Dow dropped 130, decliners over advancers almost 3-1 & NAZ dropped 32. A test of 11K for the Dow may be coming soon. NYSE volume remains at 1B, at least quiet volume does not indicate a lot of conviction. Leading the negative news in the PM was Lehman (LEH), troubled especially in recent months, dropping 2 to 13, lowest price in 10 years! There are all kinds of rumors that the 4th largest investment banking firm in the US won't survive. Nothing new, this was a $60 stock 6 months ago. This negative thinking bleeds thru to other financials. The S&P 500 FINANCIALS INDEX closed at 267.17, down 8.39 at its 30 day low. Bank of America (BAC), one of the Dow financials, is down 6 from the recent interim high of 34 just 7 trading days ago.
Meanwhile, oil bounced back to 114.53, up 1.66 helped by a weaker dollar against the Euro (up to $1.48). The dollar has been unusually strong in an 11 day winning streak. At the high for the dollar, Euro was almost $1.60. The 2 Dow oils, Exxon-Mobil (XOM) & Chevron (CVX), each rose 1½ today. The Alerian MLP index fought its way up a point nearing 265, trying to get away from the 260 yearly low area.
CNBC has interesting ideas on how to deal with gloom & doom thoughts. Unfortunately there are strong reasons for this gloom & the reasons won't go away soon. Slow & quiet late Aug is turning out to be slow but averages are not getting help from buyers to stop the downward slide.
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