Stocks plummeted in a flashback to the panicked trading of 2008.
Investors fled everything from stocks and risky bonds to commodities and poured money into safe assets such as U.S. Treasurys and gold. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 4 percent less than an hour before the close.
The velocity of the plunge in stocks was breath-taking. At one point the Dow was down almost 1,000 points before recovering.
Fears of contagion from Greece’s debt crisis grew during the day and stocks were lower for most of the session. But many were at a loss to explain why stocks suddenly made such a staggering move.
A near 1,000-point drop is “people jumping out of windows” territory, said Gerard Cassidy, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets.
As losses piled up, the Dow went into freefall, tumbling through 10000, before dropping as much as 998 points, or 9.2%. The biggest closing point drop in the Dow’s history occured on Sept. 29, 2008, at the height of the financial crisis, when the Dow ended the day down 777.68 points, or 6.98 percent.
The Dow has since pared its losses but remains sharply lower, down 492 points, or 4.45 percent. The S&P500 tumbled 4 percent, to 1,120 and at one point dropped as low as 1065.79.
Technicians said the market blew through key support on the S&P 500 at the 1150 level and then again at 1120 and 1115.
Key short-term credit markets—such as the market for three-month Libor—began to show signs of stress and corporate bonds tumbled.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704370704575227754131412596.html?mod=wsj_india_main
“investors”, lol....
No, evil corrupt institutions are what did this.