Bear With It: Stock Market Has Seen Worse Than 2008

Wall Street is facing one of its worst bear markets since World War II

(NEWSER) - An increasingly familiar Wall Street phenomenon—a three-digit swing in the Dow, usually down, in the final hour of trading—is a direct result of population growth in one species: bears. Margin calls are forcing panicked sell-offs, it's true, but the situation is more complicated than that, experts tell the New York Times. More»

S&P slips below threshold at this morning's open

(NEWSER) - Wall Street is getting nervous, and not because of protesters. Stocks have been plummeting hard, and are now just inches above the threshold for what traders consider a bear market. The Dow dove 240 points on Friday and another 258 yesterday, leaving it perilously close to the bear market threshold of 10,248, the Wall Street Journal reports. The S&P slid below the threshold at this morning's open. More»

(NEWSER) - It's good news, bad news time for investors. The good news: In the last 100 years, only five other rallies have matched the 46% leap the Dow’s taken over the past six months. The bad news: None of those other extraordinary rallies, which came in the 1930s and 1970s, held, the Wall Street Journal reports. Like the current rally, those historical rallies came after big—in fact, even bigger—declines. While some lasted as long as two years, the big gains were all in the first six months. More»

Oil hits $71.2 a barrel, highest price in a month

(NEWSER) - Stocks rallied today on signs of a turnaround for US manufacturing, the Wall Street Journal reports. Oil rose $2.13, to $71.27 per barrel, its highest price in a month, and banks HSBC and Barclays reported strong quarterly earnings. The Dow closed up 114.95 to settle at 9,286.56. The Nasdaq added 30.11, settling at 2,008.61, and the S&P 500 rose 15.15 to close at 1,002.63. More»

Rally extends into 4th day on Roubini comments, tech optimism

(NEWSER) - Stocks gained today as the tech sector continued to inspire and economist Nouriel Roubini predicted a recovery in late 2009, the Wall Street Journal reports. Though the looming bankruptcy of CIT Group depressed stocks most of the day, financials were able to trim losses before the close. The Dow rose 95.61, closing at 8,711.82. The Nasdaq gained 22.13, settling at 1,885.03, and the S&P 500 added 8.06, to 940.74 More»