The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst point decline -- and 10th drop overall in 11 days -- in almost three years on Thursday as worries about the economy, in both the U.S. and around the world, continued to grow. The Dow hasn't closed this low since December, and it hasn't seen an intraday drawdown this fierce since the flash crash of May 2010.
Selling was widespread on Wall Street, and investors struggled to find safety. Everywhere you turned, almost regardless of stock, sector or asset class, the direction was downward. The Dow is now lower by 1.67% for the year, according to data from Dow Jones Indexes, and is in a correction owing to a close that's 10% under its recent high.
Here's a quick look at some of the key numbers at the end of what was a brutal day in New York trading:
-Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI): Down 512.76 points, or 4.31%, to 11,383.68
-S&P 500 (^GSPC): Down 60.27 points, or 4.78%, to 1200.07
-Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC): Down 136.68 points, or 5.08%, to 2556.39
-Russell 2000 (^RUT): Down 45.98 points, or 5.95%, to 726.80
-S&P 500 Volatility Index (^VIX): Up 8.28 points, or 35.41%, to 31.66
-Number of Dow stocks that fell: 30 (out of 30)
-Worst Dow stock on a percentage basis: Alcoa (AA), down 9.26% to $12.94
-Best-performing Dow stock on a percentage basis: McDonald's (MCD), down 1.47% to $82.48
-Percentage of stocks that fell on the New York Stock Exchange: 91
-Percentage of stocks that fell on the Nasdaq: 91
-Oil prices: Down $5.49, or 5.97%, to $86.44 (4 p.m. ET)
-Gold prices: Down $12.60, or 0.76%, to $1,650.80 (4 p.m. ET)
As for sectors of the market, the downturn was just as evident:
-Banks: Dow Jones U.S. Banks Index (^DJUSBK), down 10.85 points, or 5.52%, to 185.72
-Semiconductors: Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index (^SOX), down 22.07 points, or 5.82%, to 357.32
-Computer hardware: Amex Computer Hardware Index (^HWI), down 17.25 points, or 5.14%, to 318.14
-Transportation: Dow Jones Transportation Average (^DJT), down 255.44 points, or 5.14%, to 4711.74
-Retail: S&P Retail Index (^RLX), down 23.04 points, or 4.47%, to 492.68
-Homebuilders: Philadelphia Stock Exchange Housing Sector Index (^HGX), down 5.50 points, or 5.70%, to 90.95
-Energy: Amex Oil Index (^XOI), down 83.91 points, or 6.79%, to 1151.53
-Biotechnology: Amex Biotechnology Index (^BTK), down 135.86 points, or 10.61%, to 1144.93
-Drug companies: Amex Pharmaceutical Index (^DRG), down 12.49 points, or 3.98%, to 301.63
Here's how a few widely held tech stocks fared (this will probably look familiar):
-Apple (AAPL): Down $15.20, or 3.87%, to $377.37
-Microsoft (MSFT) Down 98 cents, or 3.64%, to $25.94
-Cisco (CSCO) Down 67 cents, or 4.33%, to $14.82
So now what? Here's one idea, albeit complex, that appears to have been working lately: An ETF For Our Troubled Age: Double-Long Gold, Double-Short Stocks. Certainly not for everyone, but it's a good read.
