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Politics : Liberalism: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of It? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kenneth E. Phillipps who wrote (89547)	8/19/2010 3:02:56 PM
From: Hope Praytochange	1 Recommendation Respond to of 224750

NEW YORK—U.S. stocks skidded as weak economic data overshadowed excitement over the resurgence in deal activity. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 158 points, on pace to snap a two-day winning streak. The major benchmark indexes are now in the red for the week, month and year. An unexpected surge in jobless claims startled investors, eclipsing Intel's announcement that it will acquire McAfee. Just the "optics" of seeing jobless claims rise to 500,000 left investors downbeat. "You've got what we think is a persistent unemployment rate that is unlikely to come down under 9% even next year," said Brad Thompson, managing director of Frost Investment Advisors. Looming labor market and other economic concerns have taken attention away from individual stocks, which are now trading closely together, he said. "There's a polarity of risk-on, risk -off and it really is all about the macro-uncertainty." The week's uptick in deal activity and the stream of weak economic data sent conflicting messages to the stock market. Recent downbeat data have shown stagnant hiring, sluggish consumer spending and a rebound that has yet to take hold. That has punished the stock market. The Dow declined 1.5% to 10257, weighed by a slide in economically sensitive General Electric, which fell 3.8%. Chip giant Intel dropped 3.3% after it agreed to pay $7.68 billion to acquire computer-security software maker McAfee, whose shares soared 57%. The Nasdaq Composite fell 1.6% to 2179. The Standard & Poor's 500-share index dropped 1.7% to 1075, weighed by its cyclical materials and industrial sectors as the economic outlook darkened. Honeywell International fell 3.7%, Fastenal, which makes nuts and bolts, dropped 3.6% and railroad operator Norfolk Southern was off 3.4%. Traders also noted that the Dow Jones 20 Transportation Average, seen as an economic barometer, sank 2.8% in an ominous sign for the broad market. Shipping giant FedEx slid 3%, while railroad company Union Pacific fell 2.7%. idiot odumba destroys USA: kennyparrot sticks head in mattress