Stock Market Crash

Simply put, a bloody mess on Wall Street today with triple digit losses posted by several major U.S. Indices as the Bears roar back on the street. Stocks were hit hard, across the board with hefty losses amidst heavy trading volume. Economic data released today was the initial culprit that began the heavy selloff. U.S. Jobless Claims rose by 34K to 406K for week of July 19 compared to survey of an increase by 14K; U.S. Continuing Claims for week of July 12 fell 9K to 3,107,000; U.S. Jobless Claims for week of July 12 revised to 372K from 366K; U.S. Jobless Claims match highest level since September 2005. U.S. June Existing Home Sales fell 2.6% to 4.86 Million rate; U.S. June Existing Home Sales Consensus 4.95M rate; U.S. Inventory of Unsold U.S. Homes at 11.1 months supply; U.S. June Median Existing Home Price down 6.1% on the year to $215,100. Other factors in the slide to the south were pathetic earnings released by Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) with a posted loss of $8.7 Billion or $3.88 per share compared to $750 Million or 31 cents per share profit, a year ago. Sales of the F-Series trucks fell 31% in the quarter, to 126,575. Ford wrote down $5.3 Billion in assets for the automobile business and $2.1 Billion on leases with Ford Motor Company. "The second half will continue to be challenging, but we have absolutely the right plan to respond to the changing business environment and begin to grow for the long term," Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally said in a statement. Ford plans to convert three truck plants located in the U.S. to produce fuel efficient cars and will double hybrid production by 2009. President Federal Reserve Bank of New York Timothy F. Geithner commented today: 'Challenging Period' for markets; system needs stronger shock absorbers; Fed must supervise banks that access its funds; seeks way for 'Orderly Unwinding' of failing firms; Fed needs clear authority for payment, settlement.

Stock picks on the move today:
Chipotle Mexican Grill Incorporated (NYSE: CMG) which posted strong earnings for the second quarter. Net income came in at $24.5 Million or 74 cents per share. A year ago, income was $20 Million or 60 cents per share. Second-quarter revenue increased 24.2 percent to $340.8 million from $274.3 million a year earlier. Chipotle intends to open up to 140 new restaurants for 2008. At the closing bell, Chipotle shed over 16 points from numerous downgrades including analysts from: JPMorgan, RBC Capital Markets, Buckingham Research and Jefferies & Co.

At the closing bell on the Stock Exchange, here is how the major world indices and major U.S. indices ended the session on the world market as well as the emerging markets including the stock market closing price:
DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) triple digit loss of 281.50 points on the day to end the trading session at 11,350.58
NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) triple digit loss of 210.66 points to end the trading session at 8,369.91
NASDAQ loss of 45.77 points to end the trading session at 2,280.11
S&P 500 loss of 28.96 points to end the trading session at 1,253.23
FTSE All-World ex-U.S. loss of 3.10 points to end the trading session at 225.79
FTSE RAFI 1000 triple digit loss of 167.19 points to end the trading session at 4,912.82
BEL 20 (BEL20) loss of 37.6 points to end the trading session at 3,107.22
CAC 40 (CAC40) loss of 60.75 points to end the trading session at 4,347.66
FTSE100 (UKX100) loss of 87.6 points to end the trading session at 5,362.3
NIKKEI 225 (NIK/O) triple digit gain of 418.35 points on the day to end the trading session at 13,603.31

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stock market action for the day:
Advanced stocks 630; declined stocks 2,577; unchanged stocks 65; stocks hitting new highs 26; stocks hitting new lows 73.
List of volatile stocks as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the New York Stock Exchange stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: ITT Educational Services Incorporated (NYSE: ESI) gained 4.53 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $106.75, low on the trading session $95.45 for a closing stock price at $95.82; Mosaic Company (NYSE: MOS) shed 3.50 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $129.62, low on the trading session $114.27 for a closing stock price at $118.25; Rio Tinto plc (NYSE: RTP) shed 13.55 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $402.31, low on the trading session $385.11 for a closing stock price at $386.50; Chipotle Mexican Grill Incorporated (NYSE: CMG) shed 16.50 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $76.00, low on the trading session $67.10 for a closing stock price at $67.30; MEMC Electronic Materials Incorporated (NYSE: WFR) shed 11.57 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $46.95, low on the trading session $41.58 for a closing stock price at $42.23; CONSOL Energy Incorporated (NYSE: CNX) gained 1.24 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $81.39, low on the trading session $73.60 for a closing stock price at $79.68; Kinetic Concepts Incorporated (NYSE: KCI) shed 3.79 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $39.52, low on the trading session $37.11 for a closing stock price at $38.01; Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL) shed 13.77 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $37.26, low on the trading session $22.06 for a closing stock price at $22.84; Terex Corporation (NYSE: TEX) shed 1.65 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $53.25, low on the trading session $46.51 for a closing stock price at $48.46; CME Group Incorporated (NYSE: CME) shed 22.90 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $389.80, low on the trading session $365.28 for a closing stock price at $367.72; Devon Energy Corporation (NYSE: DVN) shed 0.13 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $96.21, low on the trading session $90.28 for a closing stock price at $93.18; XTO Energy Incorporated (NYSE: XTO) gained 0.54 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $49.22, low on the trading session $46.14 for a closing stock price at $48.78; Potash Corporation Saskatchewan (NYSE: POT) shed 6.69 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $209.32, low on the trading session $186.84 for a closing stock price at $194.00; Walter Industries Incorporated (NYSE: WLT) gained 0.16 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $85.76, low on the trading session $73.20 for a closing stock price at $81.01.

NASDAQ stocks trading activity today:
Advanced stocks 899; declined stocks 1,986; unchanged stocks 119; stocks hitting new highs 31; stocks hitting new lows 74.
List of volatile stocks as well as stock quotes, stock prices and stock symbols of Day Trading Stock Picks on the NASDAQ stock market for Day Trading online and active Day Trading for those who are or would like to be Day Trading for a living: Apple Incorporated (NasdaqGS: AAPL) shed 7.26 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $165.26, low on the trading session $158.45 for a closing stock price at $159.00; Google Incorporated (NasdaqGS: GOOG) shed 11.82 points on the trading session, high on the trading session $496.87, low on the trading session $475.62 for a closing stock price at $477.40.

Market trends on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) today:
Advanced stocks 390; declined stocks 803; unchanged stocks 85; stocks hitting new highs 9; stocks hitting new lows 32.

Chicago Board of Trade Futures Market activity for the day, September 2008 Contracts, at time of this posting:
E-mini S&P 500 (ES) end of day price 1,253.75, change 7.50
E-mini NASDAQ-100 (NQ) end of day price 1,820.11, change 0.50
E-mini S&P SmallCap 600 (SMP) end of day price 367.80, change 0.00
$5 DJIA (YM) end of day price 11,349, change -2

World Currencies at time of this posting:
Euro 0.6377 to U.S. Dollars 1.5682
Japanese Yen 107.23 to U.S. Dollars 0.0093
British Pound 0.5034 to U.S. Dollars 1.9863
Canadian Dollar 1.0133 to U.S. Dollars 0.9869
Swiss Franc 1.036 to U.S. Dollars 0.9653

Commodities Markets:
Energy Sector: Light Crude (NYM) gained $1.05 on the day for a closing price of the range of $125.49 a gallon ($US per bbl.); Heating Oil (NYM) gained $0.02 on the day for a closing price of $3.59 a gallon ($US per gal.); Natural Gas (NYM) shed $0.47 on the day for a closing price of $9.38 per million BTU ($US per mmbtu.); Unleaded Gas (NYM) gained $0.03 on the day for a closing price of $3.06 a gallon ($US per gal.). 

Metals Markets:
Gold Market Price (CMX) shed $0.10 on the day for a closing price of $922.70 ($US per Troy oz.); Silver (CMX) shed $0.16 on the day for a closing price of $17.30 ($US per Troy oz.); Platinum (NYM) shed $47.00 on the day for a closing price of $1,713.80 ($US per Troy oz.) and Copper (CMX) shed $0.08 on the day for a closing price of $3.58 ($US per lb.). 

Livestock and Meat Markets (cents per lb.):
Lean Hogs (CME) gained 1.13 on the day for a closing price of 74.03; Pork Bellies (CME) gained 3.00 on the day for a closing price of 71.33; Live Cattle (CME) gained 0.45 on the day for a closing price of 105.95; Feeder Cattle (CME) gained 0.05 on the day for a closing price of 112.35. 

Other Commodities (cents per bu.):
Corn (CBT) gained 1.50 on the day for a closing price of 592.00 and Soybeans (CBT) shed 11.00 on the day for a closing price of 1,378.00.

Bond Market:
2 year bond N/A
5 year bond gained 10/32 on the day for a closing price of 99 24/32 with a Yield of 3.33, Yield Change -0.16
10 year bond gained 15/32 on the day for a closing price of 98 17/32 with a Yield of 4.01, Yield Change -0.10
30 year bond gained 30/32 on the day for a closing price of 96 5/32 with a Yield of 4.61, Yield Change -0.06

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