Weekend Economists Reminisce: Black Monday October 19, 1987-2012

[Demeter]

15. GE, McDonald's give Wall Street a black eye on '87 crash date

http://news.yahoo.com/ge-mcdonalds-wall-street-black-eye-87-crash-004715829--sector.html

Stocks ended the week on Friday with their worst day since late June after Dow components General Electric and McDonald's, both barometers of the overall economy's health, added to a disappointing earnings season.

Technology shares kept up a pattern of recent weakness, hurt by anemic results from Microsoft and another losing day for Google . The Nasdaq closed down 2.2 percent.

For the Dow, Friday's slide marked its biggest loss since June 21 - with the sell-off coming on the 25th anniversary of Black Monday, when the Dow plunged 22.6 percent in its worst single-day percentage drop ever.

For the week, though, the Dow still managed to squeak out a gain of 0.1 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent despite Friday's losses. Wall Street's mood was sour, given that a large number of companies have fallen short of top-line expectations. Of the 116 S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far, 58 percent have missed on revenue expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data...

LOCALLY, GAS WAS $3.29, A STUNNING DROP IN A WEEK. REASONS? BLAME IT ON THE UPCOMING ELECTION, MY MECHANIC SAYS. I RATHER THINK IT WAS THE REPORT THAT MICHIGAN'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE INCREASED...