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Miserable Opening Bell?
The New York Times reports that the stock market plunge in Asia and Europe continued into Tuesday. Stocks are falling due to concerns that the U.S. economy is headed for a recession. MarketWatch has a roundup of the two day losses.Shanghai two days: -12%Japans Nikkei 225 two days: - 10.2%Hang Seng two days: -13.7%U.K. FTSE 100 two days: -8.6%German DAX 30 two days: -12.4%This sell off could extend to U.S. stocks today.Amid fears that the United States may be in a recession, the decline in stock markets accelerated this morning as exchanges opened across Asia.Markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney all fell farther in the opening hours of trading today than they had all day Monday. Until now, overseas markets had largely avoided the sell-off that has caused steep declines recently in the United States, whose markets were closed Monday in observance of Martin Luther Kings Birthday. But investors reacted with what many analysts described as panic to the multiplying signs of weakness in the U.S. economy.And in a sign that the United States could join the sell-off today, trading in U.S. stock futures Monday suggested that the Dow Jones industrial average would fall more than 500 points at the opening bell.Marketwatch also says that the DJIA futures are currently down 650 points which could result in a miserable and nervous day of stock trading today.Permalink | Recent Headlines | WWFeeds.com

Super Tuesday is Terrible Tuesday for Stock Market
The American public is busy trying to figure out what all these polls mean about who is going to be their partys candidate. Meanwhile, Super Tuesday has turned out to be Terrible Tuesday for the stock market. Todays news that service sector shrank sent stocks in the wrong direction.The volatility that pummeled stocks in January returned with the news that the service sector shrank last month for the first time since March 2003. The report from the Institute for Supply Management wiped out the nascent optimism about the economy that had sent stocks surging higher last week.The report drives a nail into the coffin from investors minds that were in a recession, said Todd Salamone, director of trading at Schaeffers Investment Research. That doesnt mean stock prices in the months ahead will be lower. But when you see headline numbers like this, there tends to be a reactionary sell.The ISM said its index of service sector activity, which accounts for about two-thirds of the economy, dropped below 50, a level that indicates contraction. Economists had expected another month of growth.Its possible the service sector, which includes businesses ranging from restaurants to retailers to banks, could bounce back in February as the manufacturing sector did in January after its December contraction. The benefit of the Federal Reserves two big interest rate cuts in the latter part of January could also help spur the service sector back into growth mode later this year.Marketwatchs entry says the data today is pointing toward a recession.Todays awful numbers:Dow down 370.03 2.93% - biggest one-day point drop for Dow since it dropped 387 points on Aug. 9, 2007.Nasdaq lost 73.28 3.08%Standard and Poors 500 lost 44.18 3.20%Permalink | Recent Headlines | WWFeeds.com

Markets React to Bear Sterns, Weekend Fed Action
JP Morgan Chase has snatched up Bear Sterns in a rapid transaction for a huge discount of $2 a share. JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to buy Bear Stearns Cos. for $240 million, about 90 percent less than its value last week, after a run on the company ended 85 years of independence for Wall Streets fifth-largest securities firm.Shareholders of Bear Stearns will get stock in JPMorgan equivalent to about $2 a share, compared with $30 at the close on March 14, the New York-based companies said in a statement late yesterday. The Federal Reserve is providing financial backing to JPMorgan, the second-biggest U.S. bank, and also cut the rate on direct loans to banks in its first emergency weekend action in almost three decades to stave off a broader market panic. The Fed also moved in with a rare weekend move and dropped the emergency lending rate a quarter of a point. President Bush also weighed in predicting a turnaround. President Bush rushed to strike a note of calm to the turbulent situation on Monday morning, hailing the Feds action and saying: Weve taken strong decisive action. The president spoke after meeting at the White House with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and other members of his economic team. Were in challenging times, Bush said.Despite all the action to help prevent losses stocks are still in negative territory again today. The Financial Times says investors are waiting for the next domino to fall.Permalink | Recent Headlines | WWFeeds.com