Bear Market Worries Rising
January 23, 2008 – 3:09 pmIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Gloomy investors are keeping stocks down, and more professionals are now fearing a bear market.
“You continue to see a handful of buyers come in, but they’re quickly overwhelmed by the sellers,” said Todd Salamone, vice president of research at Schaeffer’s Investment Research in Cincinnati.
In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 172.33, or 1.44 percent, at 11,798.86 after being down as much as 323.29. At its lows of the session, the Dow sat little more than 2 percent away from the 20 percent decline from its October high that would mark a bear market.
Broader stock indicators also skidded. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 22.74, or 1.74 percent, to 1,287.76, and the Nasdaq composite index slid 64.28, or 2.80 percent, to 2,227.99.
Bond prices jumped as more investors sought the safety of government debt. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 3.32 percent from 3.41 percent late Tuesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
Investors have also been turned off by numbers from Apple. Oil is suddenly not a safe sector, and shares in most major oil companies also fell.
Today is far from over, but the Bear argument is gaining ground fast.
If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to the Superior Investor Blog RSS feed!.
