Stocks take a turn for the worst as mounting concerns overseas and pressure
from the tech sector pulls the market down. Surging oil prices continue to make
headlines as the price per barrel rises from $104 on Friday to $106 on Monday
setting new two year highs. The turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East
continues to consume investors attention and increases the desire to seek the
safety of precious metals. As a result, gold prices have also surged with a new
intraday record reported at $1445.00 an ounce. Most recently the news that
Greeces debt has been downgraded by analysts at Moodys has given investors yet
another reason to retreat from the market. The downgrade from Ba1 to B1 also
carries with it a report with negative outlooks due to the massive debt load and
the risks in its structural reform package. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to
release its report on consumer credit later this afternoon and economists
anticipate an increase of 3.3 billion in January. Approaching close the major
market indexes continue in the red. The Dow dropped 120.03 points or 0.99% to
12049.85. The Nasdaq dropped 54.98 points or 1.97% to 2729.58. The S&P 500
decreased by 15.42 points or 1.17% to 1305.69. The Treasuries 10 year yield
increased by 0.0050 to 3.50%. Oil increased 0.54 to $104.96 a barrel. The U.S.
Dollar increased 0.0012 to the Euro at $1.40. Author: Pamela Frost
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