Economic worries drive markets lower

Dow dropped 238, decliners ahead of advancers 3-2 but NAZ was down only 4. NYSE volume was medium at 1.45B. In the today's decline for the Dow, Exxon (XOM) & Caterpillar (CAT) accounted for about 50 points. The thought of a dreary economy is difficult to ignore.

Dow had been down 100 for much of the midday period, but sold off big in the last hour. I think some of those hedge funds guys sold to get stocks of their books at month's end.

For the month Dow was essentially even, S&P 500 dropped 1% but NAZ had its 4th monthly gain in the last 5 (June was ugly for everybody). Oil, in its own world, dropped after yesterday's sharp run-up. They may be worried about a slowdown in economies around the world.

CLU08.NYM

Crude Oil Sep 08

124.08

2.69 (2.12%)

Stocks had some good news. Bristol-Myers (BMY), down 39¢, offered to buy the remaining shares of ImClone (IMCL) for 60, sending the stock up 17 to 63+ (betting on a higher price). This time a corp buyout didn't bring out buyers for other stocks.

Headlines may say we're almost in a recession since Q4 200 was down & Q1 2008 just eaked out a gain. The next 2 quarters probably will see more muddling along, not encouraging for markets. The economy, not to mention foreign economies, remain on defense. Ugh!! Tomorrow is a new day in a new month, the monthly unemployment report will get main attention before the market opens.