Banks and Troubling Nations

Many countries over seas have been holding on but not staying afloat due to the debt crisis that has spread across the globe. We have seen so many banks bailout countries and now Ireland is no exception.

After falling into a financial crisis brought on by mounting losses at three of its nationalized banks, Ireland formally requested help from its neighbors Sunday. The rescue package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund will likely total $100 billion.

The request helped push stocks higher in Europe. The Euro Stoxx 50, an index of blue chip companies in countries that use the euro, gained 0.1 percent in early trading.

Major Market Indices

This is the second time that the European Union has come to the rescue of one of its 16 members. In May, the EU and the IMF committed $140 billion to Greece in order to prevent the country from defaulting on its debt.

Re: Energy Stocks

Energy Sector Leads US Stocks Higher

The Energy sector seems to be going due to various things that are taking place in new industries. Green jobs and wind energy play a large part in the stock market.

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The energy sector led U.S. stocks higher Friday as expectations for global oil demand improved, although fears of additional tightening measures from China limited the market's climb.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 29 points, or 0.3%, to 10444. Chevron was the measure's best performer, up 1.4%, and crude-oil futures climbed above $76 a barrel, after the International Energy Agency revised slightly higher its estimate for global oil demand for 2010. However, the industry watchdog also warned that there is a continuing "significant downside risk" to its forecasts if the world economy were to stall.

The Nasdaq Composite was flat at 2237. The Standard & Poor's 500 index tacked on 0.3% to 1108, with its energy sector leading the climb. Industrial, consumer and materials stocks were also strong.

The gains came as China reported that its August imports were up 35.2% year over year, to $119.27 billion, better than the 25% increase that was expected by economists. That was seen as a sign that the government-engineered slowdown in economic growth wasn't as severe as some had projected. Still, speculation that China will roll out additional moves to put the brakes on its growth has investors concerned about future demand for metals and other commodities.