It looks like Netflix is finally curling up in that bed they made for themselves, now that the fallout from their recent price hike is hitting them where it hurts: in the wallet. As Cher Horowitz would say: no duh. more ›

U.S. stock markets are plummeting—the Dow is now down over 500 points (-4.41%) while the S&P 500 has fallen 4.76% and the Nasdaq has lost 5.24%. Why? According to the Wall Street Journal, it's because of "disappointing U.S. economic news and Europe's ongoing sovereign debt problems." more ›

Last night Stephen Colbert took a moment to analyze yesterday's NY Post cover, which featured a woman in a red dress seductively smoking a cigarette next to the headline "Crazy stox like a hooker's drawers, UP, DOWN, UP." As Colbert explains, it makes perfect sense, and he thinks more NY Post covers should explore this prostitute/"drawers" analogy: more ›

After the NY Post compared the stock market's volatility to a hooker's panties on its front page, the Daily News is now wading into the muck. Literally, with a photograph of the Bowling Green bull statue's butt next to a worker sweeping the ground and the word "CRAPS!" underneath. Well, the Dow did fall 519 points yesterday... but couldn't the News have just Photoshopped the bull's balls blue? more ›

In spite of yesterday's rally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 400 points when it opened this morning (it's now around 380 points down). One fund manager told Bloomberg News, "It’s a spiral down until it stops. We’re going through these constant day-to-day battles over Europe’s debt crisis, a downgrade in the U.S. and a weakening economy. There’s no positive sentiment regarding a light at the end of the tunnel." more ›

After the worst day for the Dow Jones since December 2008, the index was up 1.83 percent this morning, and the Nasdaq climbed up 2.85 percent, stemming some of the damage done in yesterday's 634-point freefall. $8.1 trillion has been lost from global markets since July 24, in what the Times calls an "epidemic" fear among investors. Treasury bonds did quite well, despite the S&P's credit downgrade, so why do we care about what the S&P thinks anyway? Oh, right, the market's run by lemmings. "When you get declines of this sort, it is technical factors and emotion that drive markets—fundamentals are largely irrelevant," one expert says. more ›

The blood flowed as the stock markets finally reacted to Standard & Poor's Friday night downgrading of the U.S. credit rating from AAA to AA+: The Dow fell 634.76 points (5.55%) to end at 10,809.85, the S&P 500 dropped 79.92 points (6.66%) and the Nasdaq lost 174.72 points (6.90%). Yes, it felt a little like December 1, 2008. more ›

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped as much as 515 points today, and has plummeted below 11,000 for the first time since November of 2010. Investors "poured money into Treasuries, gold, and the Swiss franc," while foreign markets in Europe, Australia and China "extended losses to more than 20 percent from recent peaks, the level some investors consider a bear market," Bloomberg reports. Prepare yourself to see a lot more "pop-up soup kitchens" on Kickstarter. more ›

Today, the Dow Jones fell 512 points, its 9th biggest drop, over 4% as the S&P 500 also fell 4% and the Nasdaq plummeted over 5% as the world worried about the soundness of global economies. There's a lot of angst and fear, but in the scheme of things, it's not exactly like the downward spiral in late 2008—on December 1, 2008, the Dow fell over 700 points— and early 2009 (see graph)...yet.
• "This is a fear-driven market. We're in a mini-free fall. It's not a Black Monday, or Black Thursday, but it's in pretty bad shape-all the big stocks are being liquidated"—Christian Thwaites, president and chief executive at Sentinel Investments, to the Wall Street Journal
• "The conventional wisdom on Wall Street was that the economy was growing -- that the worst was behind us. Now what people are realizing is the stimulus didn't work, and we may be headed back to recession"—Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital, to CNN
• "We are now in correction mode. We could have another couple of weeks to go before it bottoms."—Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at Standard & Poor’s to the NY Times

The Dow Jones Industrial average fell over 300 points today, over 3%, which wiped out its entire 2011-to-date gains. Why? The Standard & Poor 500 also fell over 3% today, "a 10 percent drop from its April 29 peak and weakest level in nine months." The NY Times says, "The stock market fell sharply Thursday on intensifying investor fears about a slowdown in global economic growth and worries about Europe’s ongoing debt crisis, which is centered now on Italy and Spain." more ›

Earlier this year, the stock market fell dramatically—the Dow lost 600 points in minutes— in the afternoon of May 6. The markets were already jittery, thanks to Greece's debt issues plaguing Europe, and the Dow fell 1,000 points. The NY Times reports that the SEC has found the "flash crash" was caused not by "any market manipulation but by a single firm trying to hedge its investment position, if in an aggressive and abrupt manner." Way to go, algorithms! more ›

This morning, the New York Stock Exchange's opening bell was rung by some Expendables actors—Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, Jason Statham and Sylvester Stallone. The four brought their heaving pecs to the floor and Terry Crews even took off his shirt. Here's video from CNBC: more ›

The Dow and S&P 500 are down over 2% and the Nasdaq is down over 3%, thanks to worries about rising jobless claims, Europe's problems, and financial reform. A market strategist told CNNMoney, "There's a heightened sense of nervousness and markets look to be testing the lows of two weeks ago, when we had the mini-crash." Another investor said, "There are a lot of well-known negatives or obstacles to a speedy recovery, specifically in the U.S. economy and even the developed markets around the world. Earlier this year, everyone was assuming that the modest economic improvements were going to continue. It’s almost as if the market overshot itself.” more ›

After last Thursday's stock market plunge, six major stock exchanges will, in the words of the SEC, agree upon "a structural framework, to be refined over the next day, for strengthening circuit breakers." And the Wall Street Journal reports that they will "introduce temporary trading limits on individual stock moves." more ›

Sure, the SEC and other federal agencies are looking into what may have caused Thursday's stock market plunge, but answers may not come as quickly as some wish. Now that the "fat finger theory" that a trader mistakenly entered "billion" instead of "million" has been discounted, the Wall Street Journal reports, that some traders wonder "whether rapid-fire computer trading, coupled with the market's complex trading systems, triggered a free fall that appears to have begun with an order to sell a single stock." more ›

Guess who was hoping that yesterday's volatile stock market activity was an actual reckoning, instead of some sort of computer glitch? NJ attorney Mark Waterson, who complained to Bloomberg News. At 2:47 p.m. yesterday, "Watson said he sold 26 shares of Apple, which he bought for $189 a share in 2007, at $223.99 yesterday. The stock regained value minutes later, closing down 3.8 percent at $246.25." more ›

Yesterday's stock market plunge—the Dow was down nearly 1,000 points and some stock traded at nearly 100% below their usual level—is now being investigated by the SEC. Bloomberg News reports, "U.S. regulators plan to examine whether securities professionals triggered yesterday’s stock- market plunge or exploited the turmoil to profit illegally." Securities professionals trying to exploit turmoil for profit? Shocking. more ›

The Dow Jones lost nearly 1,000 points (8+%) at one point during trading this afternoon, before recovering a little (the Dow is now down 510 points). CNBC reports, "One trader, on the condition of anonymity, said he heard fixed income desks in Europe shut down early because there was no liquidity — basically European banks are halting lending right now. 'This is similar to what took place pre-Lehman Brothers,' the trader said." The Wall Street Journal says, "Investors fled everything from stocks and risky bonds and poured money into safe assets such as U.S. Treasurys... 'It's getting pretty ugly out there very fast,' Guy Lebas, chief fixed income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. 'There are definitely some major concerns that are escalating this afternoon.'" more ›

Stock markets around the world are "slumping" and "jittery" over worries about European debt, led by Greece's problems. Riots in Greece have left three dead after a fire bomb was set in an Athens bank. Protesters, who have thrown rocks and Molotov cocktails at parliamentary buildings, are upset with the government's measures to "contain Greece's spiraling debt." The austerity measures include freezing wages and higher taxes. more ›

At a new Gramercy pub, happy hour is whenever the market demands. The Exchange Bar and Grill may charge up to $8 for a pint of Guinness, or as little as $4. Using a flashing ticker tape like Wall Street’s the bar, to open April 1, will determine its menu prices as though they were stocks. The price of beer, hot wings or fried calamari will fluctuate unremittingly in 25 cent increments, within a two-dollar range of a median cost. "It's supply and demand," co-owner Damon Bae told the Post. Maybe helicopter commutes to Wall Street should be priced the same way. more ›

Today wasn't a good day on Wall Street. Concerns about the domestic job market and debts facing foreign countries lead to drops of 2.61 percent on the Dow Jones, 2.99 percent on the NASDAQ, and 3.11 percent on the Standard & Poor's 500, "feeding anxiety about the health of the global recovery," the Times reports. The cost of insuring debt in Greece, Portugal and Spain surged on Thursday because growing deficits "could put them at risk for default." According to Uri Landesman, head of global growth at ING, investors must ask: "How big is this fire going to be? What is panic, and what is legitimate, we don't know at this point. These things tend to turn on a dime." Not helping the situation was the release of a "bleaker-than-expected" report on the US labor market. more ›

For some reason, spending billions on skyscrapers and man-made palm-shaped island leads to...debt! So far, the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq have fallen at least 1% (even up to 2% as soon as the markets opened today), due to, as the Wall Street Journal puts it, "fears...about the potential fallout of debt prolems at Dubai World, the city-state's largest corporate entity, which asked creditors for a six-month stay on repayment of its $60 billion in debts." UBS actually estimates that Dubai's overall debt may be over $80 billion. more ›

The three major stock indices each fell over 2.5% today, erasing gains the Dow made over the month and leaving the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to fall 2% and 3.6% respectively for the month. The NY Times reports, "The drops were led by stocks in banks and financial firms, which investors abandoned in light of a Commerce Department report that showed consumers were still in distress. Consumer spending in September dropped by the largest amount in nine months, the report said, a dreary data point that met Wall Street expectations but reinforced the slow, halting recovery of the United States economy." more ›

Bloomberg News says that Americans are hoarding $3.5 trillion in cash, "giving money managers increasing confidence that the stock market rally under President Barack Obama will continue through the end of the year." One investor said, "There’s an enormous stockpile of liquidity on the sidelines. The reinvestment of cash could help fuel the market." And there's even smack-talking about some cautious investors, with one sniffing, "Many of the fund managers I talk to that have missed this rally or underplayed this rally are sitting with way too much cash." more ›

It's a hump day surprise! U.S. stocks are climbing based on better-than-expected data on home sales and durable goods. New home sales grew by 4.7% in February, thanks to low prices and mortgage rates; however home prices dropped 18%, between Feb. 2008 and Feb. 2009. A Credit Suisse economist said, "It’s a step in the right direction," but noted, "We still have a lot of supply to absorb before things get back to normal." And orders for durable goods rose 3.4%, the first uptick in seven months. Right now, the market is up about 2%. more ›

Stocks closed up today, capping the U.S. markets' best week since November. CNBC reports, "The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 53.92, or 0.8 percent, to close at 7,223.98. That brought its four-day total to nearly 700 points, or more than 10 percent. All 30 Dow stocks finished the week positive. Even with Monday's decline, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq each gained more than 10 percent this week." Of course, this comes as economists still expect the GDP to "decline at an annual rate of 4.6% this quarter and 1.5% in the second quarter" and China, which has $1 trillion of U.S. debt, is worried about U.S. Treasuries. more ›

After a memo from Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit saying that the company was profitable in 2009 (thus far), the bank's stock is up 27% to...$1.34! But that news is enough to help other bank stocks rally and the Dow is up by about 250 points. Pandit said of Citigroup, which did receive $45 billion in TARP bailout money, "We are profitable through the first two months of 2009 and are having our best quarter-to-date performance since the third quarter of 2007." But he did add he was disappointed in the company's low stock price. Additionally, the Wall Street Journal reports, "U.S. officials are examining what fresh steps they might need to take to stabilize the [Citigroup] if its problems mount." more ›

Also: Tomorrow's economic data could trigger a big sell-off. more ›