Dow is DOWN 207 POINTS at 1:41 EST today .....

[Blackhatjack]

Are we seeing a convergence of many negative factors?

Those who follow the Stock Market closely, do you think this is a blip or the beginning of a trend downward?

[wicket]

1. As Bruce Springsteen sings:

"Going DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN, Going DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN...."

[aquart]

2. eh. we thought it would happen Monday.

[Warpy]

3. OK, now it's got my attention

I'm not yet ready to redon the barrel as evening gown, but a change over 1.5% in a day is remarkable.

We old boomers always knew the stock market would screw us out of the final hope for any sort of retirement. Maybe the inevitable has just started.

Want fries with that?

[Kingofalldems]

4. Stock market novice here

Don't they shut it down at a certain point when it drops quickly?

[magellan]

7. They did that once already, around noon for an hour

I'm not sure if they've collared it again now.

[quinnox]

5. May is historically a bad month for stocks

I was wondering if it would follow that trend and starting the middle of the month it has.

[Sanity Claws]

6. there was a big drop end of last week too

I think it lost over 200 points between Thursday and Friday last week. Today is not an isolated event.

[Loge23]

8. The trend began long ago

It's only now finally catching up to the street.
It makes me wonder at the reliability of WS in not accurately reading the tea leaves.
Interest rates HAVE TO go up. Comsumer confidence will sink as the reality of the increased energy costs hit home.
And now, we should finally see increased wage pressure.
There are still bargains out there, but this is as much a correction as it is a trend.

[magellan]

12. But on the bright side

...I definitely heard Bloomberg report this morning that there was no inflation rise being seen in the price of food.

So over the last five months or so, I guess I'm just consistently buying more than I think.

:sarcasm:

[Loge23]

14. it must be nice...

to have someone shop for you!! How else could anyone go on record with a statement like that?!

[magellan]

18. No idea

I watch the news while I'm making coffee in the morning, just to give me a laugh to start the day. Later on I'm too awake to find any of it amusing....

[MADem]

19. Did BR actually say that? What horseshit!

Food is actually more affordable where I live than, say, DC. I can imagine what they are thinking when they go and buy the same damn groceries, and see the increases...

[magellan]

23. I'm pretty sure it was BR

It might have been CNBC. Admittedly I wasn't completely awake at the time. But I did hear it. I remember thinking, "Jesus, another day in Bush**'s parallel universe" and wishing I'd stayed in bed.

[MADem]

26. Either one....I swear, they all have their heads up their asses! n/t

[stop the bleeding]

17. yep I have been building a watch list stricly based on bearish plays

for about 1 and 1/2 months now, I saw the trends starting to taper off a while back.

Good day to sell short, buy Puts, or if your are an agressive trader - sell the Naked Calls that expire this Friday - yeehawww!!!!!

[MadHound]

9. Wonder if they've put out the call to the PPT?

Plunge Protection Team. Seems like the market is getting to the point where they would be activated. Scarier thought, the PPT was activated fifty points ago, and the market is still dropping like a rock:scared:

[originalpckelly]

10. It is the house of cards slowly falling down...

I expected it to happen on Monday. You see we over in LBN heard markets around the world went down by 2% and we were thinking Monday would do it. Well now it is Wednesday and looks like they all finally saw the cards falling.

The US Dollar buy 7% less this month than it did last, that is abroad.

Just wait, I have foreseen this, and I have been waiting for it since the Savings Rate went negative. The only other time it did so was right before the Great Depression.

Hopefully someone will take me seriously because I have attempted in my own futile way to come up with a solution to fix the fundamental problems in our economy.

[VolcanoJen]

11. Supposedly, it's in reaction to the Labor Dept.'s CPI report

The Consumer Price Index was higher than forecasted... in this sense, are they talking about inflation?

[Tace]

13. Here's An Explaination Of Why Stocks Are Expected To Go Down

based on volitility

http://www.prudentbear.com/archive_comm_article.asp?category=Guest+Commentary&content_idx=54049

[joeunderdog]

25. Great. Dropped a bunch of $ into funds today. Had it on the sidelines

while I was getting a retirement acct set up with a new company.

Oh well. I'm in for the long haul.

[EVDebs]

15. It's only a paper moon -- Sing along with Bush (If you believe in me)

It's Only A Paper Moon
Ella Fitzgerald

Say, it's only a paper moon,
Sailing over a cardboard sea,
But it wouldn't be make believe,
If you believed in me.

Yes, it's only a canvas sky,
Hanging over a muslin tree,
But it wouldn't be make believe,
If you believed in me.

[Nimrod2005]

16. If you put all the macro economic conditions together, it is a disaster

Higher gas prices, higher interest rates, lower currency, high individual debt levels, overwhelming budget deficits...etc. why should we have higher stock markets?

[Yavin4]

20. Anyone Who Didn't Forsee This Is Either Lying or Is A Sucker

Interest rate policy has been out of balance with the amount of debt in this country for the past four years. When debt rises, so should interest rates, but the reverse was happening from 2001 through 2004. As more and more Americans borrowed, interest rates fell. Thus, logically, interest rates have to rise in order to match the amount of borrowed money.

[AlCzervik]

21. i've read a few articles that all point to a "Market correction" coming.

[NoAmericanTaliban]

22. gambling on stocks is better than horse racing because you can

bet on things going down - can't bet on which horse will loss but you put money down on stocks that you think are going down.

[Chimichurri]

24. down 217 pts now! 1.9% loss so far

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B17D1B7BC%2D52A1%2D4EF8%2D9215%2D7BAECAB2C98F%7D&siteid=mktw&dist=

there's a little ticker in the beginning of the article.

[Jacobin]

27. when do the stop loss meltdown mechanisms kick in?

is it after 250 points?

[stop the bleeding]

28. they were already set in place once today around lunch time

when it fell 170++ points

[Xenotime]

29. Good bye American Economy

[SheilaT]

30. But, but

aren't Republicans supposed to be Good For The Stock Market?

It peaked under Bill Clinton and has been down ever since.

Wouldn't you think Republicans would notice this sort of thing?

[newportdadde]

31. Actually its pretty far down give its stagnate for 5 years, that and infla

tion working on it.

11k isn't the same 11k it was 5 years ago, not by a long shot.

[spanone]

32. but...but the economy is 'ROBUST' isn't it? Huh George? I keep hearing it?

Lyin' mo fo's. You don't think their lying about our economy? Bush* doesn't even have the Iraq/Afghanistan WARS figured into his budget!
Sorry sons of bitches...Don't think gas prices are dragging down the economy?
Double sorry sons of bitches.

[DS1]

33. Oh NOES!!

The sky is falling!