OT: looks like tough times ahead for Stock Market?

    Things arnt good beware...                            DOW: 11,313

Man I sure was wrong? Whats going on? A sucker rally? I just dont get it. Subprime loans,foreclosures,dollar at a all time low,oil prices on the rise ,rumors of war, terriost threats, where do I stop? Arnt safe returns better than risky ones?

TheRomen wrote: Just invest in oil and military contracts and you should be fine. If you are REALLY pro-Iraq-colonialism the right thing would be to bet on the DINAR          http://betoniraq.com/

    
Man, I think a lot of people are tired of your America bashing. I know this is a forum centered around "free speech"...but, your tactics are wearing thin.

Colonel Romen you act as though your part of the" Iranian National Guard" Are you an advocate for Iran. Do you have a persecution complex cause you should go home and you know it? If you dont like the USA get out!

Gfin,

How do I act as though I am part of the Iraq national guard?   That makes no sense. Its a blind insult. Have I said anything about not liking the USA? No I havent. What's your point man?
    

Thankyou for the "INFORMATION"..

gnfin wrote: Man I sure was wrong? Whats going on? A sucker rally? I just dont get it. Subprime loans,foreclosures,dollar at a all time low,oil prices on the rise ,rumors of war, terriost threats, where do I stop? Arnt safe returns better than risky ones?

With all of this stuff going on, why is the stock market doing so good??

WHOA!!! Look at my title!

I'm having a problem...

My first account, "Turboguy" won't let me login. I'd much rather just use that one. If you'd be so kind, could you reset it for me? What happened this time is that I forgot my password and stupidly tried thre times to login to no avail while I was at work. It's why I had to create this one.

Agree Laro- Every day it seems like everything is getting a little worse. Oil is approaching $80.00 a barrel,Terrorism fears, Ect.

Well the dollar seems to be becoming less valuable every day and this sub-prime  lending thing is kinda being pushed under the rug.  It just reminds me of the Savings and Loan fiasco.  That was a real mess and i think we're heading for something like that again.  This may not be as bad, but it just depends on how many people get caught up in the reposession market.  I know during the last one i bought duplex's in houston that were like 12 years old for $5000 each.  So we'll see what happens this time, but i do look for things to get worse and i really feel we've only seen the tip of the iceburg when it comes to a real estate crash.

Good call gnfin.  Was down over 400 at one point today.  The housing market is starting to scare everybody off.  

Dow Leads Global Selloff on Credit Woes

Jul 26 02:19 PM US/Eastern
By JOE BEL BRUNO
AP Business Writer       




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NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street suffered its second-biggest plunge of the year Thursday, leading global markets lower as investors fled stocks amid increasing uneasiness about the mortgage and corporate lending markets. The Dow Jones industrials fell more than 350 points, while Treasury yields plunged as investors moved money into bonds.
Investors who had been able to shrug off discomfort about subprime mortgage problems and a more difficult environment for corporate borrowing appeared to finally succumb to those concerns. The Dow's drop is the biggest since it plummeted 416 points on Feb. 27 after a nearly 10 percent decline in Chinese stock markets.

Feeding the selling were concerns that higher corporate borrowing costs will curb the rapid pace of takeovers that have driven major indexes this year. Investors also feared the sluggish environment for home sales and continued defaults in subprime loans would spur debt defaults and weigh on corporate earnings.

"Worries that have been out there for the past couple of years are coming to a head right now," said investment strategist Edward Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research Inc. "It's show time."

Thursday's trading was the latest in a series of frenetic sessions over the past month—many accompanied by triple-digit swings in the Dow—as investors sold on worries about the subprime fallout or bought on optimism that there wouldn't be any widespread problems caused by mortgage failures. Many analysts have described the back- and-forth trading as overwrought and based more on gut emotion than careful consideration of market and economic fundamentals.

Perhaps the clearest sign that investors had abandoned caution was a July 12 rally that hurtled the Dow up 283 points—without any discernible catalyst and before Wall Street had had a chance to see the bulk of second-quarter earnings. When those earnings reports started flowing in, many turned out to be a sobering influence on the market, including news from Countrywide Financial Corp.

So, while the Dow passed 14,000 for the first time last week, investors obviously weren't feeling Thursday that such a lofty level was justified. In mid afternoon trading, the Dow plunged 351.41, or 2.55 percent, to 13,433.66, near its low of the session.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 43.91, or 2.89 percent, to 1,474.18 and the Nasdaq composite index tumbled 72.29, or 2.73 percent, to 2,575.88. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 28.96, or 3.56 percent, to 783.54.

The declines triggered a global selloff in stocks, causing minor losses in Europe to accelerate rapidly along with the Dow's drop. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 closed down 3.15 percent, Germany's DAX index dropped 2.39 percent, and France's CAC-40 fell 2.78 percent.

Markets were closed in Asia before the rout got under way. Japan's Nikke stock average closed up 0.88 percent and the Shanghai stock market composite added 0.52 percent to an all-time high.

Investors' global flight from equities was a boon for U.S. Treasurys as traders shifted cash into safer investments. Bonds rallied, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.80 percent from 4.90 percent late Wednesday.

Wall Street also found more immediate reasons to sell during the session. Among them was disappointing home sales figures released by the Commerce Department, which further eroded confidence in the housing industry's ability to rebound.

The department reported that sales of new homes fell 6.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 834,000 units, more than triple what had been expected and the largest percentage drop since sales fell by 12.7 percent in January.

This boosted anxiety after quarterly results from home builders including Pulte Homes Inc. and D.R. Horton Inc. were squeezed by a sluggish environment from home sales and continued defaults in subprime loans.

"Wall Street continues to walk a wall of worry," said Ryan Larson, a senior equity trader at Voyageur Asset Management. "The housing market continues to be a story, and nobody knows when it will rebound. But, the real concerns are about credit and oil pushing higher."

Also stunting stocks was a disappointing durable goods report released by the Commerce Department. Though sales of big-ticket items increased by 1.4 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted $217.07 billion, durable goods excluding transportation equipment had an unexpected drop.

The Labor Department reported that jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 301,000 in the week ended July 21, slightly better than analysts' expectations.

Investors also reacted negatively as oil prices climbed to almost $77 per barrel during the session, stoking the market's worries about inflation. However, crude pared gains in the afternoon when a barrel of light sweet crude fell 75 cents at $75.13.

It all led to a frantic day for stock traders.

"It has been pretty volatile as of late, but now fears about a credit crunch are spreading more than they have in the past—and that's causing this drop," said Matt Kelmon, portfolio manager of the Kelmoore Strategy Funds. "That's hurting the financials, and now energy companies are joining the party because oil is so high. They make up a large part of the S&P 500."

Wall Street, now at the peak of second-quarter earnings season, has been extremely volatile lately—a signature of typically slower trading that has been heightened by record runs in major market indexes. On Thursday, declining issues beat advancers by a 15 to 1 basis on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to almost 1.54 billion shares.

Ford Motor rose 22 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $8.20 after it reported cost-cutting and a turnaround in its core automotive operations pushed its second-quarter to a profit. The company had posted seven quarters of losses as it grappled with sluggish sales and a major overhaul of its operations.

Dow component Exxon Mobil's disappointing second-quarter results also weighed on the overall market, even as energy prices continued to spike. Shares fell $4.30, or 4.6 percent, to $88.49 after it reported a smaller profit than analysts expected.

The Nasdaq's losses weren't as steep as other major indexes during the session due to strength from Apple Inc., which surged $7.82, or 5.7 percent, to $145.08. The iPod and iPhone maker's earnings easily surpassed Wall Street projections late Wednesday due to strong sales from its computer offerings.

Home builders sank after several disappointing reports. D.R. Horton fell 48 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $17 after it posted a fiscal third- quarter loss on charges to write down the value of unsold inventory and deposits on land.

Pulte fell 99 cents, or 5 percent, to $19.68 after it posted a second- quarter loss amid the struggling housing market.

Dow Chemical Co. dropped $2.28, or 5 percent, to $43.39 after second- quarter results missed expectations. The company said profit during the quarter rose 2 percent as strong international growth offset weakness in the North American housing and automotive sectors.

___

On the Net:

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Albert... I think its going to be a rough ride,housing subprime loans,,credit woes,dollar all time low,oil going to $85.00 by end of October? I think the markets will be crushed?? BEWARE....

Wanting to put your hard earned money in a safe place, this might be the time to look at GOLD coins.  They are easily converted from gold to dollars if you need to do that.  In the mean time, they will increase in value as the dollar weakens and price of oil increases.

4=laro wrote: Wanting to put your hard earned money in a safe place, this might be the time to look at GOLD coins.  They are easily converted from gold to dollars if you need to do that.  In the mean time, they will increase in value as the dollar weakens and price of oil increases.

Hi Laro, been there and done that. Wish i had more cash to buy more. Also Silver coins isn't a bad idea. If the dollar ever becomes worthless, these precious metals will be sought after, just like the begining of time. Plus it is a fun hobby owning some of these beautyfull coins!
    

AP
Oil Hits New Record on Inventory Report
Wednesday August 1, 10:52 am ET
By John Wilen, AP Business Writer
Oil Prices Rise to New Record After Government Reports Drop in Crude Inventories


NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices jumped to a new record Wednesday after the government reported a steep drop in crude inventories last week as refinery utilization surged.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose 55 cents to $78.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That surpasses the previous record of $78.40, set in July 2006.

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September gasoline futures fell a cent to $2.0959 a gallon on the Nymex. Gasoline inventories rose last week.

Nymex heating oil futures fell by 1.12 cents to $2.112 a gallon while natural gas futures gained 27.9 cents to $6.47 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, September Brent crude fell 15 cents to $76.90 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

In its weekly report, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said oil inventories fell by 6.5 million barrels in the week ended July 27, far more than the 690,000-barrel decline analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires, on average, had expected.

Refinery utilization jumped by 1.9 percentage points to 93.6 percent of capacity, more than double the expected increase of 0.7 percentage points.

Gasoline inventories rose by 600,000 barrels, the EIA said. Analysts had expected an increase of 1.1 million barrels. Inventories of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel fuel, rose by 2.8 million barrels. Analysts had expected distillate inventories to rise by 1.4 million barrels.






    

Do what you can,and pay yourself first. Try to save 10% if you can?

Annie wrote: Gnfin...If the market is "crushed"? What happens? I'm not in this field. What are you personally doing to prepare for a crushed market? We don't have money to buy coins, etc. What would you suggest for a family like ours? We do well putting a hot meal on the table and stocking six months of food, toilet paper, medical needs, water, etc.

gnfin wrote: Do what you can, and pay yourself first. Try to save 10% if you can?

We do try to put away something each month.
All of the credit cards are at zero, that is a sense of peace.
Tuesday my husband fell off a horse and has been off work, ex-rays show he did NOT break his back. He is very sore and stiff.
He hadn't seen a doctor since 2004 checkup and hasn't missed work in over twenty years.
He now may be off work another week or ???
We have food on the shelves and if necessary we do have our bird flu supplies.

Emergencies can happen anywhere and anytime.
You are so right to have some savings, food, and supplies set aside.
Thank-you Gnfin.
    

Bear Stearn says they havent seen it like this in 22 years? Was that "BLACK MONDAY "crash of 87 there referring too? Did they mean 20years ago?

Dont get suckered in here. This is a sucker rally!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWksEJQEYVU

Its a bad day!