Down 300: Economic Data Scares Market

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Source: Fox News

Stocks continued their plunge in afternoon trading Thursday as disappointing news in the retail sector and labor markets sent U.S. stocks ever closer to their lows of the year. The bad news was combined with the Dow and S&P moving through some key technical resistance levels that spurred even more selling.

As of 2:45 p.m. in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 317.29 points, or 2.75%, to 11215.08. The broader S&P 500 Index fell 34.93 points, or 2.74%, to 1240.10, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 66.96 points, or 2.87%, to 2266.81. The consumer-friendly Fox 50 dropped 22.87 points, or 2.43%, to 894.42.

While there were significant losses mostly across the board, some of the Dow components dragging on the market were Caterpillar (CAT), American International Group (AIG), American Express (AXP) and General Motors (GM), which were all down more than 5% each.

Of the thirty members in Dow's benchmark index, only Wal-Mart (WMT) and Coca-Cola (KO) were slightly in the green.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/futures-slip-ahead-labor-reports-retail-sales/

[Epiphany4z]

1. and nobody is looking

it all Palin all the time.

[Cal Carpenter]

2. Maybe it was her speech that freaked out wall street

;)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

3. A moosekiller is just what we need to fix the economy.

[paparush]

4. Palin Speaks..and the Markets Plunge.

[Ghost Dog]

5. Ding!

no, not n/t. This is an ISSUE.

[Joanne98]

6. Bush/McCain/Palin economic policies.

[Plucketeer]

7. Why do I have the phrase:

"The fundamentals of the economy are strong!" ringing in my ears???

[AlphaCentauri]

8. Dow Industrials Fall 340 Points

Stocks on Wall Street plunged on Thursday, but few investors seemed to settle on one reason.

A broad sell-off sent the Dow Jones industrial average down 344.65 points at the close — the index’s worst performance since June — hours after the government reported that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week.

But the sharpest declines came nearly two hours after that report was released, a lag that rarely occurs in today’s overheated financial world. The other financial news of the day, including a $1.70 drop in the price of oil, would usually cheer investors. So what gives?

“I’m trying to answer the same question,” Steve Sachs, who directs trading at Rydex Investments, said. With no clear catalyst, Mr. Sachs pointed out that trading was relatively light on Thursday, which means big trades by a handful of investors can cause major swings.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/business/economy/05stox.html?em

[depakid]

9. That probably ought to read: Palin scares market

As well she should.