Stock Market's "Hope Rally" Fading?

The Asian stock markets fell sharply today, with Tokyo's Nikkei falling 3.4% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng falling 3.6%. According to the AP, worries stemmed from companies' profit news as well as U.S. labor concerns. The U.S. markets fell considerably yesterday (the Dow Jones fell 245 points/2.71%), and one strategist in Hong Kong said, "The economic reality is sinking in for investors and 'the hope rally' that many thought would last until Obama's inauguration seems to be at least fizzling for now." Markets in Europe have also dropped, and now, behemoth retailer Wal-Mart warned that it had disappointing holiday sales and cut its profit forecast. As for labor reports, weekly jobless claims were lower than estimates by 24,000 but, Reuters reports, "the number of people remaining on jobless rolls rose to a fresh 26-year high"—it's now 4.611 million.