19-2-2009 US STOCKS-Dow falls to 6-year low as banks slide

This news is not surprising...


www.reuters.com...

NEW YORK, Feb 19 (Reuters) - The Dow industrials closed at a more than six-year low on Thursday as investor fears that banks could be nationalized drove their stocks to a 17-year low and a rise in the number people receiving jobless benefits to a record high stoked worries about the deepening recession.

After several near misses this week, blue chips blew through the Nov. 20 bear market closing low in late trade, erasing a year-end rally built on hopes a new president would successfully tackle the deepening recession.

Global meltdown, recession, depression, economic collapse etc.

Call it whatever you want, does it matter now?

Hopeless, bleak, etc. are the more optimistic terms being used.

Shares of major banks tumbled on concerns about government plans to mop up bad assets from their books. The KBW banks index .BKX fell to its lowest level since 1992, led by a 14 percent slide in Bank of America (BAC.N) shares.

"There seems to be a whiff in the air that we're moving much closer to (bank) nationalization, which would effectively wipe out stockholders," said Paul Nolte, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates, in Hinsdale Illinois.

Is all lost at this point, or is there still reason for hope that things will soon begin to get better?




[edit on 19-2-2009 by Walkswithfish]

Okay, where is the guy who posted about the webbot predicting this ???

Has it ever occurred to anyone that the bank shares are falling purposefully? Perhaps they are truly holding all of that money they have gotten in bail outs to buy back their out standing stock... That way we( the normal persons) have no foot in the door at all and they have complete control over the money system. ( insert pretty much any elite or government agency for "they" )
Now I know that several of the banks used a small amount of the billions to buy up other banks and business's. While at the same time having other banks handed over to them after they had been closed down over the weekend. Typical public announcement following closure... don't worry folk's your money is still there we have just put one of OUR people in charge of it.
To be perfectly honest I truly don't see why they are still dragging this out so long. We all know it is coming and that it's going to hurt bad. I just can't see what they are waiting for other than some group to lose it and set of riots everywhere. This giving them the final excuse to step in and take over completely.
A lot of states are having major money problems and running their civil service on skeleton crews at this point. Perhaps they are waiting for them to "state" publicly they are overwhelmed and need assistance ? bahh I am off it , gotten the family ready and told who would listen.( Anyone with even the tiniest amount of math ability can see it coming down the pike.)

reply to post by cautiouslypessimistic


I've seen this webbot name about the forums, but I must admit I have no Idea who it is... a fortune teller/psychic?

UK financial news seems a slight bit better?

www.reuters.com...

you know what was strange today ? Eastern Europe got a 4-5 % increase while DOW keeps on falling . Actually more and more people are saying that my country could still have economical growth this year, even if a modest one

reply to post by Walkswithfish


Bottom finally gives way, The bottom is now uncertain, and could push stocks even lower. I believe we have an unemployment report tomorrow as well..

reply to post by Walkswithfish


Webbot is a POS. It only seems to predict things AFTER they occur. hows about that?

reply to post by Rockpuck


the job loss will create more panick , and panick will bring DOW even lower. This will lead to more closure and more job loss, that would create more panick.. and this will bring DOW even lowe..

Can you just stop panicking???????

[edit on 19-2-2009 by sty]

I actually saw on MSM (CNN) a discussion about Deflationary Spiral .. and that the Governments actions are doing nothing to calm the economy, and if anything the markets are loosing faith. Stocks drop, prices fall, people get laid off, consumer spending drops, stocks drop, people are laid off, prices are cut, people are laid off, stocks drop, consumer spending drops, foreclosures rise, stocks drop ....

Here I had people telling me this President of ours literally walked on water.

And VIX went down... so it's not the bottom yet.

The bottom is nowhere in sight, some people say around 5500-6000...

I made 35% in profits in two weeks... Some people who followed Reihnhart advice are making about 75% profits right now.

[edit on 19-2-2009 by Vitchilo]

So this coincides with Greenspan suggesting recently that banks should be nationalized...funny how he happens to work for a hedge fund that shorts banks.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
[]

Bottom finally gives way,

The bottom is now uncertain, and could push stocks even lower. [...]

the november '08 lows have been broken...if only by a little bit !

the site: www.theinternationalforecaster.com...
Presents us this extreme forecast:

We see the market at 600 to 660 on the Dow.

The expected rally, a supposed repeat of 1933, isn’t going to happen because today’s problems are 5-times worse than in that era, besides inflation will be raging.
Experts are looking vainly for an upside not for further downside, which will probably be the case. In addition we see world trade tightening further and 40% of earnings for the S&P500 comes from foreign trade...

i've seen DOW 5500-7500 before....
but never ->until today

reply to post by Sergeant Stiletto


well, I do not think it is a bad ideea to nationalise ALL banks. But I would not be happy to see only the nationalisation of loss, and the privatisation of profit. I mean : ALL or NOTHING. In a perfect world, the money should be created ONLY by the government.

reply to post by St Udio


I believe it could get much worse, and people should prepare for the worst...

But the DOW falling into 3 digit range?

Is that possible?

I have a question to the economists on the thread. What would happen to the dollar value if a large portion of the USA banking system got nationalized?

Would it gain strength or the oposite?