Dow plunges more than 660 to fall below 9,000

[LogansPapa]

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20080925/i/r3357768054.jpg?x=400&y=321&q=85&sig=gAPL_HD.kENYkvwtWtyOpA--

Thursday October 9, 4:13 pm ET
By Tim Paradis, AP Business Writer

Dow falls more than 660 points to trade below 9,000 in late afternoon sell-off

NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks plunged in the final minutes of trading Thursday, sending the Dow Jones industrials down more than 600 points to their 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 fell more than 6 percent.

The selloff 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.

General Motors Corp. led the Dow lower, falling about 30 percent.

The Dow fell more than 660 points, or 7.2 percent, to about 8,586 in late dealings. The blue chips hadn't fallen below the 9,000 level since Aug. 6, 2003.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081009/wall_street.html?.v=33

[Cold Warrior]

STFU you doom-and-gloomer. You don't know shit about stocks. I'm the three time winner of the American Idol Stock Market Whiz contest!!! And I know that everything's just fine, you dumb shit. And my house value just went up and the economy's booming here. Besides, everything's Jimmy Carter's fault.

[cat714]

There are people out there who are hurting through no-fault of their own such as job lost due to the collapse of big corporations. I feel bad for those folks. Wall Street and lenders got greedy, but so did the American consumer. There are very few who talk about personal responsibility these days. I don't feel sorry for people who live beyond their means. People who had tons of equity in their home used it like an ATM to buy luxury cars, flat screen TVs, designer clothes, vacations and other stupid crap. Other people bought more home than they could afford because of image or they thought they could flip the house. What took 20-30 years to acquire in previous generations, today's generation wants it all right now...instant gratification.

Here in Orange County, the OC Register used to feature different families who were about to lose their home. Well, when you read the articles, you can see why and how stupid these people were. Instead of getting sympathy, most of comments were negative towards these families.

The stock market dropping like this doesn't bother me even with my IRA down 50%. I'm actually buying up more of the stock. Warren buffet is out there buying up preferred stock like crazy because of all the bargains out there. The doom and gloom attitude is for those who don't understand the economy and have no faith in the fundamentals of our financial system.

[Cold Warrior]

There are people out there who are hurting through no-fault of their own such as job lost due to the collapse of big corporations. I feel bad for those folks. Wall Street and lenders got greedy, but so did the American consumer. There are very few who talk about personal responsibility these days. I don't feel sorry for people who live beyond their means. People who had tons of equity in their home used it like an ATM to buy luxury cars, flat screen TVs, designer clothes, vacations and other stupid crap. Other people bought more home than they could afford because of image or they thought they could flip the house. What took 20-30 years to acquire in previous generations, today's generation wants it all right now...instant gratification.

Here in Orange County, the OC Register used to feature different families who were about to lose their home. Well, when you read the articles, you can see why and how stupid these people were. Instead of getting sympathy, most of comments were negative towards these families.

The stock market dropping like this doesn't bother me even with my IRA down 50%. I'm actually buying up more of the stock. Warren buffet is out there buying up preferred stock like crazy because of all the bargains out there. The doom and gloom attitude is for those who don't understand the economy and have no faith in the fundamentals of our financial system.

I understand that, on average, what stocks you bought yesterday, you lost around 7% on today. I work on Wall Street. I understand a few of the dynamics.

[LogansPapa]

People who had tons of equity in their home used it like an ATM to buy luxury cars, flat screen TVs, designer clothes, vacations and other stupid crap. Other people bought more home than they could afford because of image or they thought they could flip the house. What took 20-30 years to acquire in previous generations, today's generation wants it all right now...instant gratification.

Gee - didn't another guy in here from the OC say that home equity was the "single engine driving the GWB economy?":confused:

[cat714]

Gee - didn't another guy in here from the OC say that home equity was the "single engine driving the GWB economy?":confused:

Who said that???

[LogansPapa]

Who said that???

Me. ;)

[cat714]

I understand that, on average, what stocks you bought yesterday, you lost around 7% on today. I work on Wall Street. I understand a few of the dynamics.

I don't work on Wall Street, but I work for an investment banking firm, which is a term often misused in certain industries. My firm is like a Goldman Sachs, but on a much smaller scale and we work only with institutions, not individuals. As a long term investor, I don't worry about what happens now. If you were hoping to make a fast buck being a day trader, then you're screwed right now. Unless I sell my stock, I have lost nothing. I don't know what you do on Wall Street or what industry you work in, but it sounds like you don't believe the market will make a rebound.

[Cold Warrior]

I don't work on Wall Street, but I work for an investment banking firm, which is a term often misused in certain industries. My firm is like a Goldman Sachs, but on a much smaller scale and we work only with institutions, not individuals. As a long term investor, I don't worry about what happens now. If you were hoping to make a fast buck being a day trader, then you're screwed right now. Unless I sell my stock, I have lost nothing. I don't know what you do on Wall Street or what industry you work in, but it sounds like you don't believe the market will make a rebound.

No, you're incorrect. I do believe that this market will rebound (I think the bottom, as I've said here before, is probably 8). However, you have lost, given the assumption of a steadily progressive incoime of x% per year. You have been set back several years in the process. You know that, as a yardstick, a market that has lost 33% will need to recover 50% (of the original value) just to be even.

I've done work for some institutional funds management companies as well. One, in fact, that gave away a fairly large check representing an investor institution's pension funds to a rather squirrley kind of CEO. :D

[LogansPapa]

I don't know what you do on Wall Street or what industry you work in, but it sounds like you don't believe the market will make a rebound.

So I’m not going to see grandma and grandpa pushing the Mexicans out from behind the counter at McDonalds cause the have to go back to work, at 75, because their fucking 401k in the toilet bowl?

[LogansPapa]

http://ichart.finance.yahoo.com/z?s=F&z=b&t=1d&c=GM

[Hawkgirl]

SO, best sectors for a bear market?:confused:

[Lager]

SO, best sectors for a bear market?:confused:

I have heard that consumer staples are good in a bear market. Some blue chips have gone down to the point where their dividends are pretty attractive. Now might also be a good time to get into natural resource stocks, or at least when we are close to a bottom. For the time being, heavy in cash is a good position obviously.

[Hawkgirl]

How about renewable energy companies, with everything "going green"...I wonder if it's a good time to start looking into coal, solar, ethanol..etc type funds?

Most of my investments are in real estate...but I have some cash on the sidelines waiting to jump in...Just don't know where yet.

[Lager]

Jim Jubak who writes a financial column for MSN Money, likes renewables like solar, once things level out a bit. Especially if Obama wins the election. This was his comment:



They've been beaten up badly along with the rest of the energy sector. But with new government subsidies likely to kick in sooner than expected and an end to the silicon-wafer shortage, these stocks could show gains of 20% or more in 2009 -- even with a global economic slowdown in the cards for the first half of the year.


Of course, that's assuming things get back to a semblance of normality.

[Hawkgirl]

I just looked up Morningstar's highest rated funds and ProFund's inverse index funds have skyrocketed since inception...especially this last week.
15K minimum..time to jump in and hope the bear market lasts 6 months?

I never dealt with inverse funds...very attractive right now if that's where we are headed.

[cat714]

No, you're incorrect. I do believe that this market will rebound (I think the bottom, as I've said here before, is probably 8). However, you have lost, given the assumption of a steadily progressive incoime of x% per year. You have been set back several years in the process. You know that, as a yardstick, a market that has lost 33% will need to recover 50% (of the original value) just to be even.

I've done work for some institutional funds management companies as well. One, in fact, that gave away a fairly large check representing an investor institution's pension funds to a rather squirrley kind of CEO. :D

Ok, so you're saying the market hasn't bottomed out, but the rest of what you are saying doesn't make much sense. It's been a long day so I'll revisit this thread after some rest and relaxation. :D

[LogansPapa]

President on the tube now giving his plan to fix things. When you can’t really think of a new plan or something original to say - reiterate the obvious. Remember - we’re supposed to have confidence in him, as our leader, trying to imitate FDR. :rolleyes:

[LogansPapa]

http://ichart.finance.yahoo.com/instrument/1.0/%5EDJI/chart;range=1d/image;size=239x110

Wonder how many more days until Toyota buys General Motors?

[Gingersnap]

Hey! On the the plus side, those of us who still have money can go back to mocking the Canadians for their toy "dollars". :D

[ralph wiggum]

Now the Dow is up about 100 points for the day and still heading upward. :confused:

[LogansPapa]

Stocks end wild session mixed after 8-day slide

Friday October 10, 4:28 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 left stocks with a widely mixed finish. Late-day buying helped curb steep losses and gave the market its best showing of the week as investors snapped up bargains among stocks devastated by seven days of massive losses.

The Nasdaq composite index finished with a modest gain, while the Dow Jones industrials lost 128 points, a relatively mild drop after the blue chips fell 2,271 during the previous eight trading days. Still, the Dow, which traded in a range of 1,019 points Friday, had its worst week ever, as did the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

The hair-trigger mentality of the market 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.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081010/wall_street.html

[MrsSmith]

I'm glad I won't be retiring for twenty years or so...but kinda wish I had money to buy while everything is bottomed out. ;)

[MrsSmith]

All Time - Historical

Greatest DJIA Daily % Losses

Rank Date Close # Drop Percentage Drop
1 12/12/1914 54.00 17.42 24.39%
2 10/19/1987 1,738.74 508.00 22.61%
3 10/28/1929 260.64 38.33 12.82%
4 10/29/1929 230.07 30.57 11.73%
5 11/6/1929 232.13 25.55 9.92%

Greatest DJIA Daily Point Losses

Rank Date Close Net Chg % Chg

1 9/29/2008 10,365.45 -777.68 -6.98
2 9/17/2001 8,920.70 -684.81 -7.13
3 4/14/2000 10,305.78 -617.77 -5.66
4 10/27/1997 7,161.14 -554.26 -7.18
5 8/31/1998 7,539.06 -512.62 -6.37

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,436025,00.html

Maybe the reports of the demise of the US are somewhat premature?