What Spooked the market today :)?

[ROE]

What Spock the market today ?
down 110 points

 

[prawn_86]

ROE,

In the future it is probably better putting this in an Index thread rather than starting a new thread every time.

thanks

prawn

 

[numbercruncher]

Speaking of Spock, I love that move he has and squeezes the shoulder muscle pressure point incapactitating his adversory!

 

[dj_420]

Not sure, possible comments from Greenspan, coupled with the fact that we were trading higher than other indices when compared to historical levels.

Usually trade very close parity to FTSE but we have been ahead of the rest of the world. Perhaps we slipped back a little realising we were overpriced.

Most likely that ppl concerned about overall economic stability, base metals also off overnight.

 

[adobee]

I was told today is historically the best day to buy shares and sell in march.. historically you cant go wrong now and June ?
could just be an old wives tale ..

 

[karmatik]

I believe inflation for November rose sharply in the US, highest figure since 1973. Maybe Oz market today will reflect US market tonight?

 

[Bomba]

apart from the obvious uncertainty in the markets, i believe being a friday caused some of the drop as people do not want to hold a position over the weekend. If the DOW drops and your money is in cash, you can enjoy your weekend, otherwise you have to stress over the weekend and wait for mondays session.

 

[DB008]

Got this from my broker

This is an Associated Press article
Greenspan: Odds Rising for a Recession
Thursday December 13, 7:00 pm ET
By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer
Greenspan: Odds of a Recessions Are Rising, Economic Growth Is Getting Close to 'Stall Speed'
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says the odds the U.S. will fall into a recession are "clearly rising" and he
believes economic growth is "getting close to stall speed."
Greenspan, who ran the central bank for 18 1/2 years, until early 2006, offered his views on the economy in an interview on NPR News' Morning Edition
that will air on Friday. Excerpts of the interview were released on Thursday.
A severe slump in the housing market, a stubborn credit crisis and turbulence on Wall Street are endangering the country's economic health. Growth in
the current October through December period is expected to have slowed to a feeble pace of just 1.5 percent, or less.
Economists, including Greenspan, have warned that the chances of a recession are growing.
Asked whether the economy will tip into a recession -- something that has not happened since 2001 -- Greenspan said, "It's too soon to say, but the
odds are clearly rising."
He said he felt this way because of the slowing pace of growth. "We are getting close to stall speed," he said. "We are far more vulnerable at levels
where growth is so slow than we would be otherwise," he added. "Indeed, it's like someone who has an immune system that's not working very well is
subject to all sorts of diseases and the economy at this lever of growth is subject to all sorts of shocks."
Greenspan's remarks come just days after the Federal Reserve, under Chairman Ben Bernanke, sliced a key interest rate for a third time this year to
prevent the housing and credit troubles from sinking the economy.
The situation poses the biggest challenge yet to Bernanke since succeeding Greenspan in February 2006.
Some analysts have questioned whether Bernanke waited too long to cut the Fed's key rate and whether he has acted aggressively enough to soothe
the economy's woes. The Fed initially dropped its key rate in September, the first reduction in four years. That was followed up by additional rate cuts in
late October and then again on Tuesday.
Greenspan again rejected criticism that his policy actions helped to feed a housing boom that eventually went bust. Critics say Greenspan held interest
rates too low for too long after the 2001 recession.
To have prevented such euphoria in housing that fed a bubble in prices, Greenspan said the Fed would have had to jack up interest rates so high that it
would have damaged the economy. "That would have broken the back of the economy, and brought the housing boom down," Greenspan said.
MIDDAY NEWS
Resources all

 

[chewy]

Also interesting to read this today from Clifford Bennett - "Global markets seem to be under-estimating the potential for the global economy to remain firm of its own accord in spite of a possible, almost likely hard landing for the US economy. A US slow down to near zero growth in H1, worst case scenario, would see only 0.5% taken from global GDP in 2008, and more probably just 0.3%. "

doesn't sound so bad as a worst case scenario...still you can't control panic/fear from the punters i guess

 

[numbercruncher]

Australia, Japan Money Rates Rise on Credit Crunch (Update1)

By Chris Young

Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Australian money-market rates climbed to the highest since 1996 and Japanese rates held near a 12-year high, indicating a cash injection by global central banks this week has failed to revive confidence in lending.

Australia's one-month bank bill swap rate jumped 17 basis points, or 0.17 percentage point, to 7.37 percent as of 5:54 p.m. in Sydney, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The cost to borrow Japanese yen for three months this week reached the highest since 1995 on speculation the credit squeeze will last into 2008.

Money market rates have risen in Australia since Dec. 12, when central banks in the U.S., Canada and Europe agreed to coordinate efforts to promote lending as credit market losses widened. In Asian emerging markets, rates have been stable as few banks have investments linked to U.S. subprime mortgages.

``These are extraordinary times and I have a very strong sense it is not good,'' said Rory Robertson, an interest-rate strategist at Macquarie Bank Ltd., Australia's largest investment bank, in Sydney. ``This is indicative of the global credit crunch intensifying worldwide. Banks are finding it increasingly difficult to fund new business.''

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a0XG_MvcfdHM&refer=home