10/7/08- S&P Suffers 5th Down Day in a Row; Dow Plunges 508

10/7/08- The Dow fell 508.39 today to close at 9,447.11 while the S&P 500 plunged 60.66 to close at 996.23. NASDAQ lost 108.08 to close at 1754.88. Oil rose $2.25 per barrel to cose at $90.06 per barrel. The Ten Year Treasury Note was down .22 to close at 104.25 pushing the yield up to 3.49%. The dollar lost .01322 against the Euro so one Euro will buy $US 1.36184. Today's disastrous day resulted from Chairman Bernanke's remarks concerning increased economic risks and Bank of America announcing worse than expected earnings and a dividend cut. The market is now in uncharted territory and no one can say with certainty what will happen tomorrow including this observer. That's it from Atlanta for today.

10/6/08-Dow Plunges on Global Fears

10/6/08 - At one point today, the Dow was down close to 800 points but came back somewhat and closed at 9,955.50 down 369.88 while NASDAQ was down 84.43 to close at 1,862.96. The S&P 500 dropped 42.34 to close at 1,056.89. Oil was down $6.07 per barrel to close at $87.81 per barrel. The Ten Year Treasury Note was up $1.22 to close at $104.44 driving the yield down to 3.46%. The dollar gained .01331 against the Euro so one Euro will buy $US 1.35300. Today's big decline is the result of tight credit markets, overseas concerns about economic slowdown, and doubts about whether the U.S. bailout plan will work. That's it for today from Atlanta.

10/3/08-Market Declines Again Due to Financial Sector Worries

10/3/08- The Dow lost 157.47 today to close at 10,325.38; NASDAQ lost 29.33 to close at 1,947.39 while the S&P 500 was down 15.05 to close at 1,099.23. Oil continued to drop losing .09 per barrel to close at 93.88 per barrel. the Ten Year Treasury Note continues to climb, it rose .19 to pushing the yield down to 3.60%. The Dollar gained again against the Euro by .00134 so one Euro will buy $US 1.38064. Today's losses would have been worse but for the fact that the House passed and the President signed the revised $700 billion bailout bill. The bad news pushing the market down was September nonfarm payroll fell 159,000 worse than expected and unemployment remains at 6.1%. Also, Citigroup will challenge the deal struck between Wells Fargo and Wachovia that would replace Citigroup with Wells Fargo as Wachovia's acquirer. This was one of the worst weeks in the market's history, the Dow fell 818, NASDAQ fell 236 and the S&P 500 fell 114. The only positives were that oil fell for the week $13.01 per barrel and the US Dollar gained against the Euro by .8135. As would be expected, the Ten Year Treasury Note gained during the week by $1.97 pushing the yield down .24%. That's it from Atlanta for this week.

10/2/08- Market Plunges on Economy Fears

10/2/08- The Dow plunged 348.22 points today to close at 10,482.85; the S&P 500 lost 46.78 to close at 1,114.28 and NASDAQ closed at 1,976.72 down 92.68. The Ten Year Treasury Note gained .91 to close at 103 driving the yield down to 3.63%. Oil lost $4.56 per barrel to close at $93.97. The dollar gained .02265 against the Euro so that one Euro will buy $US1.38007. Today's bad day was the result of bad economic news - weekly jobless claim rose more than expected while August factory orders declined worse than expected. There is still concern that the bailout legislation will not pass the House even though the Senate approved it. That's it for today from Atlanta.

10/1/08-Market Dips Modestly on Hopes Senate will Pass Bailout Plan Tonight

10/1/08- The Dow lost 19.59 today to close at 10,831.07 while NASDAQ lost 22.48 to close at 2,069.40. The S&P 500 was down 3.65 to close at 1,161.09. Oil fell $2.11 per barrel to close at 98.53. The Ten Year Treasury Note was up .66 to close at $102.09 to drive the yield down to 3.74%. The dollar gained .01169 against the Euro so one Euro will buy $US 1.40154. Today's flat performance was due to the belief that the Senate will pass a revised version of the bailout plan that was rejected last week. Also, private employment fell by 8,000 in September which was less than expected. The market was bolstered by GE selling a chunk of its stock to Berkshire Hathaway. That's it for today from Atlanta.