains Jen Wieczner. Obama's college plan President Obama rolled out proposals aimed at combating rising college costs, including introducing a new rating system and tying federal student aid to institutions' performance. See a play-by-play of the Obama speech. Is four years too long for college? Colorado secession drive mirror national politics The silly season in politics is clearly here as the news media spotlight a drive by several counties to secede from Colorado and form a new state, writes Darrell Delamaide. Get the latest news on our mobile site: http://www.marketwatch.com/m MarketWatch has sent you this newsletter because you signed up to receive it. To ensure you receive this newsletter in the future, please add marketwatchmail.com to your list of approved senders. Sent to: kumaresan.selva.blogger@gmail.com Unsubscribe | Subscribe Copyright 2013 MarketWatch, Inc. All rights reserved. MarketWatch, the MarketWatch logo, and BigCharts are registered trademarks of MarketWatch, Inc. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy (updated 6/26/07). MarketWatch - Attn: Customer Service, 201 California St., San Francisco, CA 94111