The stock market got eviscerated yesterday, as oil briefly topped $140 a barrel before closing up $5.09 at $139.64. The dollar's weakness exacerbated oil's rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 3 percent, down 358.41 to 11,453.42. The Dow is now down 19.1 percent from its all-time high last year. A 20 percent drop is considered a bear market. The Standard & Poor's 500 shot past the psychologically and technically significant 1,300 level, winding up at 1,283.15, down 38.82. The market has a fundamental problem: the economy is very weak but food and fuel inflation are too high to permit the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates more; indeed, there is pressure to raise them. San Diego stocks got hit: fast food chain Jack in the Box was down 4.38 percent; young women's clothier Charlotte Russe fell 3.05 percent. Two wireless stocks were hammered: Leap plunged 6.03 percent and Novatel dropped 8.28. Tech stocks lost: Cymer was down 4.9 percent and Maxwell Technologies got belted by 9.55 percent.
The stock market got eviscerated yesterday, as oil briefly topped $140 a barrel before closing up $5.09 at $139.64. The dollar's weakness exacerbated oil's rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 3 percent, down 358.41 to 11,453.42. The Dow is now down 19.1 percent from its all-time high last year. A 20 percent drop is considered a bear market. The Standard & Poor's 500 shot past the psychologically and technically significant 1,300 level, winding up at 1,283.15, down 38.82. The market has a fundamental problem: the economy is very weak but food and fuel inflation are too high to permit the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates more; indeed, there is pressure to raise them. San Diego stocks got hit: fast food chain Jack in the Box was down 4.38 percent; young women's clothier Charlotte Russe fell 3.05 percent. Two wireless stocks were hammered: Leap plunged 6.03 percent and Novatel dropped 8.28. Tech stocks lost: Cymer was down 4.9 percent and Maxwell Technologies got belted by 9.55 percent.