WOW! Anyone see what happened on Wall Street today? Minus about 200 points! All those years gains right down the toilet!

Rough Day On Wall Street

Major gauges sink late in session with blue chips erasing all of the year's gains.
By Jessica Seid, CNNMoney.com staff writer
January 20, 2006: 3:49 PM EST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - The stock sell-off picked up steam Friday afternoon, sending the Dow Jones industrial average tumbling about 200 points and putting the world's most widely watched stock index into the loss column for the year.

Disappointing earnings from General Electric and Citigroup -- following warnings earlier this week from Yahoo!, Intel, Apple and other well-known companies -- raised a rash of worries on Wall Street about how corporate profits would fare in 2006.

A jump of more than 2 percent in oil prices added to the jitters.

"Combine the name-brand companies that have disappointed with a backdrop of higher energy prices and you get a Friday sell-off," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co.

With 20 minutes left in the session, the 30-share Dow industrials (down 194.51 to 10,686.20, Charts) sank more than 200 points, or about 2 percent, putting the index into the red for the year for the first time in 2006.

The broader S&P 500 index (down 21.08 to 1,263.96, Charts) lost 1.7 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite (down 49.63 to 2,252.18, Charts) skidded 2.3 percent.

The market had gotten off to a fast start in the new year, rallying in the first seven sessions of 2006.

Crude oil jumped $1.52 to $68.35 a barrel on concern over the latest audio tapes that surfaced Thursday warning of new al Qaeda attacks and ongoing concerns about a possible cutoff of supplies from Iran.

And Nigerian oil unions said Friday they would withdraw from facilities in the oil-rich delta region if violence persisted, raising more fears of supply disruption.
Earnings focus

GE (down $1.35 to $33.33, Research) reported fourth-quarter profit fell 46 percent, in line with Wall Street expectations, and raised the lower end of its 2006 guidance. But revenue for the quarter was below forecasts and shares fell 4 percent.

Shares of Dow component Citigroup (down $1.97 to $45.97, Research) sank over 3 percent after the bank said fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations fell 3 percent.

Motorola (Research) added to earnings worries. The world's second-largest mobile phone maker reported fourth-quarter earnings up about 86 percent from last year but indicated that first-quarter earnings and revenue will fall, sending shares down over 7 percent.

Shares of Xilinx (down $2.36 to $27.43, Research) sunk 8 percent on news that the semiconductor maker posted a 26 percent rise in third-quarter profit but its forecast disappointed investors.

Supertex (down $11.80 to $31.45, Research) tumbled 27 percent after the semiconductor maker posted a higher third-quarter profit but fell short of Wall Street estimates.

Other chip stocks fell in sympathy, sending the Philadelphia Semiconductor index, or the SOX, down 3.5 percent. (For more on the tech sector, click here.)

In other news, shares of Google (down $33.07 to $403.38, Research) plummeted over 8 percent on news the Internet giant is fighting a subpoena from the Justice Department asking it to turn over search records in an effort to defend a child pornography law. (Full story.)

Shares of Ford (down $0.26 to $7.96, Research) fell 2.5 percent ahead of the automaker's announcement about its restructuring plan. (Full story.)

General Electric and Japan's Hitachi may have joined forces to make a $3.5 billion bid for nuclear-technology company Westinghouse Electric, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

And Albertsons (up $0.24 to $24.11, Research) said it received an offer from a consortium seeking to purchase the company and is negotiating with the group.

Market breadth was negative. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners more than two to one on volume of 1.7 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, decliners topped advancers by nearly three to one on volume of 1.9 billion shares.

Consumer sentiment improved in early January on steady energy prices, better job conditions, and hefty stock gains in early 2006, according to the University of Michigan's report.

Treasury prices rose slightly, with the yield on the 10-year note at 4.36 percent. The yield on the 2-year note stood at 4.37 percent, indicating an inverted yield curve.

The yield curve, which refers to the slope of rates in the Treasury market, briefly inverted in late December when the two-year note yield exceeded the 10-year yield, a rare occurrence that often bodes badly for the economy.

The dollar edged lower against the euro and the yen.

COMEX gold fell $5 to $554 after hitting a 25-year high amid concerns about the economy, high oil prices and geopolitical tensions.

Asian markets ended virtually unchanged after a week of market slides due to the investigation into the high-flying Internet company Livedoor. European stocks ended lower after trading just below 4-1/2-year highs earlier in the session. Top of page

Iraniphobia

Yep...we're all doomed.
Won't be long 'till we're selling pencils and apples on street corners...

Ahhhhh, that's too bad Gizzard. What happened, you get a margin call on your one share of Google?

Its a buying opportunity!

Exactly - but I'm waiting 'till Google drops a little more...

Well it is that - plus the assault of energy prices!

Assault of energy prices? How? Are the supply-demand forces in place here? Is there a shortage of oil, as there was this last summer?

Or is there a aura of fear over what is happening in Iran, Venezuela, and maybe other places? Are you failing to read the tea leaves, as you usually have cause to do?

When is this thing called "wisdom" going to finally worm it's way through your intelligence? Remember, the two are not the same. You are a fairly smart person, no matter what the likes of Nomad may think. Yet you are one of the most unwise individuals I have come across in a long time, being possessed with an above average IQ.

How do you accomplish this? Is it a conscious effort on your part? Or is it 100% BRAIN DAMMAGE?

Read the article at the beginning of this thread, John.

Am I closing this thread or are we going to learn to play nice?