Eastern Europe Plays Last-Minute Spoiler to Wall Street Rally

Wall Street was coasting to a day of rather uneventful gains throughout most of Wednesday’s session, at least until about 2 pm in the afternoon, which was about the time President Obama addressed an audience in the Belgian capital of Brussels. The US President assured the international community that the West was not considering any form of military action to remove Russian troops from Crimea in Eastern Ukraine, but promised more serious sanctions that would affect the Russian economy. The despite the assurances about war, the threat of sanctions sent investors to the exits with as much profit as they could take, and pulled the floor out from under equities with alarming speed.

Results for Wednesday, March 26

• Standard & Poor’s 500: -0.70 percent to 1,852.56 points

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: -0.60 percent to 16,268.99 points

• NASDAQ: -1.43 percent to 4,173.58 points

Our Top Stories

• Winsor Hoang warns forex traders about becoming too enchanted with the tropes of either technical or fundamental analysis.

• The Energy Report sits down with Chad Ellison of Dundee Capital Markets for a chat about opportunities in the Canadian exploration and production spacein the context of that country’s weak currency.

• George Brooks says the US market is not likely to see a correction before may.

• Equities.com resident IPO expert Francis Gaskins’ report on King Digital Entertainment (KING)  is worth a look after the “Candy Crush Saga” maker’s debut was more or less a flop on Wednesday.

Stocks

• Beacon of integrity and dispassionate, self-consciously modest twenty-something style American Apparel (APP)  could be headed for the pink sheets next month (if not full on bankruptcy) if the company does not devise some sort of way out from under its massive pile of debt and shriveling revenues.

• Senior Editor Joel Anderson brings the latest from world of small-cap biotech stocks, with the run-down on the possible catalysts for Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (KERX)  spike on the day, as well as IsoRay’s (ISR)  double digit gains during the session.

• Two biofuel stocks, MagneGas Corporation (MNGA) and Solayzme (SZYM) saw price action on Wednesday after both companies announced new stock offerings as they get ready to step up their respective games through 2014.