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21 Feb 2012 14:49

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Biz: Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches symbolic milestone

  • 13,000 points, the highest mark since 2008 source
  • » On May 20th, to be precise: The most successful private sectors early in 2012 have been finance and information technology, up nearly 13% when trading began today. The 13,000 figure is considered something of a benchmark for the Dow’s health, and while analysts are right to warn that the significance may be predominantly symbolic, the nature of investor confidence is such that a positive psychological message can itself be a big boon. The Dow crossed this threshold at a time when most attention was focused on Greece, which secured a second bailout from the Euro Zone as their fiscal crisis continued.

10 Aug 2011 14:10

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Biz, World: French credit weaknesses pushing markets down worldwide

  • The cost of insuring France’s debt rose to a record high today. And unlike the United States, France can’t just increase their money supply to pay its creditors. Partly as a result, it’s the most indebted of all European AAA-rated countries. It’s having a ripple effect that’s driving markets down worldwide. While S&P and the two other major ratings firms say they have no plans to downgrade France’s credit rating, it’s evident that investors are not as confident in the country’s financial situation. source

04 Aug 2011 14:20

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U.S.: Amid negative economic data, stock market having a really crappy day

  • 350+point dip in the Dow at one point today (ouch) source
  • » It’s becoming more and more apparent that we might be heading for a double-dip recession here. The Dow fell for eight days straight, only ending the losing streak yesterday — but it could fall steeply today. The new jobless numbers are mostly to blame for the weak market. There were 400,000 new unemployment claims in the week that ended July 30. That, in addition to a spreading debt crisis in Europe, has been enough to convince investors that the U.S. economy isn’t in a great spot right now, and it’s hurting our stock market bad.

11 Aug 2010 21:57

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Biz: Increased trade deficit + nervous investors = SELL! SELL! SELL!

  • 18.8% increase in the trade deficit, to $49.9 billion
  • 2.5% decrease in the Dow because of this news
  • 2.8% fall in the S&P 500 for the same reason
  • 3% dip in the Nasdaq today; sigh source

29 May 2010 13:19

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Biz: No May flowers here: For stocks, it was the worst May since 1940

  • 7.9% dip in Dow’s value in the merry month of May source

25 May 2010 10:01

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Biz: The stock market’s looking pretty cruddy in early trading

  • -2.6% the decline of the Dow Jones industrial this morning
  • -2.8% the decline of the S&P 500 in early trading this morning
  • -2.9% the decline of the NASDAQ; all have had cruddy months source

06 May 2010 20:22

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Biz: While we were out: The stock market has a huge buttcrack, guys

What the heck happened, stock market’s butt? Falling nearly a thousand points in a five-minute period is just sad. And we KNOW you’re gonna blame it on Greece, too. source
 

14 Oct 2009 09:36

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Biz: Watch out: The Dow could reach the 10,000 barrier again today

  • 9,871 the Dow’s Tuesday close, buoyed by earnings source

02 Jul 2009 21:26

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Biz: Unemployment sucked last month = stocks sucked today

  • -223 point decline of the Dow Jones Industrial today, due to crappy employment numbers
  • -2.6% percentage decrease of Dow; the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell just as badly, if not worse source

01 Jun 2009 10:08

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U.S.: When GM entered – and will leave – the Dow Jones index

  • 1925 The year the historic company perched its sturdy, reliable roost on the Dow Jones industrial average
  • June 8 The day the bankrupt company will leave the index, which it must leave because it’s bankrupt source