Reply #45: Closing numbers and yada

[54anickel]

Dow 10,381.28 -134.28 (-1.28%)
Nasdaq 2,030.08 -35.40 (-1.71%)
S&P 500 1,129.44 -15.76 (-1.38%)
30-yr Bond 5.148% +0.089

NYSE Volume 1,423,340,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,957,947,000

Close: Stocks were revalued today for expectations of higher interest rates...there were some good earnings reports this morning from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 51.39 +0.19), Merrill Lynch (MER 58.61 -1.12), and a number of other companies...that mattered little, however, after March Retail Sales were reported to have risen a much stronger than expected 1.8%...coupled with an upward revision to the February increase from 0.7% to 1.0%, the data have economists now talking about a 5% rate of growth in real GDP for the first quarter...previously, estimates were closer to 4%...
this confirmation that the economy is indeed very strong, rather than boosting stocks, has led to speculation that the Fed will raise rates sooner rather than later, and that rates may go up even faster after the first hike...the 10-year note fell sharply, with the yield rising to 4.33%...just three weeks ago it was 3.71%...higher interest rates lower the value of stocks by decreasing the value of future profits...so, higher rate expectations took the entire market lower...decliners led advancing issues by an astounding 5 to 1...

there were no strong sectors, while interest rate sensitive sectors such as utilities and banks took a beating...the dollar was higher, and gold sharply lower...stock volume was surprisingly moderate...