Posted on 01/21/2010 10:08:32 AM PST by My Favorite Headache
NEW YORK (AP) - Financial shares pulled the stock market lower Thursday as President Barack Obama proposed rules that would limit the types of trading banks can do with their money.
The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled over 200 points after dropping 122 points on Wednesday. The index has seen four straight triple-digit swings. Bond prices rose as the stock market became more volatile.
Tightening the rules on how big banks trade their money could hurt profits at those companies.
Broader concerns also dogged investors. Patrick Galley, chief investment officer at RiverNorth Capital in Chicago, said stocks have risen so fast in the past 10 months that expectations about an economic recovery are getting too high.
"The market can be quite fickle just because of the huge run-up that we've had," he said. "A lot of folks have their trigger finger on the sell button if they start to sense that news won't meet expectations."
The market was mixed earlier as good earnings news was tempered by an unexpected jump in initial jobless claims. But banks, which have driven the market over the past year and a half, were the focus by late morning.
The Labor Department said workers filing for unemployment benefits for the first time rose by 36,000 to 482,000 last week. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters were expecting a small drop.
The report provided a grim reminder that while the economy might have improved modestly, a robust recovery is unlikely until companies start adding jobs. The unemployment rate remained at 10 percent last month.
The Philadelphia Federal Reserve said manufacturing in its region fell in January from December. Its index of regional manufacturing conditions fell to 15.2 from a revised 22.5 last month.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
All the right moves......
truthful headline? from ap? wha’?
not “stocks fall unexpectedly, probably because of republican win in MA”????????
Gonna be an ugly 3 hours here before close.
When Community Organizers attack.
Please. Everybody was unanimous that the Goldman Sach's of the world were the embodiment of evil. Now that a silver bullet's being aimed at them, you complain that they're ducking.
There are lots of things to despise about Wall Street. Bonuses aren't even on the list.
Killing regular folks’ stock portfolios by just speaking!
your post just reminded me how the market used to drop whenever Obama spoke or gave a presser.
Maybe that’s why he hasn’t had one since June?
Boy - he sure learned his leason from Massachussetts right?
He’s gonna get right out there and keep on pissing people off.
Barry, keep it up and the Senate will lose 59 Dem seats this fall.
He is much worse than a bad, bad President. He has aided and comforted the enemy and deserves impeachment.
I have personally taken a beating over the last two days thanks to the One.
Wall Street was expecting vast supplies of government money that will not be forthcoming now. The stocks that were in bed with Obama are going down the tubes like they should have already. As soon as they bottom out we may return to a normal Capitalist free market.
Bad week all the way around for the Kenyan.
Every day Obama and his minions are further restricting what the private sector can do, and further expanding what the public sector can do. There’s a word for that.
Unexpected? Why would any business be hiring with an anti-capitalist boob in charge, looking to tax anything that moves.
Obama hammers the economy some more.
She is itchin for the takin ain’t she? God help us all as she is Alinsky filled with tactics and just as corrupt.She will ‘play’ moderate better on TV like slick willy.
There may be a thousand ways to look at this. How about this one: A third or more of the rally in stocks since March was due to nothing more than currency adjustments. Now that healthcare appears to be dead, infinite threat to the dollar appears to be contained. So the market will give back its "weak dollar" premium according to its anticipation of how much it was overdone on that basis.
Here's another: Wall Street might just be saying, "If you screw with us, we're gonna break your kneecaps."
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