S&P Downgrade update! U.S. Market falls 200+

[sfpcjock]

Thanks for playing!

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jjmU8q32dzSbGq99omTaZpL93IqA?docId=b73b99a307324132bb583ac63279d52b">Stocks fall sharply as Europe worries deepen

By DAVID K. RANDALL, AP Business Writer – 3 hours ago

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks fell sharply Tuesday as worries deepened about Europe's debt crisis and the weak U.S. economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell near a record low and gold rose as investors sought safety.

The Dow Jones Industrial average was down 211 points, or 1.9 percent, at 11,029 at 11:15 a.m. It had been down as many as 307 points earlier. All 30 stocks that make up the average fell.

The S&P 500 lost 23, or 2 percent, to 1,150. The Nasdaq composite fell 43, or 1.7 percent, to 2,437.

Bank stocks fell more than the overall market. Federal regulators filed lawsuits late Friday against 17 major banks, saying they sold Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac billions of dollars worth of mortgage-backed securities that lost value when the housing market collapsed. Bank of America Corp. lost 5 percent. Wells Fargo & Co. and Goldman Sachs fell 3 percent.

The losses came after steep declines in European indexes. The Stoxx 600 Europe index fell 4.1 percent on Monday because of concerns that Europe's debt problems could slow growth around the world. The index fell another 1.4 percent Tuesday. U.S. markets were closed Monday for Labor Day.
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[elleng]

1. S+P didn't do us any favors, but

its not all related to their action; much more going on (unfortunately.)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/09/06/uk-economy-un-report-idUKTRE7852XI20110906

U.N. study savages U.S., European economic policy.

[sfpcjock]

4. It's definitely related. It started here immediately after the downgrade.

Now it is spreading around the world.

[girl gone mad]

7. No, it's not related.

Europe has a major banking crisis on its hands. They've been kicking the can down the road but they are running out of road. The Euro is doomed.

[dkf]

2. And the Republicans gave Obama a hard time over scheduling the jobs speech.

We are so ill served by these clowns. Unbelievable.

Our political gamesmanship will be the downfall of this country.

[snappyturtle]

3. Unfortunately.....you're right. nt

[sfpcjock]

5. It's still down 198.

The high-frequency "traders" on Wall Street will probably pump it up 100 tomorrow and walk away with another tidy profit like today's. It goes down in a panic, some small investors sell at a loss, and offshore hedge funds make another killing. Either way--down or up. Just like all the phony derivatives we've had two recessions now with--one with Reagan, and one with W. It is all mathematically orchestrated to extract and harvest the small investor's money.

Some people "sell in May and go away", but September is usually the worst month for the market. However, we've just had a bad August in addition. That may be why it continues through this month, continuing the trend begun by S&P's recent downgrade of the U.S. credit rating.

[JoePhilly]

6. Its going to bounce around until the elections.

The pattern right now looks like this ... drop to about 11k or a little less, BUY ... get up to 11,500 or so, SELL. I won't be surprised if the range widens to 10,500 and 12k.

But the GOP isn't going to do dick to help the economy.

The left will scream about anything Obama does, or doesn't do, or that they predict he might do, or not do, so no help there ... and then in reality, there is little Obama can do at this point. He has some economic levers he can pull, but the GOP controls the House and their goal is to collapse the economy to the point where US and Chinese works make the same $ amount.

The GOP won't budge, and you can't remove them until 2012 at best.

[sfpcjock]

8. Another smart DUer, Joe :)

The market may even go down in October or oscillate wildly, as you say. That too generates a return. For some few people ;). And then you usually get a Christmas rally, a Spring rally, 'sell in May and go away', etc.

[JoePhilly]

9. Exactly ...

If you have money and the time horizon, you can track various trends ... when we get near a high, sell some to lock in gains. And then on the dips, buy low, and start over.

I've been doing this for about 20 years. Pay attention to the trends quarter, year, 1 year, 3-5 year, pay attention to the political climate, and really watch the ranges. You don't have to speculate wildly.

If you did some selling back in 07 when the dow hit 13k on the way to 14k (for 10 minutes, too high didn't belong there) ... and then you waited to buy back in when the DOW was under 8k, you made a killing.

And that was not hard to do because the drop was FAST. I did take some gains at 13kish, and was holding those, and I would have bought back in at about 10.5k, which was the floor for most of Bush's terms ... but it fell so fast that I waited to see how low it would go.

When Obama came back in, I started to put that cash money back in. Did well.

I get the sense many on DU who scream about the market don't have any investments. Or if they do, they've never thought about how to manage them.

Last summer the DOW was at around 9800 ... and back then I said I could see it reach 12k within a year, but that would be too high, and I'd take some gains if it got near that. And I Did. Then the GOP held the debt ceiling hostage ... and the next phase seems pretty clear.

The government can't do much to make things GO ... the GOP House won't allow it.

Right now ... I am interested in what Obama says Thursday ... if he has some things he can do with no help from congress that could change things.

But the market isn't going to die ... the corporations won't allow that :-)

[sfpcjock]

10. You have more experience than me. Thanks.

If you follow the trends, as you do, and diversify you should make money. I think Cramer says "1 hr of homework/week per stock" and not to have more than 5 stocks or it may become too daunting. I wish more DUer would do it your way so they don't become shark bait :)