1:30pm (EST)
The bulls got an unexpected surprise this morning as the number of people claiming jobless benefits rose unexpectedly and renewed fears of sovereign debt problems in Europe have put a halt to any mini-rally plans they had.
The Dow is currently down 214 points to 10,037 and is at its lows for the day. The S&P 500 is down by 26 points to 1,070 while the Nasdaq is off by 55 points to 2,135.
All 30 of the Dow’s components are lower, except for Cisco (CSCO, $23.18, up $0.11) which is having trouble holding onto its gains and could be joining the group shortly.
Greece’s budget troubles have shaken the entire European Union which is crushing the euro. Countries that use the euro are supposed to keep their budget deficits within limits to support the currency but Greece isn’t the only country having issues.
We always talk about the bulls and bears in this space but there are PIGS out there (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain). The Greek debt woes have led to speculation that EU members might have to fund a bailout…
It remains to be seen if the bears take the Dow below 10,000 today but from the looks of things it certainly could happen by Friday.
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