U.S. Stocks Fall as S&P 500 Posts Worst Slump Since March 2009
Dow Drops 500 Points
Jin Lee/AP
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 4, 2011.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Aug. 4, 2011. Photographer: Jin Lee/AP
Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Bloomberg's Debrorah Kostroun reports on the performance of the U.S. equity market today. U.S. stocks plunged, driving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to the biggest decline since February 2009, as concern the global economy is weakening prompted a global rout. Bloomberg's Pimm Fox also speaks. (Source: Bloomberg)
Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report, talks about global financial markets. Faber also discusses Federal Reserve monetary policy. He speaks from Zurich with Susan Li and John Dawson on Bloomberg Television's "On the Move Asia." (Source: Bloomberg)
Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Joseph McAlinden, chief investment officer at Catalpa Capital LLC, Dennis Hynes, chief market strategist at R.W. Pressprich, and Adam Seessel, director of research at Martin Capital Management, talk about today's selloff in the U.S. equity market and investment strategy in the current economic climate. They speak with Pimm Fox on Bloomberg Television's "Taking Stock." (Source: Bloomberg)
Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Barton Biggs, managing partner and co-founder of Traxis Partners LP, talks about today's decline in the U.S. stock market. He speaks with Carol Massar on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)
Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Scott Black, president of Delphi Management Inc., talks about today's selloff in U.S. equities, the economy and some of his stock picks. He speaks with Carol Massar on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)
Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Charles Lieberman, chief investment officer at Advisors Capital Management LLC, talks about today's global rout in equities. The Standard & Poor's 500 tumbled 4.8 percent to 1,200.07 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunges 512.76 points to 11,383.68. Lieberman and independent trader Andrew Keene talk with Carol Massar and Adam Johnson on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." Bloomberg's Suzanne O'Halloran also speaks. (Source: Bloomberg)
Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Aronstein, president of Marketfield Asset Management, discusses the U.S. stock market, the European economy and his investment strategy. Aronstein speaks with Carol Massar and Adam Johnson on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg)
Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- James Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management, talks about the prospects for the U.S. economy and stock market. He speaks with Mark Crumpton, Julie Hyman and Zahra Burton on Bloomberg Television's "Bottom Line." (Source: Bloomberg)
Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Barry Knapp, head of U.S. equity strategy at Barclays Capital, talks about the equity and Treasury markets. Knapp, speaking on Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness With Margaret Brennan," also discusses the outlook for the U.S. economy. (Source: Bloomberg)
Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Dan Ammann, chief financial officer of General Motors Co., talks about the company's second-quarter profit reported today and business strategy. The largest U.S. automaker said net income almost doubled to $2.52 billion, or $1.54 a share, on rising U.S. sales. Ammann speaks with Erik Schatzker on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg)
U.S. stocks plunged, driving the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to the biggest nine-day decline since the equity bull market began in March 2009, as concern the global economy is weakening intensified.
All 10 groups in the S&P 500 slumped at least 1.8 percent, led by losses in energy, raw-material and industrial shares. Chevron Corp. (CVX), Alcoa Inc. (AA) and Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX) dropped more than 4.7 percent as commodities slumped after Japan intervened in foreign-exchange markets to weaken its currency. Gap Inc. (GPS), the largest U.S. apparel chain, retreated 12 percent as July sales missed analysts’ estimates.
The S&P 500 dropped 3.2 percent to 1,219.48 at 2:37 p.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge for U.S. equities fell for the eighth time in nine days, to the lowest level on a closing basis since Dec. 1. The more than 10 percent drop since April 29 means the index has entered what is known as a correction. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 334.22 points, or 2.8 percent, to 11,562.22 today, erasing its 2011 gain.
“It’s unbelievable,” David Joy, Boston-based chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial Inc., said in a telephone interview. His firm oversees $693 billion in assets. “It’s nervousness. The emotional aspect of this is ticking higher. It’s left everybody with this mindset that things are not good. The situation in Europe is getting everyone concerned. We had the impact of the Japan intervention in the currency market. The flight-to-quality trade is going to pick up.”
Global Stocks Tumble
Global stocks had their biggest one-day rout since March 2009. A measure of global equities fell 10 percent from this year’s high in May, entering its first correction in more than a year, amid concern about a recession. The MSCI All-Country World Index of stocks in developed and emerging markets slid 3.7 percent to 312.72, falling 13 percent from its May 2 high.
Stocks tumbled from Hong Kong to London and Sao Paulo as the yen dropped by the most since October 2008 against the dollar after Japan sold its currency to stem gains that threaten the nation’s economic recovery. The euro fell against the dollar after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said policy makers will offer banks additional cash to ease tensions in financial markets.
Trichet indicated the ECB is reluctant to shelve further rate hikes even as investors reduce bets on the ECB adding to its two rate moves in 2011. While acknowledging a “particularly high” level of uncertainty, rates are still “accommodative” and inflation risks “remain on the upside,” he said.
‘Gloomy’ Mood
“The mood right now is gloomy,” Mike Ryan, the New York- based chief investment strategist at UBS Wealth Management Americas, said in a telephone interview. His firm oversees $774 billion. “The burden of proof is for better data that show the economy is not falling into recession.”
U.S. stocks rose yesterday amid speculation the Federal Reserve may consider another economic stimulus program to avert a recession. The Fed finished its second round of so-called quantitative easing, nicknamed “QE2” by investors, at the end of June. The program helped propel a rally of as much as 28 percent in the S&P 500 after Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke foreshadowed the plan on Aug. 27.
Stock-futures maintained losses before the open of regular trading as a report showed that initial claims for unemployment insurance payments in the U.S. fell last week to a level that shows limited improvement in the labor market. Employers added 85,000 workers in July, economists project a Labor Department report to show tomorrow, failing to reduce a jobless rate that’s holding above 9 percent.
‘Crucial’ Report
“Tomorrow’s payroll report is crucial,” UBS’s Ryan said. “If we see another disappointment, the stock market will have significant downside from here.”
The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, which measures the cost of using options as insurance against declines in the S&P 500, soared 25 percent to 29.21, the highest since March.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK), the world’s largest custody bank, will charge clients a 13 basis point fee for “extraordinarily high” cash deposits. A basis point is one- hundredth of a percent.
“We have seen a growing level of deposits on our balance sheet from clients seeking a safe haven in light of the global interest rate and credit environment,” the company said today in an e-mailed statement.
The Morgan Stanley Cyclical Index of companies most-tied to economic growth tumbled 5.5 percent as all of its 30 stocks retreated. The Dow Jones Transportation Average of 20 stocks, considered a proxy for the economy, slumped 3.6 percent.
Risk of Recession
“The market’s essentially pricing in a greater risk of a recession,” New York-based Kevin Shacknofsky, who helps manage about $6 billion for Alpine Mutual Funds, said in a telephone interview. “It’s the cyclical, economically sensitive parts of the economy that are getting hurt the most.”
Energy and raw-material shares led the declines in the S&P 500, falling at least 5.1 percent. Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company, slid 4.7 percent to $97.98. Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, sank 6.4 percent to $13.35. Freeport- McMoRan, the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer, retreated 6.1 percent to $47.55.
Gap decreased 12 percent to $16.99. The retailer said July same-store sales fell 5 percent, compared with analysts’ estimates for a decline of 0.6 percent.
Dendreon Corp. (DNDN) plunged 66 percent to $12.35. The drugmaker withdrew its sales estimates for 2011 and announced job cuts because of lower-than-expected growth in the use of prostate- cancer treatment Provenge.
Cheapest Level
The 9.4 percent rout since July 22 dragged the S&P 500’s valuation to 13.4 times reported earnings, the cheapest level since April 2009, a month after the bull market began, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Laszlo Birinyi, one of the first investors to recommend buying stocks when the bull market began, said he remains optimistic about U.S. equities even after the biggest nine-day slump since March 2009.
“Our view continues that we’re in a long-term bull market, and in long-term bull markets you have downdrafts,” he said in a Bloomberg Radio interview today. “Everything that we’ve built our bullish case on continues to exist.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Rita Nazareth in New York at rnazareth@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at nbaker7@bloomberg.net
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