Let It Bleed: Dow Sheds 443 as Credit Crunch Fears Resurface

Always in a hurry, I never stop to worry,

Don't you see the time flashin' by.

Honey, got no money,

I'm all sixes and sevens and nines.

Say now, baby, I'm the rank outsider,

You can be my partner in crime.

The Rolling Stones' "Tumbling Dice" is an apt theme song for the market Thursday, both because stocks tumbled again and because the market has become even more of a crap-shoot than normal.

"Stock picking means nothing now," comments money manager and blogger Howard Lindzon. "This is a casino all about timing so while it looks fun, it's dumb."

Stupid is as stupid does.

On Thursday, the Dow fell over 443 points to 8696 while the S&P lost 5% and the Nasdaq shed 4.3%. After rallying 18% in six trading days, the S&P has tumbled nearly 10% in the past two, its worst two-day decline since 1987, according to Bloomberg.

The most commonly cited catalyst for Thursday's swoon were:

• More grim economic news, including surging jobless claims and weak October retail sales.
• Rate cuts by the ECB and Bank of England, which put a bid in the dollar which, in turn, weighed on commodities and producers like ExxonMobil and Rio Vale.
• Weak guidance from Cisco, Toyota Motor and News Corp., as reported earlier.

While Cisco shares held up better than the broad market, Toyota and News Corp. each tumbled more than 16%.

Beyond huge moves for those "blue-chip" companies, many traders focused on the debacle at Las Vegas Sands, which plummeted 34% after issuing a "going concern" warning and said it may default on its debt.

A large third-quarter loss by Blackstone, Moody's downgrade of Ambac's debt to one-notch above junk status (what are they waiting for?), National City's $2.1 billion loss and Wells Fargo's planned $10 billion public offering (pant pant) served as further reminders the credit crunch isn't over.

After a few days of bright sunshine, the dark days of September and October suddenly don't seem so long ago.