WALL STREET P.M. 06.17.09:DOW OFF 3RD DAY STRAIGHT

DJIA: -7.49 CLOSE 8,497.18
S&P 500 -1.26 CLOSE 910.71
NASDAQ +11.88 CLOSE 1,808.06

TECH STOCKS SCORE GAIN;
FINANCIAL SECTOR SLIDES
CNN/MONEY: NASDAQ gained thanks to a tech rally, but the broader market meandered, with financials sliding after Standard & Poor's cut its outlook on 22 banks . . . READ MORE

'TIME FOR THE ECONOMIC DATA'
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research: "The market rally has told us 'the recession is ending' . . . Well, now it is time for the economic data to prove this or we could be set for a big fall" . . . READ MORE

OBAMA UNVEILS FINANCIAL PLAN
PRESIDENT OBAMA: "My administration is proposing a sweeping overhaul of the financial regulatory system, a transformation on a scale not seen since the reforms that followed the Great Depression . . . READ MORE

PLAN FACES FIGHT ON CAPITOL HILL
REUTERS: Democratic and Republican lawmakers found fault with at least some of the ideas put forward in the president's proposal . . . . The biggest sticking point may be the role of the Federal Reserve, the U.S. central bank. Obama envisions the Fed overseeing the largest financial firms . . . READ MORE

CONCERNS ABOUT BANK PROFITS
WALL STREET JOURNAL: Bank stocks have been under pressure the last few sessions as the White House has prepared to unveil its plan. Traders have been skeptical that the effort will strike the right balance between curbing excesses . . . while at the same time allowing companies to take aggressive steps to boost profits . . . READ MORE

CNBC: Richard Bove, banking analyst with Rochdale Securities: "These regulations are so sweeping, so comprehensive and so expensive there's no question about the fact that they will lower the profitability of the industry . . . As part of these regulations there's a demand to increase capital almost consistently, which lowers the leverage of the bank and lowers its potential profitability." . . . READ MORE

NO REFORM FOR FANNIE AND FREDDIE
CATO/MARK CALABRIA: Shockingly, the Obama plan makes no mention of those institutions at the very heart of the mortgage market meltdown -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. . . . Any reform plan that leaves out Fannie and Freddie does not merit being taken seriously. . . . READ MORE

UNDOING REAGAN'S DE-REGULATION
TOWNHALL: The government would impose sweeping new "rules of the road" for the nation's battered financial system under an overhaul proposed Wednesday by President Barack Obama. . . . The changes would begin to reverse a determined campaign pressed in the 1980s by President Ronald Reagan to cut back on federal regulations. . . READ MORE