by Zardoz » Fri 03 Aug 2007, 18:32:24
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Roccland', 'T')hat slow crash scenario seems to be slip...slip...slipping away.
Bone crushing thud comes to mind.
Doom, gloom, pestilence, famine, war, death, destruction, etc., etc., etc.:
U.S. Stocks Drop on Credit Woes; Bear Stearns Leads Banks Lower$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')tocks tumbled on evidence losses in the mortgage market may slow the economy and reduce bank profits, sending the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to its worst three-week retreat since 2003.
Bear Stearns Cos., the manager of two hedge funds that collapsed last month, led financial shares to their biggest decline in five years after S&P cut the company's credit outlook. Energy shares dropped to the lowest since May, led by Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., on speculation weaker job growth and falling oil prices will hurt earnings.
The S&P 500 erased its gain for the week, falling 39.14, or 2.7 percent, to 1433.06 in its worst day since Feb. 27. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 281.42, or 2.1 percent, to 13,181.91. The Nasdaq Composite Index sank 64.73, or 2.5 percent, to 2511.25.
The sell-off exacerbated a rout last week that wiped $2.1 trillion in value from global equity markets. Shares declined in Europe, with benchmark indexes dropping in all 18 western European markets except Luxembourg. An index of market volatility in the U.S. rose to a four-year high.
"We're just seeing more and more credit problems,'' said Michael Strauss, who helps manage $40 billion at Commonfund in Wilton, Connecticut. "It's going to be difficult for the market to trade with any confidence.''
Almost 12 stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange as all 24 industry groups in the S&P 500 and all 30 members of the Dow fell.