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U.S. stocks fell sharply Monday as worries resurfaced about the European debt crisis. Bank stocks fell amid concerns about the broker MF Global, which filed for bankruptcy protection Monday.
The Dow Jones industrial average was lately down over 130 points. The decline comes after the Dow closed out its fifth week of gains last week, its longest winning streak since January.
Bank stocks dropped sharply in premarket trading after the New York Federal Reserve said it suspended MF Global Holdings from conducting new business as a Treasury bond dealer.
Trading in MF Global stock was halted. In premarket trading, Bank of America Corp. was down 2.3 percent. Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped by more than 1.3 percent.
Shares of MF Global fell sharply after large investments in government bonds from European countries backfired. Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings have slashed the firm's credit rating to junk grade.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned Monday that European economies will see a "marked slowdown" next year. The organization called on the European Union to provide more information on how it plans to stem the debt crisis.
Last week, stock indexes jumped more than 3 percent Thursday after European leaders unveiled a plan to expand a regional bailout fund and made other steps to contain the debt crisis in Greece.
The S&P 500, the broadest stock market gauge, is up 13.6 percent in October. That puts it on track to have its best month since January 1987.
The European debt crisis is still far from fixed. One troubling sign is that borrowing costs for Italy and Spain have increased -- a signal that traders remain worried about their ability to pay their debts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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...and now the roller coaster has started its descent
Last week it was rising because of Europe. Which is it? NBC is, as usaul, clueless.
How on Earth can the market re-act positive , as it did last week; when it was announced that the world banks would take a 50% loss on all Greek debt. Banks do not have their own money, they have money from deposits, it was if someone called you from the bank and said we just took 50% of your saving account and burned it in the garbage can; would you go out on a buying spree, because you were so happy about the news ?
Who are these people kidding, this is just Wallstreet ripping off the investors of America. They make money when the markets change, doesn't matter if it goes up or down, just as long as people are trading. Keep them in the dark, keep them worried and you will make a fortune. I am not one of these occupy wallstreet nut jobs, they have no real ideas. Mainstream America had got to do something to take back our future!
It's real simple don't put your money in the stock market. If your not in the market then who cares!!!
do they just have dart board and a monkey throwing the darts every morning for these reasons?
of course it's really about commissions, this i know. been there done that ........... ha
Don't put your money in the stock market if you don't know what you are doing. In the Bush years you could buy and forget for the most part, since Obama took over it's a traders market and that takes knowledge and experience.
You can make money even now but you better do your homework or you will be stripped clean. It has nothing to do with wall street, it has everything to do with making bad decisions due to lack of knowledge.
Are you saying monkey's somehow caused all this mess? That's a little insensitive.
let er go to the bottom and stay a year things would get a lot better then because people wouldnt think they were rich on paper.
Come on GOP... more cuts... and you still have no idea how to fix it other than tax cuts for the rich!!!!
Hey Moron- cut spending jerk that is it. Get off your rear-end. The handouts have to end to the poor who are the primary cause- not paying taxe, handouts, etc.
Money can either go to the private sector of the public sector. The private sector creates wealth while the public sector destroys it. Where do YOU want the money to go?
If you have trouble deciding, consider this: Bush average unemployment 5%, Obama average unemployment 9% with no end in sight. As the last three years have proven, public sector spending made things worse, not better. CUT SPENDING, what part of Nov 2 did you not understand?
Wow! no wonder the rich, keep getting richer! hedge bet that it would go down on monday, gloom is profitable now!
Let see, worrying about Europe on Mondays and Thursdays.
The on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays Europe is great.
I guess to new way to make money is to go negative whenever the market goes up!
Sell, sell, sell!
Actually, that's the way smart investors make money. The more familiar term is "buy low, sell high". When the market is up you take profits and build your cash reserve so when the market dips you have the cash to buy up bargains.
This is standard investing technique, nothing evil or sinister about it, just common sense. You'd be amazed how many do the opposite and lose their shirt buying high because everything is up, then selling low in a panic. Those are the ones that say wall street is a scam or legalized gambling.
HAHAHAHAHAHA....stock market = waist of time
the way it jumps around and the "experts" say it because of 'x' or 'y' has influenced it...bull...the market should stay pretty constant...Greece is in chaos....the world is using a lot of oil....the US economy sucks....been the same for about 3 years...quit using these as a "oh my gosh...we didnt know this...we better sell/buy"
Wrong and right.
Wrong, the stock market is NOT a waist of time, millions of boomers like me make more money in the market that we get from SS because we were responsible enough to invest for our future.
Right, don't use any idiotic ramblings from the likes of MSNBC or any other "rag" news outlet. Watch Fox Business and/or CNBC and invest in a Morningstar ratings agency or equivalent and do your homework.
Treat investing as a job and it will pay you handsomely.
Hussein Obama will lose in 2012!
Better get in the market!
do you want to bet..and who is better the ones that are going to run on the r side give me a break..i thought like you did but with the ones that they have now this is a joke..
i am with the guy that call you all momorn..we should even be in europe..and make the ones here all pay their taxes and quit the hand out to those that have never done a dam thing in their life except hand out...
Well phrased. Clear and concise. You should be running things.
Occupy the White House and let all the 99%'ers squat in the hallways.
Stock shorting is the way to make your living as you can see. After you hit a jackpot you move on to the next machine.
That is a very dangerous game, you'd better know exactly what you are doing becuse of the short goes wrong, you will lose your shirt. There is literally no limit on how much you can lose, far more than you invested, that's for sure.