Tag Archives: Economic Decline

The Economic Collapse Blog: BLACK MONDAY: The First Time EVER The Dow Has Dropped By More Than 500 Points On Two Consecutive Days

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 588 points. It was the 8th worst single day stock market crash in U.S. history, and it was the first time that the Dow has ever fallen by more than 500 points on two consecutive days. But the amazing thing is that the Dow actually performed better than almost every other major global stock market on Monday.  In the U.S., the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both did worse than the Dow. In Europe, almost every major index performed significantly worse than the Dow.  Over in Asia, Japanese stocks were down 895 points, and Chinese stocks experienced the biggest decline of all (a whopping 8.46 percent). On June 25th, I was not kidding around when I issued a “red alert” for the last six months of 2015. I had never issued a formal alert for any other period of time, and I specifically stated that “a major financial collapse is imminent“. But you know what? As the weeks and months roll along, things will eventually be even worse than what any of the experts (including myself) have been projecting. The global financial system is now unraveling, and you better pack a lunch because this is going to be one very long horror show.

Our world has not seen a day quite like Monday in a very, very long time. Let’s start our discussion where the carnage began…

The Economic Collapse Blog – The Economic Collapse Blog: BLACK MONDAY: The First Time EVER The Dow Has Dropped By More Than 500 Points On Two Consecutive Days

CNNMoney: Trading was halted 1,200 times Monday

The selling on Wall Street was so dramatic Monday that it triggered unprecedented emergency freezes on stocks.

Stocks and exchange-traded funds were automatically halted more than 1,200 times, according to Nasdaq.

The high level of trading pauses highlights just how extreme the selloff was in a short span of time. Fears about China’s economic slowdown caused the Dow to plummet over 1,000 points when the market opened. The Dow ended down 588 points, its worst decline since August 2011.

CNNMoney – CNNMoney: Trading was halted 1,200 times Monday

MarketWatch: Households just saw $1.8 trillion in wealth vanish as stocks fall

You may have seen headlines to describe the market carnage like a trillion dollar’s worth of wealth wiped away in a single day. But it’s worth noting just how much is held by Americans in the stock market in the first place.

MarketWatch took a look at the Federal Reserve’s financial accounts of the United States report for answers — and did some back-of-the-envelope math.

As of March 31, households and nonprofits held $24.1 trillion in stocks. That’s both directly, and through mutual funds, pension funds and the like. That also includes the holdings of U.S.-based hedge funds, though you’d have to think that most hedge funds are held by households.

MarketWatch – MarketWatch: Households just saw $1.8 trillion in wealth vanish as stocks fall

Wall Street Ends the Day Down Despite Early Gains

Investors were hopeful on Tuesday as U.S. stock seemed to have early gains, but those gains were reversed and U.S. stocks ended down within the final 30 minutes of trade.

Trading on Wall Street was voluminous . S&P 500 was down 1.4% even after a late selloff that gained them 2.9% earlier today.

The day ended with the Dow Jones industrial average falling 204.91 points, or 1.29%, to 15,666.44.  The NASDAQ Composite lost 19.77 points and S&P 500 was down 25.59 points, it’s biggest loss since 2011.

“You saw a knee-jerk drop and a knee-jerk recovery and now people are thinking about it,” said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial in Waltham, Mass.

The Chinese central bank cut interest rates by 0.25%, making the one-year lending rate 4.6%. The reason was “aimed at lowering corporate borrowing costs and to ensure enough liquidity for stable credit growth.”

“I think it’s a real good start, but it’s on the low end of what the markets were looking for. It indicates China has stepped off the idea that markets will go it alone, and instead the government will support them. It’s not a question about how much assistance there is, now that they’ve made the commitment, it will be enough [to quell market sentiment],” McMillan stated.

Despite these efforts to boost China’s equity markets, the Shanghai Composite lost 7.63% and Japan’s Nikkei fell 3.96%.

The price of oil barely rose, but the slowdown in China kept prices from rising significantly. The price of copper rose 2.3%, but the values of both gold and silver fell.

Stock Market Rebound Falls Short; Down Over 500 Points

The attempted rally in the stock market after opening 1,100 points lower eventually ran out of steam and led to a loss of over 500 points.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed the day 588.47 points lower, or a 3.6% decline, to finish at 15871.28.  The S&P 500 fell 77.68 points, or 3.9%, ending at 1893.21.  The Nasdaq Composite fell 179.79 points, down 3.8%, to 4526.25.

The Dow at one point rallied more than 800 points after the largest one-day decline during intraday trading but ran out of steam at the end of the session.  Mutual funds and hedge funds began to scoop up cheap stocks that led to the initial rally and moderation of market bounce-back.

“When a big selloff comes, it tends to be herd mentality,” said Ryan Larson, head of U.S. equity trading for RBC Global Asset Management, told the Wall Street Journal. “But once that herd gets out of the way, there can be some very good buying opportunities.”

One investment advisor tried to downplay the significance of the fall by saying the U.S. economy is strong.

“Stock prices have dropped sharply and fears have increased sharply,” said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones. “But it’s really important to keep in mind while stock prices have changed and obviously emotions have changed, fundamentals for the U.S. haven’t changed. Even with China selling sharply and emerging markets selling off, we’re still seeing solid U.S. economic growth.”

Although one market advisor says fear is now in control.

“Fear has taken over. The market topped out last week,” said Adam Sarhan, CEO of Sarhan Capital, told CNBC. “We saw important technical levels break last week. Huge shift in investor psychology.”

The markets were heavily impacted by China’s massive 8.5% decline which sent the market into negative territory for the year.  Other world markets were rocked by the action:  Japan’s Nikkei fell 4.6%, the pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 fell 5.3%, Germany’s DAX fell 4.7% and is now 20% below an April peak.

The Dow had entered what is considered a market correction on Friday, falling 10 percent from a recent peak.

The stock that drew the biggest attention at the market opening today, Apple, rallied from falling below $100 a share to finish at $103.07, just over $2.00 a share lower from Friday’s close.

Ex-Head of Communications for British Treasury Says “Stock Up On Bottled Water”

A former head of communications for the British treasury is telling the public they need to prepare to spend “a month indoors” because of public unrest that will come from a looming economic collapse.

Damian McBride, who served under Prime Minister Gordon Brown, wrote on Twitter after today’s giant Chinese stock market crash:

“Advice on the looming crash, No.1: get hard cash in a safe place now; don’t assume banks & cashpoints will be open, or bank cards will work”

“Crash advice No.2: do you have enough bottled water, tinned goods & other essentials at home to live a month indoors? If not, get shopping.”

“Crash advice No.3: agree a rally point with your loved ones in case transport and communication gets cut off; somewhere you can all head to.”

McBride added that today was the stock market catching up with the terror over defaults that’s been impacting the bond market for the last few months.

McBride’s comments come as the world reels from the Chinese stock market crash and the UK’s FTSE 100 losing 60 billion British pounds in only a few hours, causing the largest one day fall of the market since 2008.  Over the last two weeks the market has lost over 160 billion British pounds.

U.S. Stocks Attempting to Rally after 1,100 Point Plunge

U.S. stock markets are attempting to rally after a massive 1,100 point plunge at the opening of today’s market attributed to the crashing of the Chinese stock market.

After opening to the biggest one day loss in the history of the economy, investors are starting to buy back in an attempt to save the market.  As of noon central time, the Dow has rallied back to 16,325.00, a drop of 134.55 points, or a 0.81% decline.

The massive drop at the opening was attributed to the sell-off in China that has crashed their stock market.  The Shanghai Composite Index fell 8.5 percent, the worst one day fall since October 2007.

The drop was so significant that the official Chinese news agency used the term “Black Monday.”

The drop in China is causing significant amounts of civil disorder.  Millionaires who flew into Shanghai over the weekend for meetings were attacked by crowds as they tried to leave their hotel.  The head of an exchange that trades in metals was captured by angry investors and brought to police as they demanded their money be unfrozen.  Police later released him without charge.

“China is definitely the No. 1 cause for concern globally and Europe is not far behind,” Peter Kenny, chief market strategist at Clearpool Group, told fox Business. “The speed at which this market has moved sharply lower is an indication panic is driving all investment decisions. If you haven’t positioned yourself for volatility and seasonal weakness, you’re behind the 8 ball.”

The selloff in America was driven in the tech sector.  Facebook fell 7% at the opening, Twitter, NetFlix and clean car maker Tesla Motors all tumbled at the start.  Many are rallying through the day.

Oil Prices Hit 6 1/2 Year Lows

Oil prices opened today by falling 6 percent to a 6 1/2 year low as markets worried about a Chinese-led global economic slowdown.

The markets were already steadily falling due to a season of plentiful oil supply.  However, one oil market analyst said the common forces of supply and demand are not causing the problems within the oil market prices.

“Today’s falls are not about oil market fundamentals. It’s all about China,” Carsten Fritsch, senior oil analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt, told the Reuters Global Oil Forum. “The fear is of a hard landing and that things get out of the control of the Chinese authorities.”

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell below $39 a barrel early Monday, a level that had not been reached since 2009.  The market had closed on Friday at $40.29.  In June 2014, oil was hovering around $100 a barrel.

The prices could fall significantly further if the Iranian nuclear deal between the Obama Administration and Iran is approved. The lifting of restrictions because of the deal would have Iranian oil flooding into the world market supply.  Iranian officials said they would be aiming to raise production.

“We will be raising our oil production at any cost and we have no other alternative,” Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said. “If Iran’s oil production hike is not done promptly, we will be losing our market share permanently.”

The company that tracks gasoline prices for AAA reports that gas prices at the pump for Americans will likely fall below $2 after averaging around $3.40 a year ago.

Historic Drop on Wall Street at Opening Bell

Investors are bracing for an incredibly ugly and volatile day on Wall Street today as China closed to their own version of a “Black Monday” and the Dow dived over 900 points at the opening bell.    Oil Prices plunged below $40 a barrel. At this moment we are down 6% and have lost 1000 points on the DOW.  

Experts agree that the market in China, the uncertainty on the interest rate and the effect of cheap oil are causing this slide.  Many are stating that there must be something more happening to cause this type of market descent.  

China’s market last dropped this low in 2007.  And is down more than 40% in the last two weeks.  This is being called a Market Crash by most of the financial community.  

Dow Hits Market Correction Status

The U.S. stock market took another tumble on Friday, down more than 2 percent thanks in part to a scare in the oil market that saw price hit milestones. The dip of over 450 points sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) into the area called a “market correction.”

The oil market fell below $40 a barrel in trading for the first time since 2009 before rallying to finish at $40.45, down 87 cents on the day. The dip is partially attributed to the problems in China as that nation is the world’s largest energy consumer.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was down over 470 points in afternoon trading a day after the index finished 358 points lower. The slide on Friday has taken the DJIA more than 10 percent lower than the record high close of 18,312.19 reached on May 19th. This means the Dow is in what is considered a “market correction.”

These are rare happenings with the last one happening in August 2011 when the S&P suffered a 10% correction. In that correction, the S&P hit 19.4% before rebounding to current levels which are still 6.3% off its high.

“Right now there is a feeling of fear in the marketplace and all news is interpreted negatively and it’s interpreted indiscriminately,” said Tom Digenan, head of U.S. equities as UBS Global Asset Management, told CNBC.

The Standard and Poor’s index, already in the red for the year, fell another 1.8%. The NASDAQ fell 1.9%.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index plunged nearly 3% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.9%.
The Shanghai composite index on mainland China dropped over 4%. MarketWatch noted China’s benchmark index is down 32% since June 12.