Today’s close
It got ugly out there today, with Caterpillar off more than 5 percent at the close, wiping out two days of gains. Falling oil prices punished everybody, but Cat took a particular pounding because of a Morgan Stanley downgrade and an SEC report that revealed a drop-off in global sales over the past three months. Trading volume was close to yesterday’s, which is marginally good news: a big increase in volume on a down day tends to point to darker days ahead.
Cat’s numbers
Close: 42.16, Down, 2.49 (5.49%)
Range: 42.02-45.49
Volume: 11,905,669
Indexes:
Dow: 8,604.99, -219.35 (2.49)%
S&P 500: 885.28, down 19.14 (2.12%)
Nasdaq: 1,552.37, -26.94 (-1.71%)
We need to days like this to remind us the bear hasn’t been slain just yet. For now, at least, the gains from the Obama-stimulus rally remain intact.