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Ardent Listener
Administrator
USA
4841 Posts |
 Posted - 01/21/2008 : 11:40:36
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By Sitaraman Shankar
LONDON, Jan 21 (Reuters) - European shares sank 5.6 percent by midday on Monday, threatening their worst one-day fall since the attacks of September 2001 as investors rattled by the spectre of a U.S. recession dumped stock across the board.
At 1204 GMT, the FTSEurofirst index index of top European shares was down 5.1 percent at 1,289.42 points, having earlier hit 1,280.94, a level not seen in eighteen months.
The sell-off tracked global equities losses, as the MSCI's main index of world stocks hit its lowest level in over a year.
Banks were the worst sector, contributing a quarter of the index's losses. And heavyweight energy stocks were among the top individual negative weights, with BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) down 4.6 percent and Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) 4.5 percent.
Investors were left with little in terms of safe haven options: utilities, seen as a possible defensive hedge in times of strife, also fell, with Germany's E.ON (EONG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) sliding 6 percent.
"Getting pummelled," said Henk Potts, equity strategist at Barclays Stockbrokers. "A mixture of weak global economic data, poor corporate data, increasing fears about the possibility of a recession ... have left investors drowning in a sea of red."
"This looks like a climax sell-off," said Brewin Dolphin Chief Strategist Mike Lenhoff, adding that the slump looked overdone.
"People are left to hold oversold positions until they're blue in the face -- interest rates are going to be a lot lower by the year-end and some of these valuations could look silly then." Continued...
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I know the US markets are closed today, but CNBC has a story going on now about a fish store.
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Think positive. |
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fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
 Posted - 01/21/2008 : 13:36:58
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I've been watching this pretty closely. It looks more chaotic than typical market downdays. Precious metals are down, and I can't yet decide if they'll go much lower per Fibonacci, or bounce up quickly from here. No matter, I'm buying tomorrow irrespective of price. This might even be the spring-board nadir to $1000 gold. I'm actually surprised that gold hasn't dropped lower today. Gold's fundamentals are either stronger than we thought, someone is buying big today, or both. Too early to say, though. Looks like someone somewhere is getting their just desserts. I wonder what the PPT has in store for tomorrow? CNBC are fools, and should be ashamed for not covering this. Even the markets in Madrid, Zurich, and India were panicky----and they're usually cool-headed.
The refund check cure-all didn't assuage the rest of the world's fears about U.S. recession, but instead confirmed their fears. 
By lunch time tomorrow, we'll see just how deep this selloff goes. |
"Bart, it's not about how many stocks you have, it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building." --- Homer Simpson |
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fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2008 : 15:41:02
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At least aluminum isn't crashing today, which is good for me, since I plan to sell a bunch of my cans soon. 
Canada didn't do well, either, which portends something bad tomorrow. I wonder if there'll be any intervention within the next 24 hours.
What I'm keeping the closest eye on is the Yen. It broke 106. Is this the great unwinding? If it is, gold will be way above $1000 later this year. |
"Bart, it's not about how many stocks you have, it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building." --- Homer Simpson |
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fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2008 : 18:58:39
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| The markets aren't stopping. This is getting bad. It's still early, but most of the Asian markets are already down about 4% to 5%. Dow futures are down about 500 points. Yikes!!! |
"Bart, it's not about how many stocks you have, it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building." --- Homer Simpson |
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fiatboy
Administrator
912 Posts |
Posted - 01/21/2008 : 23:11:51
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So it goes....
India's Sensex was down over 11% before trading was halted. The carnage continues. The footsie's looking at a minus five.
I feel very calm right now---probably because I don't own any stocks---but it's strange to visit financial websites and witness the obvious panic that people are experiencing right now.
Everyone seems to be waiting to see what New York does, and New York is waiting to see what Ben Bernanke does. Even Trichet is gazing across the Atlantic. |
"Bart, it's not about how many stocks you have, it's about how much copper wire you can get out of the building." --- Homer Simpson |
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Europe sinks
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