big hit in the stock market today

[mick silver]

one more hit for the team ....... 15,405.68-293.17 (-1.87%) ... looks like the gold an silver up so far today .... we all know the folks with a pension fund are not selling today so it look like the richs ones are taking money and will jack back in on the low side ... Dollar drops on disappointing U.S. factory dataBy Investing.com | | Feb 03, 2014 07:21PM GMT | Add a Comment (http://www.investing.com/news//forex-news/dollar-drops-on-disappointing-u.s.-factory-data-263905#comments)
http://c1308342.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/logos/logoWebmasterTools.pngInvesting.com


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Investing.com - The greenback dropped against most major currencies on Monday after a widely-watched gauge of U.S. factory activity disappointed investors and stoked expectations for the Federal Reserve to wind down stimulus programs on a very gradual basis.
http://glocdn.investing.com/news/dollars_309x143.jpg
In U.S. trading on Friday, EUR/USD (http://www.investing.com/currencies/eur-usd) was up 0.21% at 1.3517.
The dollar softened after the Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index fell to a seven-month low in January, as new orders slumped.
The ISM’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index came in at 51.3 in January, down from 57.0 in December.
Analysts were expecting the index to inch down to 56.4 in January.
The report added new order growth fell at its fastest rate in 33 years, with the new orders index dropping to 51.2 from 64.4 in December. The employment index fell from 55.8 in December to 52.3, the weakest since June.
Also on Monday, U.K.-based Markit reported that its U.S. manufacturing PMI came in at a three-month low of 53.7 for January, missing expectations for a 53.8 reading.
The soft numbers reminded investors that the Federal Reserve will trim its USD65 billion monthly bond-buying program on a gradual basis, and won't tighten policy in the foreseeable future.
Stimulus tools tend to weaken the dollar by suppressing interest rates to spur recovery.
Meanwhile across the Atlantic, Markit reported that the euro zone’s January manufacturing PMI rose to a 32-month high of 54.0 in January, up from 52.7 in December and higher than the preliminary estimate of 53.9.
However, the euro refused to surge against the greenback due to last week's soft inflation data that fueled fears the European Central Bank may avoid tightening policy to stave off the risk of deflation.
The euro area's flash consumer price index rose 0.7% on year in January, according Eurostat, missing market calls for a 0.9% reading, which softened the single currency.
Core inflation, stripped of volatile food, energy, alcohol and tobacco items, rose 0.8%, in line with expectations.
The dollar was down against the yen, with USD/JPY (http://www.investing.com/currencies/usd-jpy) down 0.82% at 101.18, and down against the Swiss franc, with USD/CHF (http://www.investing.com/currencies/usd-chf) down 0.45% at 0.9024.
The yen continued to see safe-haven demand due to ongoing concerns that emerging markets will remain volatile due to a possible slowdown in China and less stimulus from the Federal Reserve sending funds trickling into non-U.S. stock markets.
The greenback was up against the pound, with GBP/USD (http://www.investing.com/currencies/gbp-usd) down 0.86% at 1.6295.
Markit Economics said the U.K. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 56.7 in January, down from 57.2 in December and below estimates for a reading of 57.0.
The dollar was down against its cousins in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with USD/CAD (http://www.investing.com/currencies/usd-cad) down 0.25% at 1.1099, AUD/USD (http://www.investing.com/currencies/aud-usd) up 0.14% at 0.8764 and NZD/USD (http://www.investing.com/currencies/nzd-usd) up 0.09% at 0.8096.
The Australian dollar rose ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rate review on Tuesday, amid expectations that it would keep interest rates on hold.
The RBA was expected to shift its stance away from lower rates after recent economic data indicated a pickup in consumer spending and business conditions and continued strengthening in the housing market.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.17% at 81.22.
On Tuesday, the U.S. is to produce data on factory orders, a leading indicator of production.

[mick silver]

Stocks were down sharply in early afternoon trading as Wall Street struggles to shake off the first down January for the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 since 2010.
Weaker reports on U.S. manufacturing and construction spending brought fresh concerns about the economy.
Investors were also disappointed in auto sales from General Motors and Ford.
MANUFACTURING: Factories expanded at much slower pace in January (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/02/03/ism-manufacturing-index/5180599/)
CONSTRUCTION: Spending up only 0.1% in Dec. (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/02/03/december-us-construction-spending/5180821/)
AUTO SALES: GM, Ford sales sag, Chrysler up 8% (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2014/02/03/gm-ford-chrysler-sales-january-detroit-automakers/5165301/)
In afternoon trading, the Dow was down nearly 300 points -- losing 1.9% to 15,408. The S&P 500 index dropped 2.2%, while the Nasdaq composite index tanked 2.6%.
"What is clear is there is a lot of jitteriness in the market right now," says Thorne Perkin, president of Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management. "The general investment environment is weak right now."
The market is being hurt by skittishness and profit-taking after last year's 30% gain. Investor sentiment has also been hurt by the currency selloffs in emerging market countries like Turkey and South Africa. Signs of a slowdown in China and U.S. manufacturing has added to the gloom.
Still, Perkin says the market pullback is healthy, especially given the market's huge runup last year and the fact that the U.S. stock market hasn't suffered a 10% correction since 2011.
"There's a risk-off feel," Perkin says. "U.S. corrections are healthy. It's how you avoid bubbles by having speed bumps in the road. To say the U.S. market is overdue for a correction is maybe the understatement of the year. The free ride is over and fundamentals will matter more now that the Fed is printing less money."
The Federal Reserve, of course, began reducing its market-friendly stimulus this year.
Signs of risk aversion and investors preference for safer assets were abundant.
A closely watched Wall Street "fear gauge" and volatility measure, known as the VIX, climbed nearly 9% Monday to its highest level since early October. Similarly, prices of long-term U.S. government bonds rose, pushing the yields, which moves in the opposite direction, sharply lower. The 10-year Treasury note sank to 2.61% Monday, its lowest yield since early November and well below the 3.03% level it ended at in 2013.
Global stocks were lower as Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 2% to 14,619.13 amid lingering jitters about weakness in the financial markets of some developing countries. Japan's benchmark index is now down 10.3% from its Dec. 30 high and officially in "correction" territory.
Markets were closed in Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Malaysia for Lunar New Year holidays.
European shares were also hammered. Germany's DAX index flopped 1.3 to 9,187 and France's CAC 40 index tripped 1.4% to 4,108. Britain's FTSE 100 index stumbled 1.1% to 6,467.
On Friday, the Dow closed down 149.76 points, or 0.9%, to 15,698.85. The S&P 500 closed down 11.60 points, 0.7%, to 1,782.59. The tech-laden Nasdaq composite ended down 19.25 points, 0.5%, to 4,103.88.
MORE: Down January for stocks is ominous for rest of the year (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2014/01/31/stock-drop-in-january-raises-worry/5077353/)
Investors continue to flee to the safety of fixed-income investments. The yield on the bellwether 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.61% from 2.65% Friday. As recently as the first week of January, the yield, which moves inversely to the price, was at 3.03%, according to Yahoo Finance data.
MORE: Skittish investors cling to defensive stocks (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2014/01/27/defensive-stocks-momentum-hunker/4943715/)
The slow start on Wall Street in January, which often serves as a barometer of how stocks trade for the entire year, is the latest worry of skittish investors, who have been reacting negatively to roiled emerging markets. According to the Stock Trader's Almanac, when the first month of the year is negative the chances of finishing the full year in the plus column drop to roughly 50-50, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac.
MORE: S&P 500 ends January with a loss: Bad 2014 omen? (http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2014/01/31/stocks-friday/5075599/)
Benchmark U.S. crude for March delivery was down 87 cents at $96.62 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 74 cents to close at $97.49 a barrel.
Contributing: The Associated Press

[mick silver]

Friday action leaves Dow Jones Industrial Average down for January and with a “sell” signal
As January drew to a close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) and other major global stock market indexes registered losses for the month.

U.S. stocks posted a down week and a down January as investors fretted over poor earnings reports, weakness in emerging markets and the ongoing tapering of the Federal Reserve’s bond buying program.
For the month, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) lost 5.2%, the Nasdaq (QQQ) dipped 1.7% and the SP500 (SPY) gave up 3.6%.
Overall, a down January can be a bad omen for stock markets as the StockTraders Almanac’s “January Barometer” says that “as goes January, so goes the year.”
The earnings season thus far has been mediocre, at best, and Amazon (AMZN) continued the parade of weaker than expected reports on Friday with the stock falling 11%.
Emerging markets and Europe were also weak with iShares Emerging Market ETF (EEM) falling 7.9% for the month and iShares MSCI EAFE (EFA) 5.4% off late 2014 highs.
On My Stock Market RadarThe Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) shows significant technical damage as a result of January’s action.
In the point and figure chart below, we can see that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) registered a new “sell” signal on Friday with a bearish price objective of 14,950, approximately 4.7% below current levels. A drop below the blue line at the 15,250 level would indicate a larger correction and the start of a new bear market according to point and figure charting methodology.
http://c3352932.r32.cf0.rackcdn.com/content/picfd8b5a385b41d87bf75b0e6b292a80e2.png Dow Jones

Traditional charting methodology finds the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) below its 50 day moving average and now approaching its 200 day moving average of 15465, just over 200 points, approximately 1.5% away from Friday’s close.
A drop below the 200 day average is likely to trigger intensified selling as that level is widely viewed as the demarcation line between bull and bear markets and the point at which many large market participants begin sheltering/hedging/selling positions.
Stock Market News You Can Really UseInvestors remain concerned about economic weakness in China and emerging markets (EEM) as well as the Federal Reserve tapering program which continued last week with a $10 billion reduction in Federal Reserve bond buying activity. No one knows for sure what the impact of this reduction will be, but clearly, emerging markets and emerging market currencies reacted extremely negatively to the news.
At home, earnings continued to disappoint with Amazon missing estimates and Wal-Mart (WMT) downgrading its Q4 earnings forecast.
Chevron (CVX) Mastercard (MA) and Mattel (MAT) also joined the litany of weak earnings reports, joining the likes of Google, Apple, Exxon Mobil and Yahoo (YHOO) which posted various earnings, sales and revenue disappointments.
The news wasn’t all bad, however, as Ford (F) reported a good year, along with Facebook and UPS.
In economic reports, Q4 GDP recorded a decent 3.2% and US PMI rose to 56.6, along with home prices posting a gain in November.
Pending and new home sales didn’t fare so well, with new home sales recording 414,000 for December, well below expectations of 455,000.
Pending home sales for December fell 8.7% compared to a gain of 0.2% the previous month, and Durable Goods were frozen in December with a decline of 4.3%, widely off expectations of a gain of 1.6%.
China spooked the world with its PMI falling below 50 and into contraction territory with the Shanghai Composite (FXI) falling almost 10% from its early December recent highs.
Next week brings significant economic news:
Monday: January ISM, December Construction spending
Wednesday: ADP Employment, ISM Services
Thursday: weekly jobless claims
Friday: January Non Farm Payrolls, Unemployment
Of course, the big item here will be Friday’s employment report.
In earnings, closely watched companies include:
Monday: Yum! Brands (YUM)
Tuesday: Toyota (TM)
Wednesday: Merck, (MERK) Time Warner, (TWX) Twitter, (TWTR) Walt Disney, (DIS) Yelp (YELP)
Thursday: AOL, (AOL) General Motors, (GM) Sony, (SE) LinkedIn (LNKD)
Bottom line: The Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSERCA:DIA) and other major global indexes will have to continue to cope with the withdrawal of Federal Reserve stimulus along with signs of a slowdown in China and weaker than expected earnings in the United States. More volatility can be expected.CFDs Quotes



S&P 500 Futures (http://www.investing.com/indices/us-spx-500-futures)
1,736.15
-40.35
-2.27%





NQ 100 Futures (http://www.investing.com/indices/nq-100-futures)
3,433.90
-80.10
-2.28%





Dow 30 (http://www.investing.com/indices/us-30)
15,374.50
-324.35
-2.07%





DAX (http://www.investing.com/indices/germany-30)
9,186.52
-119.96
-1.29%





FTSE 100 (http://www.investing.com/indices/uk-100)
6,465.66
-44.78
-0.69%





Nikkei 225 (http://www.investing.com/indices/japan-ni225)
14,619.13
-295.40
-1.98%





US Dollar Index (http://www.investing.com/quotes/us-dollar-index)
81.13
-0.24
-0.29%

[mick silver]

Mexican Pension Funds Show Interest In GoldBy Nat Rudarakanchana (http://www.ibtimes.com/gold-mexican-pension-funds-show-interest-after-rules-are-eased-1552947?ft=74gk7) - Mexico’s pension funds have showed fresh interest in gold, after the lifting of years of strict investment regulations, according to the World Gold Council.
http://glocdn.investing.com/news/gold_3_309x143.jpgMexican Pension Funds Show Interest In Gold
The council has talked to about half of the country’s twenty or so influential pension fund managers, who together manage $160 billion in assets, said council investment research director Juan Carlos Artigas on Monday.
Legislation from 2012 allowed Mexican pension funds to invest in gold and commodities in 2013, and invest more freely in foreign assets. Japan’s pension funds, who together hold the world’s second largest pool of retirement assets, have also gravitated towards gold.
“I spoke to many of the pension funds in Mexico last year,” Artigas told reporters in New York on Monday. “Many of them are interested…They need to get a certification for investing in commodities. But once they do, it’ll be likely that they’ll start investing.”
“Compared to the pension fund space in the U.S., it’s probably small, but it’s still $160 billion or so in assets. So it’s still substantial,” he continued. Mexican pension funds account for 22 percent of Mexican savings, ad could double in assets by 2018, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Mexico’s pension funds still face caps on how much they can invest in commodities and foreign assets, as a slice of their assets. They won’t be able to invest more than 10 percent of their assets in commodities, depending on the fund’s structure.
The world’s largest gold-backed fund, SPRD’s GLD, is cross-listed for trade in Mexico, so investments in the fund won’t count toward a foreign investment cap, said Artigas.
Pension fund interest in gold rarely impacts the yellow metal’s price, since it plays a relatively small role in a $236 billion global market. Bloomberg estimated in 2012 that only $9 billion in Mexican pension assets will be eligible for commodities investment overall. At the same time, influential U.S. hedge funds sold gold heavily in 2013, contributing to bearish sentiment.
Mexican pension fund purchases of gold may amount to dozens of metric tons at most, in a market which demands over 4000 tons annually. But there are already fifteen Japanese pension funds buying gold through exchange-traded funds, who may make a larger impact, according to William Rhind, who handles institutional investors for the council.
Gold performed better than most Mexican assets from 2003 to 2013, but underperformed Mexican equities, earlier World Gold Council research showed. Gold prices fell 28 percent in 2013, in their worst year since 1981.

[mick silver]

Crude falls on soft U.S. manufacturing reports

... bull shit gas went up today 40 cents ... Natural gas falls as weather forecasts continue to call for warming tren ... bs on this also n gas just went up also ............. European stocks open lower on China slowdown concernshttp://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/european-stocks-open-lower-on-china-slowdown-concerns-263721 .................................Dow 30 Real-time CFD








15,372.80 -326.05 (-2.08%)

[Ponce]

When you realize that all numbers are created in trading between banks with funny money and not with the John Does from the street all numbers are null and void......we here already know the truth of the matter and are ready for it.

V

[Neuro]

The report added new order growth fell at its fastest rate in 33 years, with the new orders index dropping to 51.2 from 64.4 in December.
That is the most serious stat in the report!

[mick silver]

when was the last time we all saw a 330 point drop .... ? their alot of bad news coming out , crude oil droping in price that would tell me company are not mading stuff like they were

[Silver Rocket Bitches!]

Feels like 2009 all over again. Soon they'll be blaming the shorts. Right now they're blaming cold weather for poor car sales. Too bad the FED is out of ammo and QE is adhering to the law of diminishing returns.

[chad]

people should usethis opportunity to buy in big now! it's looking like a great time to buy the financials!
\
maria

[ximmy]

TPTB are still in control, when they lose the ability to manipulate metals... then we will see something big!

[Libertytree]

Quote..Nothing matters and what if it did?....... J Mellencamp

[mick silver]

Dow Braces for One-Day 1,000 Drop, as Markets Plungehttp://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/1BXToz3EEaRH300lXVlVxA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9Zml0O2g9MjE-/http://l.yimg.com/os/284/2011/10/10/e49170559632c5942775bd0ef6075de1_032525.jpg (http://247wallst.com/)By Douglas A. McIntyre | 24/7 Wall St. – 3 hours ago



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A 1,000-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) may appear like a great deal but, based on historical standards, it is not much. Japan's Nikkei has sold off 14% so far this year, and 4% in a day. The sell-off in equity markets has accelerated. A thousand points off the DJIA would be only 6.5%. And the outside forces that pressure markets up and down are pushing them relentlessly down for the time being.
The DJIA has a tradition of plunging on bad news. It sold off 7.9% on October 15, 2008, a single day during the financial crisis in 2008. More than once during that panic, it dropped more than 7%. Nearly as recently, on October 19, 1987, the DJIA dropped 22.6%. The cause was not extraordinary. The economy was in recession and investors rushed for the exits once it became clear that day's trading would be terrible.
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The swirling down has already started, as the U.S. markets have corrected more than 5%. Among the reasons are concerns that gross domestic product (GDP) in the United States and, probably, in other larger economies have lost the steam of their recoveries. The end to central bank support stands as one reason. Emerging markets like China, India and Brazil cannot be counted on to move global GDP higher, as their own growth rates have slowed.
ALSO READ: Five Unusual Alternatives to Investing in Gold (http://247wallst.com/special-report/2014/02/03/five-great-alternatives-to-investing-in-gold/)
Consumer confidence in the United States has faltered. Some evidence of that has come out in slow holiday retail sales. Housing prices have stopped rising in some American markets and have slowed in others. The pace of home sales has slowed, as has the number of homes put onto the market.
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Unemployment may have dropped to 6.7%, but many experts say that long-term unemployment will dog a recovery for years. And the hope that the jobless rate will return to a "normal" 5% has all but disappeared.
If earnings are at the heart of much of the market's movement, there has hardly been one huge American public corporation that has outperformed, as measured by fourth-quarter numbers. Certainly based on market cap, there has been little good news. Apple Inc. (AAPL (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=aapl)), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=xom)), Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=wmt)), International Business Machines Corp. (IBM (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ibm)) and General Electric Co. (GE (http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ge)) each have stumbled.
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As the markers for equity market movements are taken into account, there is no positive figure on the ledger. However, there is a large collection of bad ones.
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