Market Morning, with news on Motorola (NYSE:MOT), BP plc (NYSE:BP), Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)

To start the news day, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) has recently announced through a press release that they will be providing $10 million in grants to non-profit lenders over the next year.  This grant, it is hoped, will help these non-profit lenders by providing collateral for more funds from US small business departments, such as the Small Business Association and the Department of Agriculture.  To access loans from these small business programs, non-profit lenders must set aside loan loss reserves of up to 15%.  The SBA and USDA then provide micro loans through these non-profits to small businesses and start-ups.  It’s hoped that the multiplier effect will provide up to $100 million in small business lending in the next 12 months.

In overall market news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, NASDAQ and S&P 500 are all up modestly to start the day.  Optimism over the continued economic recovery was spurred forward today by reports of increased earnings forecasted for later this year by some major companies (Such as Sony and Southwest Airlines).  In addition to the aforementioned optimism on the market, the US Labor Department is reporting that new claims for unemployment benefits have fallen to 457,000 (a decrease of 11,000).  This  beat projections by the data and survey company Thompson Reuters, which predicted a decrease to 459,000.  The new unemployment claim numbers are a good sign, although they represent, overall, only a modest decrease.

In tech news, the cellular telephone company Motorola, Inc (NYSE:MOT) stock price has soared today, up 2.86% at the time of writing.  The good news is in the company’s second quarter earnings report, which was released earlier today.  It’s sales reached $5.4 billion for the quarter; it’s being reported that Motorola sold 8.3 million handsets through the three months, including 2.7 million smart phones.

Finally for today, it’s being reported that BP plc (NYSE:BP) is heading to court today to address a mountain of civil lawsuits.  The lawsuits, which are all regarding the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf, are to be addressed in the state of Idaho’s court system.  These lawsuits could include action from the oil company Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A), which is considering whether to pursue a claim for compensation in the ballpark of $56 million.  This potential claim is related to costs associated with Shell having to idle their Gulf drilling operations during the drilling ban.  Whether Shell decides to press its claim or not, the state of Idaho’s court system certainly has their hands full in the upcoming litigation process.

That’s all for the day!  Be sure to continue exploring Oakshire’s free content by CLICKING HERE.