Ugly day on Wall Street

dow6.jpgThe Dow lost 274 points, which was the worst one-day drop in 2012 and brings the blue-chip index into negative territory for the year (0.8 percent). It also moves the Dow closer to the 12,000 mark (12,118). The so-called Volatility Index, or VIX, rose to 26, its highest level so far this year (though still half the level of late 2008). It was a strange session in the sense that attention was squarely focused on the U.S. economy rather than Europe. In recent weeks, market fundamentals seemed to have been bypassed for moment-by-moment news out of Greece or the EU. As the Federal Reserve prepares to meet next week, you can be sure there will be plenty of chatter about central bank intervention.

Chart: Dow Jones Industrial Average for month of May. NYT


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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
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