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The comment that many in the media made throughout the day was that things could have been worse. Some markets in Asia and Europe closed down over 8%. The DJIA futures showed the US market might be down over 600 at the open.
It could have been worse, but for anyone who owned stocks is was awful. Many financial shares and some tech stocks were down close to 10%.
A look at the numbers:
DJIA: 8,377.12 down 3.61%
Nasdaq: 1,552.03 down 3.23%
S&P 500 876.48 down 3.48%
National City Corporation (NYSE: NCC), a regional bank that many analysts thought was in trouble, was sold for much less that where it traded yesterday. The buyer was PNC Financial Services (NYSE: PNC). The modest purchase price of $5.58 billion sent NCC down over 20% to $2.13.
American International Group, Inc. (NYSE: AIG) borrowed more money from the government, bringing the total to over $90 billion. Concerns about the rate at which it is consuming capital pushed its stock down 15% to $1.77.
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) traded about flat at $22.26 after the company posted good numbers and a reasonable forecast. The fact that its outlook was relatively good saved it from a big sell-down.
Concerns about a recession did catch up to several big tech companies. Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) was off 5% at the close and hit a 52-week low of $15.90.
At least oil closed the week down 11% at $62.65, a 17-month low.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.
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