NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:

[Aussiejeff]

There was a huge bounce back from 700 points down, anyone think the bottom may have been reached ?

DOH!

Hahaha! You have a sly sense of humour, Mr Burns! The dead cat bounced and twitched again.

Funnily enough, many commentators are totally focussed on how the DOW dances and completely disregard what is happening in Europe. The stench from Europe also wafts over North America I believe.

So - with the FTSE futures now dropping to [size=+2]-8.2%[/size] I somehow doubt a "bottom" has been reached. More like the ARS* has fallen out of the Euro markets.....

HARK! Is that the sound of Gordon Brown hurriedly packing for a "long holiday" in the Highlands of Bonnie Scotland?





aj

 

[MrBurns]

DOH!

Hahaha! You have a sly sense of humour, Mr Burns! The dead cat bounced and twitched again.

Funnily enough, many commentators are totally focussed on how the DOW dances and completely disregard what is happening in Europe. The stench from Europe also wafts over North America I believe.

So - with the FTSE futures now dropping to [size=+2]-8.2%[/size] I somehow doubt a "bottom" has been reached. More like the ARS* has fallen out of the Euro markets.....

HARK! Is that the sound of Gordon Brown hurriedly packing for a "long holiday" in the Highlands of Bonnie Scotland?





aj

I'm convinced, Smithers pack my bags and sell the power station to the Pakistanis, we're out of here.

 

[Agentm]

anyone seen a sign??


this ones from main street to wall street

 

[bigdog]

NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

Stocks Battered Again as Investors Look for Fed Rate Cut; Dow Plunges 500 as S&P 500 Hits 5-Year Low

Stocks ended lower for the fifth straight session. According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 508.39, or 5.11 percent, to 9,447.11. The drop came a day after the blue chips fell below 10,000 for the first time in four years. The Dow skidded as much as 800 points on Monday before finishing with a loss of 370.

The misery worsened on Wall Street Tuesday, with stocks piling on the losses late in the session and bringing the two-day decline in the Dow Jones industrials to more than 875 points amid escalating worries about credit markets and financial sector. The Dow lost more than 500 points and all the major indexes slid more than 5 percent.

Steps by the Federal Reserve to reinvigorate the dormant credit markets ultimately weren't enough to calm nervous investors. News about financial companies only added to their despondent mood.


The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -508.39 points -5.11% on Tuesday October 7
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,447.11 -508.39 -5.11%
Nasdaq 1,754.88 -108.08 -5.80%
S&P 500 996.23 -60.66 -5.74%
30-yr Bond 4.0270% +0.0850

NYSE Volume 7,040,854,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,893,151,500

Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,605.22 +16.03 +0.35%
DAX 5,326.63 -60.38 -1.12%
CAC 40 3,732.22 +20.24 +0.55%

Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 10,155.90 -317.19 -3.03%
Hang Seng 16,803.76 -878.64 -4.97%
Straits Times 2,177.55 +9.23 +0.43%

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081007/wall_street.html
Dow dips more than 500 on worries about financials
Tuesday October 7, 4:33 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Dow sinks more than 500 as concerns about financials overshadow Fed plan to buy corporate debt

NEW YORK (AP) -- The misery worsened on Wall Street Tuesday, with stocks piling on the losses late in the session and bringing the two-day decline in the Dow Jones industrials to more than 875 points amid escalating worries about credit markets and financial sector. The Dow lost more than 500 points and all the major indexes slid more than 5 percent.

Steps by the Federal Reserve to reinvigorate the dormant credit markets ultimately weren't enough to calm nervous investors. News about financial companies only added to their despondent mood.

"The calls I'm getting -- every money manager I deal with, and every client I talk to -- are just very emotional. This is a very, very emotional time, and most of them are taking steps to shore up their defenses, reducing exposure to stocks just to defend their portfolios," said Hugh Johnson, chairman and chief investment officer of Johnson Illington Advisors.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned in a speech Tuesday that the financial crisis could prolong the difficulty the economy is facing. While his remarks were widely regarded as a sign that an interest rate cut could be in the offing, Wall Street appeared little comforted and focused on his downbeat assessment of the economy.

Earlier, the Fed announced plans to buy massive amounts of corporate debt to jump-start lending in the markets where many companies turn for short-term loans called commercial paper. The evaporation of faith that loans will be repaid has lenders weary and is making it more difficult and expensive for businesses and consumers to borrow.

The credit markets did show some slight signs of easing as demand for safe-haven investments decreased, though that seemed to offer little comfort to investors still worried about the decreased levels of lending and their impact on the overall economy. The markets seized up last month after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. declared bankruptcy and the government stepped in to rescue insurer American International Group Inc.

The Fed's latest move to lubricate the credit markets stops short of a broad interest rate reduction that some investors say is necessary to restore confidence in the market. Other market watchers argue, however, that more focused steps like Fed's decision to buy commercial paper are what's needed.

But investors remained worried about financial companies like Bank of America Corp., which fell after slashing its dividend and reporting that its third-quarter profit fell 68 percent. The stock fell $8.45, or 26 percent, to $23.77 Tuesday. It was by far the steepest decliner among the 30 stocks that comprise the Dow industrials.

And a rumor that Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. was pulling out of a deal to acquire up to 24.9 percent of the voting shares of Morgan Stanley sent the investment bank's stock tumbling $5.85, or 25 percent, to $17.65. The companies denied the rumor, but the Street was panicky enough that it still sent Morgan Stanley and other financials tumbling.

Investors are fearful that financial companies will continue to face cash shortages even with efforts in Washington and by other governments to resuscitate lending.

"It's such a widespread loss of confidence and, to some extent, a race for the exits," Johnson said.

Stocks ended lower for the fifth straight session. According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 508.39, or 5.11 percent, to 9,447.11. The drop came a day after the blue chips fell below 10,000 for the first time in four years. The Dow skidded as much as 800 points on Monday before finishing with a loss of 370.

Broader indexes also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 60.66, or 5.74 percent, to 996.23, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 108.08, or 5.80 percent, to 1,754.88.

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

 

[Aussiejeff]

That's one helluva ugly graph right there for Tue (last night). No significant signs of life at all (bit like the Martian landscape?). Just a prolonged [size=+1]-600pt[/size] slide right from the get go. :goodnight

 

[bigdog]

NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

An angst-ridden Wall Street tried but failed to find stability Wednesday, with investors attempting to determine whether an emergency interest rate cut would end the paralysis in credit markets. The major indexes moved in and out of positive territory before turning sharply lower in late trading and leaving the Dow Jones industrials down nearly 190 points.

The Federal Reserve and other leading central banks cut rates in the hope that credit markets would soon relax and that banks would begin lending more freely to businesses and consumers. The Fed lowered rates by a half-point, saying in a statement that the turmoil in financial markets posed a further threat to an already shaky economy; it was joined in the rate cut by the European Central Bank, Bank of England, The Bank of Canada, the Swedish Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank.


The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -189.01 points -2.00% on Wednesday October 8
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,258.10 -189.01 -2.00%
Nasdaq 1,740.33 -14.55 -0.83%
S&P 500 984.94 -11.29 -1.13%
10 Yr Bond(%) 3.7150% +0.2090


Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,366.69 -238.53 -5.18%
DAX 5,013.62 -313.01 -5.88%
CAC 40 3,496.89 -235.33 -6.31%


Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 9,203.32 -952.58 -9.38%
Hang Seng 15,431.73 -1,372.03 -8.17%
Straits Times 2,038.17 -139.38 -6.40%

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081008/wall_street.html
Stocks zigzag, end lower after emergency rate cut
Wednesday October 8, 4:58 pm ET
By Joe Bel Bruno and Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Wall Street seesaws, then closes lower as investors seek stability after emergency rate cut

NEW YORK (AP) -- An angst-ridden Wall Street tried but failed to find stability Wednesday, with investors attempting to determine whether an emergency interest rate cut would end the paralysis in credit markets. The major indexes moved in and out of positive territory before turning sharply lower in late trading and leaving the Dow Jones industrials down nearly 190 points.

The Federal Reserve and other leading central banks cut rates in the hope that credit markets would soon relax and that banks would begin lending more freely to businesses and consumers. The Fed lowered rates by a half-point, saying in a statement that the turmoil in financial markets posed a further threat to an already shaky economy; it was joined in the rate cut by the European Central Bank, Bank of England, The Bank of Canada, the Swedish Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank.

But interest rate changes take months to work their way through the economy, and while investors clearly were happy with the central banks' actions, they were also well aware that in the near term, banks remain reluctant to lend because of fears they won't be paid back.

That fear, which increased after the failure of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in mid-September, has all but shut down the credit markets, making it increasingly hard for companies and individuals to borrow, and in turn, posing a further threat to the economy. Wall Street has plunged in response to scarcity of credit; stocks initially rose on the rate cut Wednesday, then spent the day seesawing as investors were torn between some optimistic bargain hunting and the reality of the credit markets' ongoing troubles.

Although Wednesday's losses were smaller than Monday's 370-point drop in the Dow and Tuesday's 504-point slide, it was obvious that the stock market is still extremely shaky. There were signs that investors were picking and choosing -- the Standard & Poor's 500 index and the Nasdaq composite index both had percentage declines about half the size of the Dow's -- but nervousness still drove the market.

"Until we have some more confidence here it's going to be difficult to sustain any rally," said Bill Schultz, chief investment officer at McQueen, Ball & Associates in Bethlehem, Pa. "Unfortunately you probably sell the rallies for a little while until we run out of sellers."

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average ended down 189.01, or 2.00 percent, at 9,258.10.

Broader stock indicators also fell. The S&P 500 index slid 11.29, or 1.13 percent, to 984.94, and the Nasdaq fell 14.55, or 0.83 percent, to 1,740.33.

With its precipitous drop of the past few weeks, Wall Street is approaching the magnitude of the losses it suffered during the bear market in the early part of this decade. By the time the Dow reached its low of that market, 7,286.27 on Oct. 9, 2002, it had fallen 37.8 percent from its record high close of 11,722.98, set in January 2000.

The Dow has now fallen about 35 percent from the closing high of 14,164.53, reached a year ago Thursday. This week, the Dow has lost 1,067 points, or 10.3 percent

The worries on the Street have been exacerbated by the spread of the U.S. credit problems overseas. Several banks in Europe have had to be bailed out, and earlier this week, the governments of Germany, Ireland and Greece took steps to guarantee private bank deposits.

Moreover, the markets are mindful of the fact that the government's $700 billion financial rescue plan is in its early stages of implementation and will take some time to have an impact on banks' balance sheets.

David Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor's, said the heavy losses in stock markets around the world signal that markets are determining that the credit crisis won't likely be resolved soon.

"There was a general disregard for risk going on in financial markets around the world, it wasn't just the U.S.," he said. "Now they're waking up to risk."

Investors had been anxious in recent days for a rate cut, and despite the Fed taking other steps this week to help the credit markets. Policymakers unveiled a plan to buy massive amounts of commercial paper, the short-term debt used by companies, in a bid to reanimate the credit markets.

It is likely that stocks won't begin to recover for good until investors are certain the credit markets are functioning in a more normal fashion. There are also severe economic problems including heavy job losses and high unemployment that will also need to show improvement.

The uncertainty in the market has driven investors to buy up anything deemed safe, including gold and government debt. For instance, prices of gold shot up $22.60 to $904.60 -- though still off its record of $1,033.90 in March.

Demand for short-term Treasurys remained high because of their safety; investors are willing to take extremely low returns just to have their money in a secure place. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, which moves opposite its price, dropped to 0.66 percent from 0.81 percent late Tuesday.

However, longer term Treasury bonds fell because they are considered to be less attractive when the Fed cuts rates. The yield on the 10-year note rose to 3.70 percent from 3.51 percent late Tuesday.

The first third-quarter earnings reports are showing signs of strain on companies, and that is adding more uncertainty to the stock market. After the close Tuesday, Alcoa Inc. said it would conserve cash by suspending its stock buyback program and all non-critical capital projects. The aluminum company's earnings fell 52 percent.

Shares of the company fell $2, or 12 percent, to $14.71, by far the steepest decline among the 30 that comprise the Dow industrials.

Retailers' reports of bleak sales in October appeared to dampen investor sentiment at times.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said sales rose in September but issued a tepid forecast for October. Often discounters do better than other retailers during tough economic times so the forecast from the world's largest retailer caused some worries about overall retail demand. Wal-Mart fell 29 cents to $54.55.

Luxury retailers turned in a generally weak performance. Saks Inc. fell 96 cents, or 13 percent, to $6.24 after sales fell more than Wall Street had expected.

Declining issues were narrowly ahead of advancers on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a heavy 2.13 billion shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 12.38, or 2.21 percent, to 546.57.

European indexes had a short-lived bounce after the rate cut. In Britain, the FTSE-100 ended down 5.18 percent, Germany's DAX dropped 5.88 percent, and France's CAC-40 dropped 6.31 percent.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed 9.38 percent lower and Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 8.17 percent hours before the rate cuts were announced; their declines showed the extent of the worldwide gloom. And Russia's two main stock exchanges were suspended because of a massive sell-off right after their openings.

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

 

[Aussiejeff]

Look$ like America$ Greate$t Fear is $talking the $treet$ again....

 

[noirua]

Final DOW is not yet calculated, but 671.11 down at 07.06 AEST, at 8587.0

 

[noirua]

Final DOW Jones at the close, 678.91 down at 8579.2 - Down 7.25%.

 

[Aussiejeff]

anyone seen a sign??


this ones from main street to wall street

Looks like they just did..... :flush:

 

[explod]

Having now fallen through the main support areas between 9 and 10gs, further capitulations could soon see the test of 7,500 and after that,... could only say a blood bath next, major support would be 3 or 4 thousand.

Any other takers ?

 

[Aussiejeff]

Having now fallen through the main support areas between 9 and 10gs, further capitulations could soon see the test of 7,500 and after that,... could only say a blood bath next, major support would be 3 or 4 thousand.

Any other takers ?

Could we also see the NYSE suspended for trade if it has another slightly bigger fall than just occurred? Isn't it "STOP-LOSSED" at -10%??

Seems the "Closed For Business" signs are starting to pop up around the world (Iceland, Indonesia - who's next?).

 

[noirua]

Could we also see the NYSE suspended for trade if it has another slightly bigger fall than just occurred? Isn't it "STOP-LOSSED" at -10%??

Seems the "Closed For Business" signs are starting to pop up around the world (Iceland, Indonesia - who's next?).

Looks as if Institutions may be selling and companies desperate to survive.

 

[bigdog]

NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

Stocks plunged in the final hour of trading Thursday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 675 points, or more than 7 percent, to its lowest level in five years after a major credit ratings agency said it was considering cutting its rating on General Motors Corp.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index also fell more than 7 percent.

The declines came on the anniversary of the closing highs of the Dow and the S&P. The Dow has lost 5,585 points, or 39 percent, since closing at 14,198 a year ago. The S&P 500, meanwhile, is off 655 points, or 42 percent, since recording its high of 1,565.15.

The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -678.91 points -7.33% on Thursday October 9
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,579.19 -678.91 -7.33%
Nasdaq 1,645.12 -95.21 -5.47%
S&P 500 909.92 -75.02 -7.62%
30-yr Bond 4.1200% +0.0570

NYSE Volume 8,286,465,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,657,992,250



Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,313.80 -52.89 -1.21%
DAX 4,887.00 -126.62 -2.53%
CAC 40 3,442.70 -54.19 -1.55%


Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 9,157.49 -45.83 -0.50%
Hang Seng 15,943.24 +511.51 +3.31%
Straits Times 2,116.58 +82.97 +4.08%

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081009/wall_street.html
Dow plunges more than 678 to fall below 9,000
Thursday October 9, 4:53 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Dow falls more than 678 points to trade below 9,000 in late afternoon sell-off

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks plunged in the final hour of trading Thursday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 675 points, or more than 7 percent, to its lowest level in five years after a major credit ratings agency said it was considering cutting its rating on General Motors Corp.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index also fell more than 7 percent.

The declines came on the anniversary of the closing highs of the Dow and the S&P. The Dow has lost 5,585 points, or 39 percent, since closing at 14,198 a year ago. The S&P 500, meanwhile, is off 655 points, or 42 percent, since recording its high of 1,565.15.

Thursday's sell-off came as Standard & Poor's Ratings Services put GM and its finance affiliate GMAC LLC under review to see if its rating should be cut. GM has been struggling with weak car sales in North America.

The action means there is a 50 percent chance that S&P will lower GM's and GMAC's ratings in the next three months.

S&P also put Ford Motor Co. on credit watch negative. The ratings agency said that GM and Ford have adequate liquidity now, but that could change in 2009.

GM led the Dow lower, falling $2.15, or 31 percent, to $4.76, while Ford fell 58 cents, or 22 percent, to $2.08.

"The story is getting to be like that movie Groundhog Day," said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. He pointed to the still-frozen credit markets, and Libor, the bank-to-bank lending rate that remains stubbornly high despite the Fed's recent rate cut.

"Until that starts coming down, you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone getting excited about stocks," Hogan said. "Everything we're seeing his historic. The problem is historic, the solutions are historic, and unfortunately, the sell-off is historic. It's not the kind of history you want to be making."

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 678.91, or 7.3 percent, to 8,579.19. The blue chips hadn't closed below the 9,000 level since the June 30, 2003.

Broader stock indicators also tumbled. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 75.02, or 7.6 percent, to 909.92, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 95.21, or 5.47 percent, to 1,645.12.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 47.37, or 8.67 percent, to 499.20.

A wave of fear about the economy sent stocks lower late in the final two hours of trading after a volatile start to a day in which major indicators like the Dow and the S&P 500 index bobbed up and down. The Nasdaq, with a bevy of tech stocks, spent much of the session higher but eventually as the sell-off intensified. Still, its losses were less severe because of the relatively modest drops in names like Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp.

On the New York Stock Exchange, declining issues came to nearly 3,000, while fewer than 250 advanced.

The sluggishness in the credit markets that triggered much of the heavy selling in markets around the world since mid-September appeared little changed Thursday following days of efforts by the Federal Reserve and other central banks to resuscitate lending.

Libor, the bank lending benchmark, for three-month dollar loans rose to 4.75 percent from 4.52 percent on Wednesday. That signals that banks remain hesitant to make loans for fear they won't be paid back.

The Fed and other leading central banks this week lowered key interest rates to help unclog the credit markets and promote lending to help the global economy. While a rate cut can take up to a year to work its way through the economy, the move was aimed as a boost to investor sentiment.

"We're stuck in a morass and I think it's going to take quite some time to come out of it," said Stephen Carl, principal and head of equity trading at The Williams Capital Group.

Demand remained high for short-term Treasurys, a refuge for investors willing to trade modest returns to protect their money. The yield on the three-month Treasury bill, which moves opposite its price, fell to 0.51 percent from 0.63 percent late Wednesday. Longer-term debt prices fell, with the yield on the 10-year note rising to 3.77 percent from 3.65 percent late Wednesday.

Investors across markets were mulling a plan being considered by the Bush administration to invest in hobbled U.S. banks as a way to stabilize the financial sector. The $700 billion rescue package signed into law last week allows the Treasury Department to inject fresh capital into financial institutions and obtain ownership shares in return.

Britain rolled out a similar plan, though no U.K. bank has received any investments. In Iceland, the government now has control of the country's three major banks as it struggles to contain the troubles there.

Wall Street is also looking for any effects of short selling now that a three-week ban imposed by regulators has expired. Short selling is a technique in which investors borrow shares in a company from a broker and sell them, hoping to buy them back later at a lower price. Essentially, it's a bet that a stock's price will fall. Short sellers can lose money if they have to repurchase the stock after it has risen.

Some analysts believe the unprecedented ban on short selling -- an effort to bolster investor confidence -- did more harm than good at a time of historic market volatility. They contend that short sellers help the market rally by covering their bets and creating demand for stocks.

"I think the market's way oversold. But I can't stand in the way of this falling knife -- I'd get sliced open," said Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors. "Investors are just saying, get me out at any price."

He also said that with the short-selling rule back in play, hedge funds might be shorting again to make up for their forced liquidations.

Volume on the NYSE came to 2.04 billion shares.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed down 0.50 percent while the Hang Seng added 3.31 percent. In Europe, Britain's FTSE-100 fell 1.21 percent, Germany's DAX fell 2.53 percent, and France's CAC-40 declined 1.55 percent.

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

 

[bigdog]

NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

Wall Street capped its worst week ever with a wild session Friday that saw the Dow Jones industrials rocket within a 1,000 point range before closing with a relatively mild loss and the Nasdaq composite index actually end with a modest advance. Investors were still agonizing over frozen credit markets, but seven days of massive losses made many stocks tempting for traders looking for bargains.

The Dow lost 128 points, giving the blue chips an eight-day loss of just under 2,400. The average had its worst week on record in both point and percentage terms, as did the Standard & Poor's 500 index, the indicator most watched by market professionals.

But there were signs Friday that some investors might believe the market was at or near a bottom. Just one day earlier, selling accelerated in the last hour of trading, giving the Dow a loss of 678 points, as many market players fled, while Friday, many people were clearly buying. And the Russell 2000 index, which tracks the movements of smaller company stocks, had a 4.66 percent gain Friday; small-cap stocks are often first on investors' shopping lists when they think a market turnaround is at hand.

The Dow has lost 1,874.19 points, or 18.2 percent, over the past week. Its dismal performance outdid the week that ended July 22, 1933, which saw a 17 percent drop -- and back then, during the Great Depression, there were six trading days in a week.


The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -128.00 points-1.49% on Friday October 10
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,451.19 -128.00 -1.49%
Nasdaq 1,649.51 +4.39 +0.27%
S&P 500 899.22 -10.70 -1.18%
30-yr Bond 4.14% +0.02

NYSE Volume 11,433,071,000
Nasdaq Volume 4,219,466,000


Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,087.88 -225.92 -5.24%
DAX 4,541.20 -345.80 -7.08%
CAC 40 3,176.49 -266.21 -7.73%


Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,276.43 -881.06 -9.62%
Hang Seng 14,796.87 -1,146.37 -7.19%
Straits Times 1,948.33 -154.38 -7.34%

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081010/wall_street.html
Stocks end wild session mixed after 8-day slide
Friday October 10, 5:01 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Wall Street ends mixed after 8 days of massive losses; Dow swings over 1,000 pts

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street capped its worst week ever with a wild session Friday that saw the Dow Jones industrials rocket within a 1,000 point range before closing with a relatively mild loss and the Nasdaq composite index actually end with a modest advance. Investors were still agonizing over frozen credit markets, but seven days of massive losses made many stocks tempting for traders looking for bargains.

The Dow lost 128 points, giving the blue chips an eight-day loss of just under 2,400. The average had its worst week on record in both point and percentage terms, as did the Standard & Poor's 500 index, the indicator most watched by market professionals.

But there were signs Friday that some investors might believe the market was at or near a bottom. Just one day earlier, selling accelerated in the last hour of trading, giving the Dow a loss of 678 points, as many market players fled, while Friday, many people were clearly buying. And the Russell 2000 index, which tracks the movements of smaller company stocks, had a 4.66 percent gain Friday; small-cap stocks are often first on investors' shopping lists when they think a market turnaround is at hand.

The hair-trigger mentality of the market -- a reflection of the intense anxiety on the Street -- was evident from the opening bell. The Dow fell 696 points in the first 15 minutes, recovered to an advance of more than 100 before the first hour was over, then turned sharply lower again before moving in swings of hundreds of points at the day's end.

Investors have spent much of the past month shuddering over a credit market that remains frozen, posing a threat to the economy. But Friday's gainers included financial stocks, the ones most decimated amid the ongoing banking and credit crisis.

The major indexes' sharp swings throughout the day were likely exacerbated by the computer-driven "buy" and "sell" orders that kicked in when prices fell far enough to make some stocks look like attractive bets or make other investors want to exit the market. The spurts of buying didn't reflect an easing of the market's despair, and trading is likely to remain volatile when the market reopens on Monday.

"Fear has been running rampant all over the Street. Fear and greed, that's what rules the Street. I think the carcass has been stripped to the bone," said Dave Henderson, a floor trader on the New York Stock Exchange for Raven Securities Corp.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 128.00, or 1.49 percent, to 8,451.49. At its low point Friday, the Dow was down 696 at 7,882.51, just 60 points above its low in Wall Street's last bear market, 7,286.27, reached Oct. 9, 2002. It crossed the line between gains and losses 32 times during the session.

The Dow rebounded from a low of 7,882.51 for the day -- the worst trading level since March 17, 2003. Still, its closing level Friday was the lowest since April 25, 2003.

The Dow has lost 1,874.19 points, or 18.2 percent, over the past week. Its dismal performance outdid the week that ended July 22, 1933, which saw a 17 percent drop -- and back then, during the Great Depression, there were six trading days in a week.

Broader stock indicators were mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 10.70 or 1.18 percent, to 899.22, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 4.39, or 0.27 percent, to 1,649.51.

The Russell 2000 rose 23.28, or 4.66 percent, to 522.48.

President Bush said Friday the government's efforts to rescue the financial sector was powerful enough to succeed but that it would take some time to be fully implemented.

His remarks came as finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven nations gathered Friday in Washington to discuss the economic meltdown. One of the potential remedies expected to be reviewed at the meeting is for governments to guarantee lending among banks.

Most major central banks around the world slashed interest rates this week after continuing problems in the credit market triggered concerns that banks will run out of money. Analysts have described the mood on trading floors this week as panicked at times, with investors bailing out of investments on fears there is no end in sight to the financial carnage.

A stream of selling forced exchanges in Austria, Russia and Indonesia to suspend trading, and those that remained opened were hammered. The rout in Australian markets caused traders there to call it "Black Friday."

European stocks sank Friday, with Britain's FTSE-100 falling 8.85 percent, German's DAX declining 7.01 percent, and France's CAC-40 ending down 7.73 percent. In Asia, the collapse of Japan's Yamato Life Insurance caused already nervous investors to pull even more money out of the market -- the Nikkei 225 fell 9.6 percent.

An index considered to be Wall Street's fear gauge reached record highs on Friday in another sign of massive investor anxiety. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, rose to an all-time intraday high of 76.94 Friday. The VIX, which usually trades under 50, tracks options activity for the companies that make up the S&P 500.

Still, prospects of further government help and, perhaps, attractive prices helped parts of the financial sector show signs of life. Big national banks were among the gainers, including Bank of America Corp., which rose $1.24, or 6.3 percent, to $20.87. Some smaller banks also rose, including Fifth Third Bank Corp., which advanced 67 cents, or 6.9 percent, to $10.40.

Not all financials enjoyed a bounce, however. Morgan Stanley Inc. fell $2.77, or 22 percent, to $9.68 as investors worried that even with a major investment from Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group the company was still facing troubles. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. fell $12.55, or 12 percent, to $88.80.

Citigroup Inc. said late Thursday it was suspending its bid to acquire Wachovia Corp., which will be acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. Citigroup rose $1.18, or 9.1 percent, to $14.11, while Wells Fargo fell $1.06, or 3.9 percent, to $28.31. Wachovia surged $1.55, or 43 percent, to $5.15.

Financials were most prominent among the smattering of stocks that rose in the S&P 500, though technology stocks generally advanced. Apple Inc. rose $8.06, or 9.1 percent, to $96.80, while eBay Inc. rose 77 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $16.73.

Investors appeared unfazed by final results arriving in afternoon trading from an auction Friday that set the price of debt issued by now bankrupt Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. at 8.625 cents on the dollar, down from a preliminary estimate of 9.75 cents.

The auction was for credit default swaps, which are contracts used to insure against the default of financial instruments like bonds and corporate debt. Traded in a $60 trillion, unregulated market, many of the instruments have fallen sharply because of their ties to bad mortgage debt. Those big losses and nervousness about who holds what CDS has made financial institutions hesitant to lend to one another. The auction could help the market determine which companies are most at risk from CDS losses.

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

 

[bigdog]

NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com


The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER +936.42 points +11.08% on Monday October 13
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,387.61 +936.42 +11.08%
Nasdaq 1,844.25 +194.74 +11.81%
S&P 500 1,003.35 +104.13 +11.58%
30-yr Bond 4.1370% 0.0000

NYSE Volume 7,206,568,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,665,724,250

Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,256.90 +324.84 +8.26%
DAX 5,062.45 +518.14 +11.40%
CAC 40 3,531.50 +355.01 +11.18%

AsiaSymbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,276.43 closed for holiday
Hang Seng 16,312.16 +1,515.29 +10.24%
Straits Times 2,076.35 +128.02 +6.57%

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081013/wall_street.html
Dow jumps 936 as governments pledge bank aid
Monday October 13, 4:59 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Dow soars 936 after major governments pledge to support the global banking system


NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street stormed back from last week's devastating losses Monday, sending the Dow Jones industrials soaring a nearly inconceivable 936 points after major governments' plans to support the global banking system reassured distraught investors. All the major indexes rose more than 11 percent.

The market was expected to rebound after eight days of precipitous losses that took the Dow down nearly 2,400 points, but few expected this kind of advance, which saw the Dow by far outstrip its previous record one-day point gain, 499.19, set during the waning days of the dot-com boom. The Standard & Poor's 500 index also set a record for a one-day point gains.

There were cheers and applause on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the closing bell, and trading was so active that prices were still being computed several minutes after the closing bell, longer than it would take on a quieter day.

Still, while the magnitude of Monday's gains stunned investors and analysts, few were ready to say Wall Street had reached a bottom. The market is likely to have back-and-forth trading in the coming days and weeks -- and may well see a pullback when trading resumes Tuesday -- as investors work through their concerns about the banking sector, the stagnant credit markets and the overall economy.

John Lynch, chief market analyst for Evergreen Investments in Charlotte, N.C., said Monday's rally was encouraging but he doubted it signaled the worst has passed.

"My screen is completely green and I love that, but I'm not doing any backflips yet. We still have many challenges up ahead," Lynch said, noting the ongoing strains in credit markets and forecasts for poor corporate earnings for 2009.

Denis Amato, chief investment officer at Ancora Advisors, said it's too soon to say whether the market has started to carve out a bottom and that the credit markets where many companies turn for day-to-day loans will need to loosen for stocks to hold their gains. With the U.S. bond markets and banks closed Monday for Columbus Day, it was difficult for investors to gauge the reaction of the credit markets to actions by major governments.

He said the severity of the selling last week was one possible signal that the market might be nearing a bottom and that the stepped up intervention of the government is a welcome sign for the markets.

"I think we had enough negatives last week that if the government steps in we could have a pretty nice run. Is it off to the races? No, I don't think so. We have a lot of stuff to work through."

The market did appear to take heart when the Bush administration said it is moving quickly to implement its $700 billion rescue program, including consulting with law firms about the mechanics of buying ownership shares in a broad number of banks to help revive the stagnant credit markets and in turn get the economy moving again.

Neel Kashkari, the assistant Treasury secretary who is interim head of the program, said in a speech Monday officials were also developing guidelines to govern the purchase of soured mortgage-related assets. However, he gave few details about how the program will actually buy bad assets and bank stock.

A relatively tame finish to Friday's session and a weekend off gave analysts and investors some time to reassess last week's tumultuous trading. And stock prices that were decimated by frenetic selling are now looking attractive.

Jim King, chief investment officer at National Penn Investors Trust Co., said the fear that took hold of the markets last week was overwrought and could signal that a bottom is near. When selling turns so frenetic that it hits a broad swath of stocks indiscriminately, as it did last week, many market watchers say a market low is at hand. That creates opporunity, King noted.

"We have exceptional companies at fire sale prices," he said.

Still, King cautioned that any market rebound likely will be choppy.

"Even if this is the beginning of a recovery we're not just going to have up markets from here on in," he said. "We're not through the woods. We think there is collateral damage from this debacle." King pointed to an increase in unemployment and nervousness among consumers that could, for example, hurt retailers and in turn, take stocks lower.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 936.42, or 11.08 percent, to 9,387.61. The Dow's previous record for a one-day point gain was 499.19, or 4.93 percent, on March 16, 2000.

Broader stock indicators also jumped Monday. The S&P 500 index advanced 104.13, or 11.58 percent, to 1,003.35; it was the biggest point gain ever for the S&P 500, eclipsing the 66.33, or 4.76 percent, jump it had on March 16, 2000. It was the biggest percentage gain for the index since March 15, 1933, when it surged 16.6 percent.

The Nasdaq rose 194.74, or 11.81 percent, to 1,844.25, its 10th biggest point gain; during the dot-com boom, the index soared as much as 324.83 in one day. Its percentage gain Monday was second to the 14.2 percent logged Jan. 3, 2001, the same day that the Nasdaq set its record for a one-day point gain.

About 3,030 stocks advanced on the New York Stock Exchange, while only about 160 declined -- a reversal from last week, when declining stocks overwhelmed the gainers. But the trading volume of 1.82 billion shares was lighter than it had been last week, suggesting there was less conviction in the buying than during last week's selling.

Lynch described the mood among investors as "relaxed" compared to the hysteria of last week's crushing losses.

Wall Street was cheered by word from the Bank of England that it would use up to $63 billion to help the three largest British banks strengthen their balance sheets.

The Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank also jointly announced plans to work together to provide as much short-term funding as necessary to help revive lending.

After a series of weekend meetings in Washington of heads of the Group of Seven nations, the gains in global markets signaled that investors found comfort from the actions and pledges coming from government officials.

The surge in stocks comes after a dismal week on Wall Street that erased an estimated $2.4 trillion in shareholder wealth. The Dow, after eight consecutive daily losses that totaled just under 2,400, or 22.1 percent, finished at its lowest level since April 2003, and also suffered its worst weekly percentage loss ever, a fall of 18.2 percent.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each lost 15.3 percent last week.

Recoveries from past crashes have taken considerable time. When the market crashed Oct. 19, 1987, sending the Dow down 508 points to 1,738.34, the blue chips had lost 938 points, or 36.1 percent, since reaching a then-record close of 2,722.42 on Aug. 25, 1987. It took just over 15 months for the Dow to get back to its pre-crash level, and almost two years to the day -- Aug. 24, 1989 -- to reach a new closing high, 2,734.64.

The Dow has an even larger percentage drop to regain this time. By Friday's close, the average had fallen 5,713 points, or 40.3 percent, from its record finish of 14,165.43 a year earlier, on Oct. 9, 2007. More recently, it has had fallen 2,970, or 26 percent, from its close before the Sept. 15 collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the event that triggered the freeze-up in the credit markets and that sent stocks plunging.

Investors have worried that banks' reluctance to lend to one another would imperil economic activity by making it harder and more expensive for businesses and consumers to get a loan. The mid-September bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. exposed major fault lines in the credit market as investors lost money on bad debt. That triggered a tightening of lending conditions.

"Everybody is basically waiting on the decision on where they're going to inject cash," Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Canaccord Adams in New York, said of Bush administration officials. He said with the bond markets closed, U.S. government officials are likely holding off on announcement of details about where it might invest money until all major global markets are open.

Rovelli said that a sustainable advance on Wall Street could prove elusive.

"Everybody knew that we were going to have an up day eventually," he said, warning that the rally doesn't necessarily signal an end of the market's troubles.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Light, sweet crude rose $3.49 to $81.19 on the New York Mercantile Exchange after oil fell to its lowest level in 13 months last week.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 48.41, or 9.27 percent, to 570.89.

 

[bigdog]

NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

Wall Street ended a relatively calm session with a moderate loss. The Dow closed down 76 points a day after its record 936-point jump. Investors, while pleased with the government's plans to spend $250 billion to buy stock in private banks, decided to cash in some of their profits from the previous day's massive advance.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 76.62, or 0.82 percent, to 9,310.99. Broader stock indicators also declined. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5.34, or 0.53 percent, to 998.01, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 65.24, or 3.54 percent, to 1,779.01.

It was the first time in nine sessions that the Dow Jones industrial average didn't close up or down in triple digits although it did swing in a 700-point range.

The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -76.62 points -0.82% on Tuesday October 14
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 9,310.99 -76.62 -0.82%
Nasdaq 1,779.01 -65.24 -3.54%
S&P 500 998.01 -5.34 -0.53%
30-yr Bond 4.26% +0.12

NYSE Volume 8,195,901,500
Nasdaq Volume 2,974,378,500

Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,394.21 +137.31 +3.23%
DAX 5,199.19 +136.74 +2.70%
CAC 40 3,628.52 +97.02 +2.75%


Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 9,447.57 +1,171.14 +14.15%
Hang Seng 16,832.88 +520.72 +3.19%
Straits Times 2,128.31 +51.96

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081014/wall_street.html
Stocks pull back as profit-taking sets in
Tuesday October 14, 5:14 pm ET
Stocks pull back as investors take profits after government plan to buy stakes in US banks


NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street ended a relatively calm session with a moderate loss. The Dow closed down 76 points a day after its record 936-point jump. Investors, while pleased with the government's plans to spend $250 billion to buy stock in private banks, decided to cash in some of their profits from the previous day's massive advance.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow fell 76.62, or 0.82 percent, to 9,310.99. Broader stock indicators also declined. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5.34, or 0.53 percent, to 998.01, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 65.24, or 3.54 percent, to 1,779.01.

It was the first time in nine sessions that the Dow Jones industrial average didn't close up or down in triple digits although it did swing in a 700-point range.

Big advances by many bank stocks helped offset some of the declines in the Dow and the Standard & Poor's 500 index, giving them a better showing for the day than the Nasdaq composite index, which fell more than 3 percent. But the Nasdaq, dominated by technology stocks, also lagged ahead of a profit report from Intel Corp.

Profit-taking started creeping into the market after the Dow surged more than 400 points at the opening. Wall Street is expected to see jittery trading in the weeks and perhaps months ahead because of worries about the economy; stocks also tend to ratchet up and down when they're recovering from a plunge like the one Wall Street has suffered in the past two weeks.

"We don't know if the bottom is in," said Lincoln Anderson, chief investment officer and chief economist at LPL Financial in Boston, referring to the market's advance Monday after huge losses last week. "We certainly expect heightened volatility for a fair amount of time while we sort out just exactly what's going on."

Investors had snapped up stocks Monday in anticipation of the government's plan. President Bush said Tuesday the government will use a portion of the $700 billion financial bailout passed at the start of the month to inject capital into the nation's major banks, which have been slammed by souring mortgage investments. The move follows a similar one announced Monday by European governments to invest about $2 trillion in their own troubled banks.

Investors are hoping extraordinary steps by government officials will help resuscitate stagnant credit markets.

"The tone is cautious," Anderson said. "I don't think anybody is pile driving into the market and doubling up."

The revised bailout plan differs from the original in that it aims to recapitalize banks, not just buy the troubled assets off their books at prices that could leave the banks with losses.

"This begins to penetrate the core of the problem," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at New York-based brokerage house Avalon Partners Inc.

But, he said, "there will be a point in time where the euphoria of the bailout plan begins to wear off and the market begins to face reality. And that reality is likely to be a sour earnings season, and that the economy is in recession."

Though the major indexes showed losses, advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 9 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.88 billion shares.

Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research, said investors pleased about the government's bank plan gravitated toward industrial companies, seeing them as more likely to benefit from a revived credit market than technology companies. That helped send the Nasdaq lower.

"People are thinking more of the blue chips are going to respond," he said.

Light, sweet crude fell $2.56 to settle at $78.63 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices declined.

The Dow remains 34.3 percent below its Oct. 9, 2007 record close of 14,164.53, and could fluctuate around these levels as investors await signs of stabilization in the housing and job markets.

Cardillo said he believes the worst lows are behind the stock market, but other analysts have shied away from saying Wall Street had reached a bottom. The Dow has not yet fallen below its low during the last bear market, the closing level of 7,286.27 on Oct. 9, 2002.

Investors have been trying to regain their footing after a gruesome week that obliterated about $2.4 trillion in shareholder wealth. The Dow came off an eight-day losing streak that amassed point losses of just under 2,400, or 22.1 percent, bringing the blue-chip index to its lowest level since April 2003. That 18.2 percent weekly plunge in the Dow was the worst in the index's 112-year history.

Following the Columbus Day holiday, the U.S. government bond markets reopened Tuesday and indicated that investors' desire for safe assets remains strong though overall demand appeared to ease. The three-month Treasury bill's yield rose to 0.27 percent from 0.21 percent late Friday, and the 10-year note's yield rose to 4.07 percent from 3.86 percent.

Banks appear to be growing somewhat more willing to lend to one another. The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, for three-month dollar loans fell to 4.64 percent from 4.75 percent. Libor is important because many consumer loans, including about half of all adjustable-rate mortgages, are tied to it.

The recent sell-off in stocks arrived amid a seize-up in lending, as banks and investors around the world grew fearful about the creditworthiness of other institutions following the September bankruptcy of investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the subsequent failure of thrift bank Washington Mutual Inc. Tight lending conditions make it harder and more expensive for businesses and consumers to get a loan, a headwind for economic growth.

Robert Dye, senior economist at PNC Financial Services Group, said the government's actions likely will help revive the credit markets, where many businesses turn to fund day-to-day operations, but that investors' focus in the past month about the soundness of the financial system had left little time to address other concerns about trouble in the economy.

"These steps are not going to turn the real economy on a dime," he said of the government intervention. "The two keys to the fundamental economy right now are the job market and the housing market and both of those remain distressed."

"There isn't one bottom here. We're talking about multiple events. There will be a bottom in financial market and another in the labor market and one in the housing market. And they're not going to all line up," Dye said.

Many of the nine banks the government identified as ones in which it will invest advanced Tuesday. Among them, Citigroup Inc. rose $2.87, or 18 percent, to $18.62, while Bank of America Corp. rose $3.74, or 16 percent, to $26.53. JP Morgan Chase & Co. fell $1.28, or 3.1 percent, to $40.71.

Intel Corp. fell $1.06, or 6.2 percent, to $15.93 ahead of its quarterly earnings report, which arrived after the closing bell on Wall Street. The chip maker's earnings topped Wall Street's forecast though the company warned the financial crisis is making it difficult to project results and that its fourth-quarter sales could fall short of Wall Street estimates.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 16.24, or 2.84 percent, to 554.65.

Asian and European markets shot higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 3.19 percent, after a more than 10 percent increase on Monday. Japan's Nikkei index, catching up from the country's market holiday Monday, jumped 14.15 percent -- the largest increase ever.

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 jumped 3.23 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 2.70 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 2.75 percent.

 

[bigdog]

NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

Investors agonizing over a faltering economy sent the stock market plunging all over again Wednesday after two disheartening reports convinced Wall Street that a recession, if not already here, is inevitable. The market's despair -- fed by a stream of disheartening economic data -- propelled the Dow Jones industrials down 733 points to their second-largest point loss ever, and the major indexes all lost at least 7 percent.

The slide meant that the Dow, which lost 76 points on Tuesday, has given back all but 126 points of its record 936-point gain of Monday, which came on optimism about the banking system in response to the government's plans to invest up to $250 billion in financial institutions.

The NYSE DOW closed LOWER -733.08 points -7.87% on Wednesday October 15
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,577.91 -733.08 -7.87%
Nasdaq 1,628.33 -150.68 -8.47%
S&P 500 907.84 -90.17 -9.03%
30-yr Bond 4.25% -0.01

NYSE Volume 6,505,523,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,581,825,750

Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 4,079.59 -314.62 -7.16%
DAX 4,861.63 -337.56 -6.49%
CAC 40 3,381.07 -247.45 -6.82%

Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 9,547.47 +99.90 +1.06%
Hang Seng 15,998.30 -834.58 -4.96%
Straits Times 2,037.58 -90.73

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081015/wall_street.html
Dow plunges 733 as new data points to recession
Wednesday October 15, 5:13 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Dow plunges 733 as new data suggests a recession, if not already here, is inevitable

NEW YORK (AP) -- Investors agonizing over a faltering economy sent the stock market plunging all over again Wednesday after two disheartening reports convinced Wall Street that a recession, if not already here, is inevitable. The market's despair -- fed by a stream of disheartening economic data -- propelled the Dow Jones industrials down 733 points to their second-largest point loss ever, and the major indexes all lost at least 7 percent.

The slide meant that the Dow, which lost 76 points on Tuesday, has given back all but 126 points of its record 936-point gain of Monday, which came on optimism about the banking system in response to the government's plans to invest up to $250 billion in financial institutions.

Wednesday's selloff began after the government's report that retail sales plunged in September by 1.2 percent -- almost double the 0.7 percent drop analysts expected -- made it clear that consumers are reluctant to spend amid a shaky economy and a punishing stock market.

The Commerce Department report was sobering because consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity. The reading came as Wall Street was refocusing its attention on the faltering economy following stepped up government efforts to revive the stagnant lending markets.

Then, during the afternoon, the release of the Beige Book, the assessment of business conditions from the Federal Reserve, added to investors' angst. The report found that the economy continued to slow in the early fall as financial and credit problems took a turn for the worse. The central bank's report supported the market's belief that difficulties in obtaining loans have choked growth in wide swaths of the economy.

"Even though the banking sector may be returning to normal, the economy still isn't. The economy continues to face a host of other problems," said Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist at ChannelCapitalResearch.com. "We're in for a tough ride."

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke offered a similar opinion, warning in a speech Wednesday that patching up the credit markets won't provide an instantaneous jolt to the economy.

"Stabilization of the financial markets is a critical first step, but even if they stabilize as we hope they will, broader economic recovery will not happen right away," he told the Economic Club of New York.

Analysts have warned that the market will see continued volatility as it tries to recover from the devastating losses of the last month, including the nearly 2,400-point plunge in the Dow over the eight sessions that ended Friday. Such turbulence is typical after a huge decline, but the market's anxiety about the economy was also expected to cause gyrations in the weeks and months ahead.

Selling accelerated in the last hour of trading, a common occurrence during the eight-days of heavy declines. One reason for the heavy selling: Mutual funds need to unload stock to pay investors who are bailing out of the market.

Investors apparently have come to believe that Monday's big rebound was overdone given the problems elsewhere in the economy.

"It really doesn't come as a shock after Monday's gains were I think a little bit excessive," said Charles Norton, principal and portfolio manager at GNICapital, referring to the market's pullback.

He contends that the government has taken so many steps that investors must now wait for some of the actions to help steady the economy.

"It seems like all the tools in the tool chest have mostly been used now and now it's back to reality," he said. "We're still faced with the fact that the economy is slowing and earnings aren't very good."

Doubts about the economy were already surfacing in Tuesday's session, when investors halted an early rally and began collecting profits from stocks' big Monday advance. Wednesday's data confirmed the market's fears that the economy is likely to remain weak for some time, and that corporate profits are likely to suffer.

Mark Coffelt, portfolio manager at Empiric Funds, said moves by European and U.S. government officials to begin investing directly in banks are easing worries about credit. But the steep pullback in stocks that began last month after the credit markets lurched to a near standstill has now created worries that consumers will spend less after seeing the value of their retirement accounts and other investments drop.

"Markets abhor uncertainty and so we got a lot of that resolved this weekend and we got the reward Monday but now people are saying 'OK, now what is the economy going to do?'"

"We're definitely going to get a slowdown from the terror of going through that," Coffelt said.

According to preliminary calculations, a sell-off that intensified late in the session left Dow down 733.08, or 7.87 percent, at 8,577.91. On Monday, Sept. 29, the Dow had its largest point drop 777.68. Wednesday's percentage drop was the biggest since Oct. 26, 1987, which followed Black Monday, the Oct. 19 crash that sent the blue chips down 22.6 percent in a single session.

The Dow's massive decline Wednesday marks its 20th triple-digit move in 23 sessions.

Broader stock indicators also skidded. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 90.17, or 9.03 percent, to 907.84, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 150.68, or 8.47 percent, to 1,628.33.

With Wednesday's drop the resumed its string of triple-digit moves.

The stock market was trying to recover from last week's terrible run, which erased about $2.4 trillion in shareholder wealth and brought the Dow to its lowest level since April 2003. The tumble occurred amid a seize-up in lending stemming from a lack of trust among institutions in response to the bankruptcy of investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the failure of Washington Mutual Inc., which had been the nation's largest thrift.

The credit markets have been showing tentative signs of recovery, though they remain strained, and demand for safe assets remains high. The three-month Treasury bill on Wednesday was yielding 0.33 percent, up from 0.22 percent on Tuesday. Overall yields remain low, showing that demand is so high that investors are willing to earn meager returns as long as their principal is preserved.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.98 percent from 4.03 percent late Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the producer price index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, fell 0.4 percent in September, driven by lower energy costs. That decline matched analysts' expectations.

About 350 stocks advanced at the New York Stock Exchange, while about 2,800 declined. Volume came to 1.68 billion shares.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 52.54, or 9.47 percent, to 502.11.

Light, sweet crude fell $4.09 to settle at $74.54 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In Asian trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost nearly 5 percent after rising more than 13 percent the previous two days. Markets in Australia, South Korea, China, India and Singapore also sank. Japan's Nikkei 225 index, however, ended up 1.1 percent after soaring 14 percent in the previous session.

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 7.08 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 6.49 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 6.82 percent.

 

[bigdog]

NYSE Dow Jones finished today at:
Source: http://finance.yahoo.com

Wall Street turned in another stunning finish Thursday and extended its unprecedented streak of volatility -- this time, to the upside -- as investors spent a fractious session again struggling with fears about a recession but giving in to a last-hour wave of buying. The Dow Jones industrials ended up 400 points, after falling 380 in the opening minutes of the session.

It is clear that investors are reacting in the extreme to any negative economic news, including disappointing numbers Thursday on industrial production that sent stocks skidding. But traders are also responding to the market's own dynamics, and when there was no late-session plunge, as there was on Wednesday, buyers piled in before the close.


The NYSE DOW closed HIGHER +401.35 points +4.68% on Thursday October 16
Sym Last........ ........Change..........
Dow 8,979.26 +401.35 +4.68%
Nasdaq 1,717.71 +89.38 +5.49%
S&P 500 946.43 +38.59 +4.25%
30-yr Bond 4.2270% -0.0210

NYSE Volume 8,103,451,500
Nasdaq Volume 3,419,793,500

Europe
Symbol... Last...... .....Change.......
FTSE 100 3,861.39 -218.20 -5.35%
DAX 4,622.81 -238.82 -4.91%
CAC 40 3,181.00 -200.07 -5.92%

Asia
Symbol..... Last...... .....Change.......
Nikkei 225 8,458.45 -1,089.02 -11.41%
Hang Seng 15,230.52 -767.78 -4.80%
Straits Times 1,941.12 -118.27 -5.74%

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081016/wall_street.html
Down ends up 401 to extend streak of volatility
Thursday October 16, 5:10 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer
Dow ends up 401 in another stunning finish to extend unprecedented streak of volatility

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street turned in another stunning finish Thursday and extended its unprecedented streak of volatility -- this time, to the upside -- as investors spent a fractious session again struggling with fears about a recession but giving in to a last-hour wave of buying. The Dow Jones industrials ended up 400 points, after falling 380 in the opening minutes of the session.

It is clear that investors are reacting in the extreme to any negative economic news, including disappointing numbers Thursday on industrial production that sent stocks skidding. But traders are also responding to the market's own dynamics, and when there was no late-session plunge, as there was on Wednesday, buyers piled in before the close.

Analysts expect this extraordinary volatility to continue, and warned that just as Monday's huge 936-point surge in the Dow was overdone, there was little reason to trust that Thursday's gains would hold.

A rise in shares of Yahoo Inc. over renewed speculation it could cement a deal with one-time suitor Microsoft Corp. helped push the technology-laden Nasdaq composite index up more than 5 percent.

Stocks spent much of the session seeking a direction after Wednesday's steep dive, which took the Dow down 733 points in response to a stream of bad economic news that underscored the likelihood that the country is either in a recession or will be in one -- and that the downturn could be severe. There was no news Thursday to counter those fears, but there were plenty of gyrations in stock prices and the major indexes.

"We're going to continue to see volatility. You're not going to see 50-point ranges, you're going to see two-three-four hundred point ranges," said Woody Dorsey, president of Market Semiotics, a financial forecasting firm in Castleton, Vt.

Investors initially appeared cheered by a better-than-expected reading from the Labor Department on consumer prices. The flat reading on September's Consumer Price Index compares with August's 0.1 percent decline, which was the first in nearly two years. The core index, which eliminates food and energy prices, rose 0.1 percent. Economists had been expecting CPI would rise to 0.1 percent and that core CPI would increase 0.2 percent.

Meanwhile, a weekly snapshot of the job market showed that first-time claims for unemployment benefits declined last week. The Labor Department said new claims fell 16,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted level of 461,000 -- below the 475,000 that had been anticipated. Still, total unemployment remains above the level that economists often associate with recession.

And the Philadelphia Federal Reserve said regional manufacturing conditions weakened in October. The bank's regional index came in at a negative 37.5 compared with a positive 3.8 for September. That news followed word from the Federal Reserve that production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities plunged 2.8 percent last month, on top of a 1 percent drop in August. While the Fed estimated that disruptions related to hurricanes accounted for about 2.25 percentage points of the drop in industrial production, the news was still discouraging for market that is hypersensitive to anything negative about the economy.

Subodh Kumar, global investment strategist at Toronto-based Subodh Kumar & Associates, said markets are jittery because many investors' expectations about the economy were too rosy heading into the summer and the monthlong freeze in the credit markets has dealt the economy another blow, making it harder and more expensive for many businesses and consumers to get loans.

He said the volatility buffeting the markets reflects investors tinkering with their portfolios to match their more sober take on the health of the economy and some investors simply cashing out. That means some vehicles like mutual funds and hedge funds are entering a market already short on buyers and being forced to sell.

Because of investors' great anxiety about the economy, Wall Street is expected to remain extremely volatile, as it has been since last month when the credit markets tightened and stocks plunged. The gyrations this week have been particularly intense, with the Dow industrials soaring 936 points Monday and falling 733 Wednesday following a weak report on retail sales and a disheartening assessment of the economy from the Federal Reserve.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow rose 401.35, or 4.68 percent, to 8,979.26.

Broader stock indicators also jumped. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 38.59, or 4.25 percent, to 946.43, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 89.38, or 5.49 percent, to 1,717.71.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 2 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 2 billion shares.

While the credit markets are performing better than they were last week given several unprecedented actions by governments around the world -- including the decision to buy stakes in private banks -- they are hardly operating normally.

Treasury bills, considered the safest assets around, remained in demand. The three-month Treasury bill on Thursday was yielding 0.49 percent, higher than 0.20 percent on Wednesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.97 percent from 3.98 percent late Wednesday.

Tom Higgins, chief economist at Payden & Rygel Investment Management in Los Angeles, said some professional investors are being forced to turn to the stock market because other markets remain largely paralyzed.

"The reason we're seeing volatility in the stock market is because it's the one market that's trading right now. If you have to liquefy your assets and you need access to cash immediately then the market you're going to do it in is the equity market and that's what I think is pushing around the indexes at this point."

Jim Ferrare, senior portfolio manager at Pinnacle Associates, said the changes that will result from government actions around the world to revive the credit markets will take some time to emerge, letting uncertainty linger on Wall Street.

"Volatility is here for a while but also more importantly the change is not an overnight change," he said, referring to the government's steps to restore normal levels of lending.

Indeed, the Wall Street's fear gauge rose to a record level Thursday. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, known as the VIX, rose to an all-time intraday high of 81.17, its first-ever move over 80. The VIX, which usually trades below 50, tracks options activity for the companies that make up the S&P 500.

Gains by Yahoo helped push the technology sector and the Nasdaq higher. The stock rose after Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer raised the possibility of renewing his attempt to buy the Internet search company.

In a presentation made at a Florida technology conference, Ballmer said a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo could "still make sense economically."

Microsoft issued a statement saying it has no interest in acquiring Yahoo and that the two companies aren't in talks. Earlier attempts to acquire Yahoo fell through.

But it was enough to help Yahoo shares, which early in the session fell to $11.37, their lowest level in five years. The stock rose $1.24, or 10.6 percent, to $12.99, while Microsoft rose $1.53, or 6.8 percent, to $24.19.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies.

Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell $4.69 to settle at $69.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement price since Aug. 23, 2007.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 34.46, or 6.86 percent, to 536.57.

In Asian trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 4.8 percent, and Japan's Nikkei index dropped 11.41 percent, following the pattern of trading in the U.S. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 5.65 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 4.91 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 5.92 percent.

 

[Aussiejeff]

In my totally dumb opinion, given the pathetic and bleak economic news out of the US last night, I think this looks like a big Yankee shorts-covering rally.... resulting in a probable Friday "sucker rally" for ASX'ers?

Meh. What would I know.