Market Update: Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Ford (NYSE:F), Google (NYSE:GOOG), Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)

Just as our national fever seemed to have been broken, the Labor Department delivered bad news. It appears that job losses have continued, despite the decline in unemployment. The United States lost an estimated 36,000 jobs in the month of February. With unemployment claims down as was reported yesterday, this indicates that the poor weather kept people from filing claims. On the bright side, this loss is less than originally expected for the month, and March news is expected to show 10,000 new jobs.

For some good news, it appears that Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) sale by the Treasury Department made the United States government an estimated $1.5 billion dollars. The Treasury Department sold the warrants, acquired as payment for the government bailout and which give the right of the holder to buy shares of B.O.A, for $13.30. While enthusiasm should be tempered (as commercial loans seem to be in hot water), this windfall for the government is a positive sign that the worst of the banking crisis may be over. - MarketWatch

In international financial news, Germany is leading rumors that the EU will not step in and bailout Greece. The Eurogroup, the committee that oversees the Euro, have ruled out immediate financial aid to Athens. Some good news for free trade can be found in the report that China is attempting to resolve its disputes with Google (NYSE:GOOG). The internet search giant announced in January that it was suspending it’s censorship operations in China, and may pull out of the country completely after hacking attempts at it’s source code were detected as coming from the Asian countries government. –Reuters

In automotive news, it appears that the news continues to get better for Ford (NYSE:F). The US’s largest automaker put out a press release indicating that new buyers of it’s fuel efficient Fusion and Hybrid models in February was made up of 60% new sales, higher than both Jan. and Dec. It’s midsize market share has grown 4.4 points since this time last year, which indicates it’s up for the challenge of taking up the banner for old Detroit.

At the time of writing, tech stocks were hot on the market today, led by Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). The hip technology company announced that it would be putting it’s long speculated iPad on the market April 3rd, and the companies stock rose 2.7% as a result. One must wonder if speculation on demand is a bit high after the tech blogosphere (such as popular web comic Penny-Arcade) has condemned the device as nothing more than an overweight iPhone.