Fear factor drags stocks lower ("Dems own this economy" Wasserman Schultz)

CNNMoney ^ | 6/15/2011 | Hibah Yousuf

[Signalman]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A stock sell-off intensified Wednesday afternoon amid gloomy manufacturing data and renewed fears aboout Greece's debt problems.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) dropped 195 points, or 1.6%, with all 30 of blue-chip index's stocks trading lower. Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) were among the biggest laggards.

Other financial stocks followed suit, with shares of Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) and Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) down 3%.

The S&P 500 (SPX) slipped 24 points, or 1.9%, with a 10% drop in shares of Owens-Illinois (OI, Fortune 500) leading the decline. The glass container maker cut its earnings guidance, citing rising manufacturing costs.

The Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 45 points, or 1.7%. Baidu (BIDU) and Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) were among the worst performers on the tech-heavy index.

Greece at a tipping point

News that European officials failed to reach an agreement on bailing out Greece "continues to drive fear and cues the overall downtrend in the market," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Wall Street's most widely cited measure of volatility and fear, the VIX (VIX) , spiked more than 16% to 21.19. But it's still far below 30 -- the level that's thought to indicate investor fear.

[Avery Iota Kracker]

Wassername said it, I didn’t.

[FrankR]

[Terry Mross]

Just came back from the grocery store. Bought a few extra things for my emergency stash. I just hope I can figure out a way to get out of the big city before it hits the fan. Can’t possibly go before next April.

[bigbob]

Sorry, I’m not finding the Wasserman-Schultz quote at the source article.

[Safetgiver]

Where IS that?

[WOBBLY BOB]

SHUUULLLTTZZZZ!

"I know nuzzzing ...nuzzzing!"

[Signalman]

Sorry, I’m not finding the Wasserman-Schultz quote at the source article.

Sorry, my error. The exact quote she made was:

“We own the economy. We own the beginning of the turnaround and we want to make sure that we continue that pace of recovery, not go back to the policies of the past under the Bush administration that put us in the ditch in the first place,”

It was reported that Wasserman Schultz told this to Mike Allen at a breakfast hosted by POLITICO’s Playbook. I'm assuming "we" means the Democratic Party.

[ken5050]

Expect a BIG sell-off, 300 points, on Friday, if the Greek situation ( civil unrest) continues..as most traders do not want to be long over the weekend..

[Maverick68]

Where’s Dan Akroyd when you need him....

[familyop]

That didn’t affect oil much, and the dollar, hardly.

[familyop]

"I just hope I can figure out a way to get out of the big city before it hits the fan. Can’t possibly go before next April."

At least that'll get you out before the estimated time of real ugliness in 2013.

[Terry Mross]

What’s supposed to happen in 2013? I thought Dec. 21, 2012 is going to be the end.

[familyop]

Roubini Says “Perfect Storm” May Clobber Global Economy
(Re. 2013)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2734092/posts

I’ve seen more or less the same from several others in economics and investments recently, and we can all agree that debt will be more of a problem each year.

There might also be a colder weather trend. Volcanic activity has increased (more sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere), while solar activity continues to be very low during what would normally be a maximum.

“All three of these lines of research to point to the familiar sunspot cycle shutting down...”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2735391/posts

Earth may be headed into a mini Ice Age within a decade
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2734777/posts

Scientists predict rare ‘hibernation’ of sunspots
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2734864/posts

New insights on how solar minimums affect Earth
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2734760/posts

Sun’s Fading Spots Signal Big Drop in Solar Activity
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2734593/posts