Stocks Flat Despite Housing Plan

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 18, 2009 8:49 AM CST
Stocks Flat Despite Housing Plan
Geoffrey Friedman of Barclays Capital leans on his trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009 in New York.   (AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams)

Stocks barely budged at the open today, as optimism over President Obama’s home foreclosure plan was canceled out by grisly housing numbers. The Dow inched up a handful of points, while the Nasdaq and S&P each gained about 0.5%. Housing starts fell 16.8% in January, much worse than the 5% analysts expected. Since last year, they’ve fallen 56%. (More stock market stories.)

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