Bad day for stocks

Wall Street remains fixated on the price of oil, which nudged higher today for no obvious reason - other than lingering concerns about the future of Libya and other oil-producing states. The Dow finished down 168 points, to close just above the 12,000 mark. Today was a classic case of the markets ignoring the encouraging past (February's bigger-than-expected jump in car sales and manufacturing) and focusing on the worrisome future (how higher oil prices may affect March car sales and manufacturing). And let's not forget the investors who believe that stocks are still priced too high and see the current oil hubbub as a chance to pull out for a while.



More by Mark Lacter:
American-US Air settlement with DOJ includes small tweak at LAX
Socal housing market going nowhere fast
Amazon keeps pushing for faster L.A. delivery
Another rugged quarter for Tribune Co. papers
How does Stanford compete with the big boys?
Those awful infographics that promise to explain and only distort
Best to low-ball today's employment report
Further fallout from airport shootings
Crazy opening for Twitter*
Should Twitter be valued at $18 billion?
Recent stories:
Letter from Down Under: Welcome to the Homogenocene
One last Florida photo
Signs of Saturday: No refund
'I Am Woman,' hear them roar
Bobcat crossing

New at LA Observed
On the Media Page
Go to Media

On the Politics Page
Go to Politics
Arts and culture

Sign up for daily email from LA Observed

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner


Advertisement
Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
The multi-talented Mark Lacter
LA Observed on Twitter and Facebook