On Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:44:08 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:

The stock market had its worst inauguration day in history as the
market gave its verdict of Obama's probable policies. Looks like
"hope n change" is something that you find on the bottom of your shoe.

Stock Markets Don't Celebrate Inauguration Day

Associated Press
"updated 6:47 p.m. ET, Tues., Jan. 20, 2009

NEW YORK - The dawn of the Obama presidency could not shake the stock
market from its dejection over the rapidly deteriorating state of the
banking industry.

Financial stocks, many of them falling by double digit percentages,
led a huge drop on Wall Street Tuesday that left the major indexes
down more than 4 percent and the Dow Jones industrials down 332
points. Although traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange
paused to watch the inauguration ceremony and Obama?s remarks, the
transition of power didn?t erase investors? intensifying concerns
about struggling banks and their impact on the overall economy.

The market?s angst, which began with multibillion dollar losses
reported last week by Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc.,
intensified after the Royal Bank of Scotland?s forecast that its
losses for 2008 could top $41.3 billion.
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The collapse in bank stocks was swift: State Street Corp. plunged 59
percent, Citigroup fell 20 percent and Bank of America lost 29
percent. Royal Bank of Scotland fell 69 percent in New York trading.

?The reason we?re having a panic drop is the fact that Europe is
catching our cold, and we could have deeper and deeper problems that
could require more and more money. And eventually the government is
going to have to stop spending,? said Keith Springer, president of
Capital Financial Advisory Services. ?It?s a pretty dangerous
situation to be in.?

The shrinking value of bank stocks means the financial industry
accounts for less than 10 percent of the Standard & Poor?s 500 index
for the first time since 1992. At the end of 2006, banks made up 22
percent of the stock market benchmark.

And the market?s retreat Tuesday means Wall Street has eaten through
most of the advance it made from Nov. 20 through Jan. 6. The S&P 500,
which had been up as much as 24 percent, is now up only 7 percent from
its November low.

Fears about banking eclipsed the shift in Washington. Royal Bank of
Scotland?s forecast for what would be the biggest loss ever for a
British corporation left investors fearful that government?s would
have to nationalize banks to keep them from collapsing. The British
government injected more money into the struggling bank Monday and
announced another round of bailouts for the country?s banks.

State Street and Regions Financial Corp., a bank with branches
primarily in the Southeast, both reported big earnings drops Tuesday.

Acknowledging the global economy?s woes, Obama suggested Wall Street
would see greater oversight: ?Without a watchful eye, the market can
spin out of control,? he said in his address outside the Capitol.

Obama warned the economic recovery would be difficult and that the
nation must choose ?hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and
discord? to overcome the worst economic crisis since the Great
Depression.

Investors are expecting Washington will be a central part of the
economic recovery. But the first hours of the new administration did
little to ease their concerns."