Why is the stock market down today? What does Bhutto have to do with all this-if thts the reason?

What do you think will happen tomorrow with teh stock market? Will it pick up or go more down and next week as well?

The above answerer is not to far off in her answer.

But let me add, we are in a recession, the "experts" and the media just hasn't figured it out yet because the government intentionally skews the statistics and everyone thinks all is well.

The unemployment rate is unadulterated BS. Millions of good paying American jobs have been lost in the past few years. Going from $40k a year to McDonalds means you aren't buying things anymore.

Inflation is grossly under-reported and has been for many years so the GDP is not being viewed correctly. If a true measure of inflation were applied it would become apparent that our economy is SHRINKING, a lot.

Congress shot us in the foot with bankruptcy reform and increases in credit payment minimums.

Let me put on my psychic hat:

In 2008, I predict that bankruptcies will rise to never before seen levels and millions more average Americans lose their jobs and their homes.

In 2008, true unemployment will reach double digits but the government will still be reporting the lie about the number of fully employed Americans. You will notice this by the numbers of new college graduates, friends and families that lose their jobs and cannot find new ones.

More major companies will enter bankruptcy protection and this will send ripples throughout the entire economy.

By this time next year the government will finally admit we are in a recession, but it will be to late to quickly stop it. If a democrat is elected President and they maintain control of the legislature, the recession will run rampant for at least 5-6 more years.

We will enter into another "war" in yet another country to try and hold off the recession and pump up the economy. Regretfully our world has changed to much for this to work this time.

And finally, reality will be bitter and Wall Street will close early at least once because it will have dropped more than 5% in one day. (after "Black Monday" in the late 80s The New York Stock Exchange put a rule in effect that if the market drops more than 5% in one day, they will shut down trading for the remainder of the day).

Believe me, or not, but try to remember as the next year or so unfolds.

Hang on folks, it is going to be a bumpy ride.

The stock market is down for a couple of reasons. One is definitely the assination of Bhutto; it is a global economy and major events in other countries will affect the stock market in good and in bad ways here in the US. Bhutto's assination reminds the world how unstable the Middle East is, and scares investors--- Pakistan in turmoil can mean all sorts of negative things for the US like higher energy prices, higher spending on the military, etc. The market reacts accordingly.

Other reasons for the market to be down is bad news on durable goods spending--- big-ticket items that you purchase to keep for years, like ovens and hot water heaters and TV's and carpeting and business equipment. There has not been the expected amount of growth in this sector and the market reacts with a drop.

As for the next week, personally I think the market will keep going down as retailers announce lower than expected returns from Christmas and year-end shopping, and some companies begin to file end-of-quarter financial results. The economy is very sluggish right now and companies are not growing as fast as they would like, many are losing millions, and it'll be a while before the downturn is permanently stopped. Plus personally I think the late summer upswing in the stock market was over-inflated, with people pushing the price of the stocks up on demand only and not on value (kind of like real estate in many parts of the country). The market is correcting itself, deflating some of those artificially inflated stocks.

Boy, remind me not to invite the first 2 answerer's to any parties. Talk about doom and gloom. It's that sort of thinking that gets us into resessions. The truth is all the indicators are still pointing to strong earnings. Money has been flowing into the financials so their problems are being dealt with. This Bhutto incident is a cause for concern because it affects the price of oil in the long run which isn't good for the market. You must remember that the money is still here it is just on holiday until the second week of January. Things will be big in '08 it will start a bit slow until everyone feels comfortable again. There is a lot of money to be made up or down so these chicken Little's need to get a grip, if your a smart investor you will persevere.

Generally speaking any news of a political leader, especially one that is NOT in power, causes people to fear the future, if only slightly. Within those number of people there are ones who own stocks. And some of those people will overreact and sell. When people sell out of fear, generally they will be more willing to sell at a lower price just to get out before the world comes to an end, which is sort of the panic stricken mind they live in.

Since I am writing this answer 22 hours after the question, I don't think it would be fair for me to say whether the market will go up or down "tomorrow". LOL. Since we all know it's staying about even today(tomorrow). However, if I had guessed yesterday, I would have guessed that it would have dropped a little more today, but maybe ending less than 50 more points down.