-416.02

I’m currently writing to you from the ledge of the 87th Floor of the Crossing Wall Street Tower.
The good news is that this is a terrific view. The downside, of course, is the market today. The crackup yesterday in China has spread to the U.S. At one point, the Dow was off by 546 points. The Dow bounced off that level and finished 416 points lower.
The S&P 500 fell to 1399.04, a drop of 3.47%, which is the index’s worst day since March 24, 2004.
In about 30 seconds, the Dow lost over 200 points.

Notice how the big drop in the Dow wasn’t mirrored by the S&P 500.

Update: Dow Jones blames it on the computers. Humans apparently are not at fault. (Whew!)
The S&P 500 was down 3.47%, while our Buy List lost 3.19%. For the year, the S&P is down 1.36%, and the Buy List is down 0.28%.
One of the biggest changes today came from the CBOE Volatility Index (^VIX). Look at this jump:

Every Dow industry group fell today. Of the 500 stocks in the S&P 500, 498 closed lower. Only Radio Shack (RSH) and Questar (STR) rallied today. Cyclical stocks were especially hard hit. The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index (^CYC) fell 3.86%.

My timing was impeccable. Five days ago, I wrote another defense of the bull. But as I look at today’s market, I really haven’t changed my mind. I was happy to see that gold fell and money went towards bonds. The 10-year Treasury (^TNX) is nearly at 4.5%. This tells us that money isn’t leaving the market, but it’s merely going to higher ground.

Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on February 27th, 2007 at 6:21 pm

The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.