Stocks are getting hammered today as a global sell-off seems to be well underway. Despite yesterday’s late-session rally to break an eight-day losing streak, stocks have fallen over 2 percent today as the threat of a double-dip recession is becoming very real. First-time unemployment applications held steady last month at 400,000, but the market is uneasy on where the job market is heading for the rest of the year. Blue chip stocks have been battered across the board today, with the lone exception of Kraft Foods (KFT), which announced that it would be splitting its operations in a U.S. grocery business and a snacks food business focusing on Europe and emerging markets. One of the biggest losers today is biotech darling Dendreon (DNDN), which had received a lot of attention the past few months but fell 66 percent today as the company missed on earnings and retracted its 2011 sales forecast of $350 million to $400 million. Commodities all traded lower with oil falling to $92 a barrel, and gold prices edging lower.
Major U.S. Stock Indices
DJIA: 11,587.23 (-2.60 percent)
S&P 500: 1,225.55 (-2.76 percent)
NASDAQ: 2,617.60 (-2.80 percent)
Russell 2000: 751.49 (-2.75 percent)
In other news:
- General Motors (GM), the automaker that went bankrupt in 2009 and required a government bailout, reported an 89 percent profit increase and hasn’t decided on how to spend it’s $39.4 billion in cash reserves. [WSJ]
- Investors that are kicking themselves for missing the 2009 lows can relax. We may be heading back there soon. [Minyanville]
- As more and more investors turn bearish, bulls are hoping that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke comes to the rescue. [Economist]
- Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner hasn’t told the White House if he intends to stay through the remainder of the President’s term. Just what the market needs, more uncertainty. [CNBC]
- Tomorrow’s jobs numbers could be the determining factor of whether or not the U.S. is headed for a recession. [Fox Business]
Check back for more news.
