WALL STREET P.M. 07.09.09:DOW STAYS UNDER 8,200

DJIA: +4.76 CLOSE 8,183.17
S&P 500 +3.12 CLOSE 882.68
NASDAQ +5.38 CLOSE 1,752.55

RETAIL, ECONOMIC WORRIES
LEAVE MARKET UNCHANGED
FORBES: Better than expected second-quarter figures from Alcoa and a sharp drop in the government's weekly tally of initial jobless claims drew cheers on Wall Street Thursday, but the gains were held in check by somber June sales figures from several retailers and lingering concern about macroeconomic conditions, leaving the major averages little changed by the end of the day. . . . READ MORE

AIG AT RISK OF MORE LOSSES
BUSINESS WEEK: American International Group Inc. shares continued their free fall Thursday after a Citigroup analyst said there is a high probability that the insurer's equity is zero. . . . In a note to clients Thursday, Citi Investment Research analyst Joshua Shanker said the continued risk of more credit default swap losses and its management's eagerness to sell off businesses at a low value jeopardizes AIG's equity position . . . READ MORE

JUNE RETAIL SALES SLUMP 4.9%
CNN/MONEY: Several of the nation's leading retail chains reported Thursday that their same-store sales declined again in June. . . . Sales tracker Thomson Reuters, which tracks monthly same-store sales for 30 chains such as Target, Gap Inc. and J.C. Penney, said overall June sales for the group fell 4.9%, compared to a gain of 1.9% last June. It marked the 10th-straight monthly decline for that index . . . READ MORE

SALES FALL 'MONTH AFTER MONTH'
WALL STREET JOURNAL: From department stores to discounters, sales remained on a downward trend for retailers last month, more than a year and a half into the recession . . . "Retailers are saying economic pressures are continuing and they are deeply concerned," said Jeff Augustin, a vice president at EDS, a unit of Hewlett-Packard that consults with retailers. "It's been month after month of poor sales for most of them." . . . READ MORE

SEARS TRIES CHRISTMAS IN JULY
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: On Sunday, while most of America was recovering from Fourth of July fireworks and cookouts, Sears launched an online boutique called Christmas Lane at Sears.com and Kmart.com. It also set up Christmas decor shops at 372 Sears stores . . .Sears typically waits until Nov. 1 to unveil its holiday merchandise . . . But with the recession putting a crimp in spending, the retailer is hoping to attract holiday shoppers early . . . READ MORE

'VERY STEEP JOB LOSSES' AHEAD
ASSOCIATED PRESS: The number of newly laid-off workers requesting unemployment insurance fell by 52,000 to a seasonally-adjusted 565,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. But the drop was mostly due to a shift in the timing of auto-related layoffs, leading many economists to discount the decline. . . . Thursday's figure indicates that "very steep job losses" likely will continue and that the unemployment rate will keep rising, said Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Securities International . . . READ MORE

BUFFETT: 2ND STIMULUS NEEDED?
CNBC: Legendary investor Warren Buffett said . . . a second stimulus package might be needed as the economy struggles to recover from recession . . . "We're not in a freefall, but we're not in a recovery either," he told ABC's "Good Morning America" . . . READ MORE

THE NEW LEDGER
WHY ANOTHER STIMULUS?
FRANCIS CIANFRACCO: Politically, it’s going to be tough to sell a huge new round of deficit spending, to get benefits that are hard for most people to see. The two key questions are: is the first stimulus doing anything good at all for the economy? And why would a second or third round do any better? . . . READ MORE

FORBES
EVEN WORSE THAN IT LOOKS
NOURIEL RUBINI: The employment report shows that conditions in the labor market continue to be extremely weak, with job losses in June of over 460,000. With the current rate of job losses, it is very clear that the unemployment rate could reach 10% by later this summer -- around August or September -- and will be closer to 10.5%, if not 11%, by year-end. I expect the unemployment rate is going to peak at around 11% at some point in 2010, well above historical standards for even severe recessions. . . . READ MORE