Dow ends at lowest close in more than 6 years

[xcel]

"People just don't know where the bottom is."

Tim Paradis – AP – Feb. 19, 2009

The pillars of Wall Street are starting to seriously crumble.

And it just doesn’t get any better than this -- Ed.

An important psychological barrier gave way on Wall Street Thursday as the Dow Jones industrials fell to their lowest level in more than six years.

The Dow broke through a bottom reached in November, pulled down by a steep drop in key financial shares. It was the lowest close for the Dow since Oct. 9, 2002, when the last bear market bottomed out.

The blue chips' latest slide dashed hopes that the doldrums of November would mark the ending point of a long slump in the market, which is now nearly halfway below the peak levels reached in October 2007.

The market's inability to rally signals that investors see no immediate end for the recession, which is already 14 months old and one of the most severe in decades...

The Dow lost 89.68, or 1.2 percent, to end at 7,465.95...

Broader indexes also fell. The S&P 500 index ended down 9.48, or 1.2 percent, to 778.94. The index finished above its Nov. 20 close of 752.44, which was its worst finish since April 1997… [Read More]

In other news, Asian markets dropped early Friday, with Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average losing 151.48 points, or 2 percent, to 7,406.17, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropping 321.49, or 2.5 percent, to 12,701.87. All after gnawing economic fears that sent Wall Street tumbling to its lowest close in more than six years.

Investors found precious few reasons to jump into the market after the Dow breached the levels it touched in November when the financial crisis sent global equities into a tailspin.

The Dow's worst finish since Oct. 9, 2002 -- spurred fears the markets' downturn is far from over. It also provided a clear sign that investors do not see an immediate end to the worst global slowdown in decades despite the unprecedented economic measures taken by governments around the world.

[drimportracing]

Who would have guessed? It isn't done yet. I wish I had an extra 10K for investments. Of all people to give me stock advise last year, my mom who knows next to nothing about finances said you should buy stock in Family Dollar. I'm like why? (the following is politically incorrect and is not meant to be offensive, just humorously appropriate from a 74 year old relatively open minded lady raised in Vermont and transplanted to NC) She said that's where all the black people shop and they know where the good deals are.

So today I hear on NPR that the most successful company on the S&P 500 for 2008 is Family Dollar. You just never know.

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/0...es-out-on-top/ - Dale

[ALS]

Don't get too eager. We have still have a 1300-1400 point drop ahead of us.

Most people smarter than me are predicting a bottom around 6K.

Of course with the financial idiots that are now running our Government we could blow through 6000 to a bottom closer to 4,000.

[bestmapman]

I guess it is a lack of confidence that the new policies will make things better.

[xcel]

Hi All:

___A hundred points below where the previous administration left it?

___WRT lack of confidence, did anyone watch the banks today? They are going down and that means their stocks will be worth 0 if they have to be nationalized. This is only the beginning and has nothing to do with a lack of confidence. It is all the “fools” in Washington can do to save the banks depositors via the FDIC and the banks themselves from themselves. Lack of confidence does not have anything to do with multiple hundreds of billions in market cap going to $0 in bankruptcy court.

___More on the fools in Washington... At least they are trying to bring us from the brink today unlike anyone else on the street or politicos before them. Read a few weeks of Business Week to catch up with how the banks are in it for themselves and to hell with the mortgage holders. Who here did not get a call to lock in a new rate in the last 6-mionths that was higher then we are currently holding on our mortgages? Credit Card companies have been “RAISING” interest rates instead of lowering them. It was all about me vs. them and we will be lucky to come out of this without hitting the magic 10% drop in GDP (called a depression).

___Japan is half way there and I suspect it is going to get a lot worse around the globe. Wait until this spring when the automakers halt TV advertising. It will not be just the news papers that are going to get hit but media of all kinds including the internet and CleanMPG!

___Having experienced Auto Shows the past 3-years for less than $50/day on average over a 2 to 4-day period while watching the main stream press and automakers pushing $750 per person per day told me there is something not right about all of this pomp and circumstance during the Go Go days in the auto industry.

___If the auto industry was burning cash like this, imagine what the Investment house employees and Bankers were doing with your money? Most are probably still on that same treadmill although they are not flaunting it in front of the public anymore.

___The wealth built over the entire reign of the previous administration is gone while the administration was still in office, the middle class is further underwater then they were 8-years ago, $6 Trillion was added to our deficit thanks to tax cuts to our more wealthy citizenry and another $2 Trillions or so was printed last year alone. This administration inherited a “F*****g” mess and its up to all of us to help them fix it.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

[98CRV]

I have no idea what the market will do next, but it was payday for me, so a maximal contribution went to my 403b. I buy stock in good times and bad times, mostly ignoring the financial "news."

[ILAveo]

Originally Posted by 98CRV

I have no idea what the market will do next, but it was payday for me, so a maximal contribution went to my 403b. I buy stock in good times and bad times, mostly ignoring the financial "news."

The elephant in the room is to what extent people will reduce 401k stock purchases in response to the disappointing returns reported in their year end statements. 401K matches also are being reduced or eliminated by many employers (including mine, which had record profits last year). There may be a lot less new money entering the stock market this year.

[brick]

Right now I'm holding firm on 401k contributions. I'm 26, which puts me in the class of people who can afford the risks associated with long-term investment. Assuming that the market will ultimately recover it makes sense to buy shares while prices are low. If I were within a few years of retirement...well, it would be too late at this point.

[ILAveo]

Originally Posted by brick

Right now I'm holding firm on 401k contributions. I'm 26, which puts me in the class of people who can afford the risks associated with long-term investment. Assuming that the market will ultimately recover it makes sense to buy shares while prices are low. If I were within a few years of retirement...well, it would be too late at this point.

Talking to people in their 50's recently I've noticed that most of them aren't "within a few years of retirement" anymore. A lot of them had their early retirement bubble burst over the past year.

[PaleMelanesian]

Originally Posted by brick

Right now I'm holding firm on 401k contributions. I'm 26, which puts me in the class of people who can afford the risks associated with long-term investment. Assuming that the market will ultimately recover it makes sense to buy shares while prices are low. If I were within a few years of retirement...well, it would be too late at this point.

'zactly what I'm doing. I'm at the maximum contribution limit. I'm 29, so I have years ahead. Why would I NOT buy retirement funds at a 30% discount (or more)?