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A Rough Finish

by Don Dion

Selling accelerated heading into the final half-hour of trading. The S&P 500 index dropped from a loss of about 2.2% to more than 2.8% at the close. The PowerShares DB Crude Oil Double Short benefited from an even larger percentage drop in oil prices and had gains of more than 7%. Long-bond prices were higher in the early part of the day, but gains there were fading until the selloff sent investors back into safe havens. The ProShares Ultra Short 20-Plus Year Treasury was down about 0.7%. The catalyst for the losses was the bad unemployment report combined with low volume, something I've been warning about this week. Traders are looking to exit, since they'll miss two trading days before U.S. markets open again on Monday. Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore were off by 0.6% to 1.4% today, and those markets are likely to fall again...

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