I claim little knowledge of how wall street works...it all seems like legalized gambling to me...but this sounds serious...

Sales of New Homes Plunge by the Largest Amount in 5 Months, Adding to Wall Street Worries

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sales of new homes tumbled in June by the largest amount in five months, provoking new worries on Wall Street about how much the prolonged housing slump will hurt the overall economy.
ADVERTISEMENT

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that sales of new single-family homes dropped by 6.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 834,000 units. The decline was more than triple what had been expected and was the largest percentage drop since sales fell by 12.7 percent in January.

The fall in new home sales was the latest piece of evidence this week of housing's troubles. Sales in the much larger existing home market also fell in June, dropping by 3.8 percent to an annual rate of 5.75 million units, the slowest pace in nearly five years. Also this week, Countrywide Financial, one of the largest mortgage lenders, reported a sharp drop in second-quarter profits. The company said rising default rates were spreading from subprime to more conventional mortgages.

All these developments unnerved Wall Street, where concern is growing that the problems with subprime mortgages could mean more widespread credit problems are ahead. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged by 311.50 points to close at 13,473.57. It was the biggest one-day point loss since the Dow fell 416.02 points on Feb. 27, when a drop in China's Shanghai stock market rattled investors.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070726/economy.html?.v=30


_______ and this....
NEW YORK, July 26 (Reuters) - The New York Stock Exchange said on Tuesday it instituted downside trading curbs at 11:06 a.m. (1506 GMT) as U.S. stocks fell sharply on concerns about deterioration in the credit markets.

The New York Stock Exchange Composite Index (.NYA: Quote, Profile, Research), which is used to determine when to begin trading curbs, was down 205.45 points, or 2.07 percent, at 9,724.47.

The trading curbs require that all program selling of S&P 500 stocks must be on an up-tick.

http://www.reuters.com/article/usMktRpt/idUSN2620083020070726

_____
SO what they are saying is that if the market is crashing you can only trade if you are trading upwards. I.e. buying, not selling....Does this sound wierd & contrived?...

more
The Dow Falls 300 on Credit Concerns

Jul 26 12:48 PM US/Eastern
By JOE BEL BRUNO
AP Business Writer


NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street fell sharply Thursday, extending its weeks-long streak of volatility after disappointing home sales figures added to investors' increasing uneasiness about the mortgage and corporate lending markets. The Dow Jones industrials fell more than 300 points, while Treasury yields plunged as investors moved money from stocks to bonds.
Investors who had been able to shrug off concerns about subprime mortgage lending problems and a more difficult environment for corporate borrowing were clearly worried once again. Anxiety increased after the Commerce Department reported that sales of new homes fell 6.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 834,000 units, more than triple what had been expected and the largest percentage drop since sales fell by 12.7 percent in January.

Disappointing results from home builders including Pulte Homes Inc. and D.R. Horton Inc.—squeezed by a sluggish environment from home sales and continued defaults in subprime loans—weighed heavily on the market. Jitters also remain throughout the market that the number of private-equity deals—a main driver of the market's record run—might dry up because buyout shops are having difficulties accessing credit.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8QKD1GG1&show_article=1

Wow what fantastic news. Anybody who is in the market has been expecting this for quite a while. The market goes up, the market goes down, the market goes back up again. When it gets very high people get nervous and the least little bit of bad news send them scrambling to take their profits. Every time that happens and it has happened once before this year the naysayers start preaching their doom and gloom the sky is falling the economy is colapsing predictions. Anyone who has stayed in the market has not lost money but there is an old saying on Wall Street, "Bulls make money and Bears make money but Pigs get slaughtered." The market was overdue for an adjustment.

hi ty for tell me i need to look at it

by the time the news is out, you're already too late. one of the biggest mistakes people make is following the crowd when trading stocks. the housing market has been saturated for a quite a long time now with all these real estate get quick schemes floating around. people will still tell you it's good, but the timing is all off. i figure just stay away from that stuff until it stabilizes again, then buy at the bottom at a discount. oil had a great run this year too, but it's about time to get out of it soon too and find a better pasture to graze on. i made that prediction 3 weeks ago without the balls to get out of oil stocks, and those big earners have been flat during that time. live and learn i guess. i'd say good thing it wasn't real money, but hell i'd be up a lot of money if it was and i got out now.

if you're wondering how such a youngster knows anything about stocks, and why you should give a crap? that's fine cuz i'd be wondering the same thing.

http://caps.fool.com/ViewPlayer.aspx?t=01009703308509810461

that's been a hobby of mine since november. since then i've started the gears for a hedge fund - once i'm incorporated i have a lot of people who want to invest in it ;)

I talked to my broker a week ago and we moved some stuff around. Both of us commented that the market was overdue for a correction. It happens. If you want to make yourself crazy, buy some stocks and then watch the market daily.

aint that the truth. if you follow warren buffet's advice, which i highly recommend, you make good choices and don't check them for 6 months.

that said, the best way to invest is to do it as if there's no money involved. greed and fear, coupled with a desire to check it every day, is the biggest source of investing errors you can imagine.

Actually I figured the market would drop as soon as it hit 14,000 it stayed up there longer than I thought it would.

you were right though. it's hard to time the market correctly, but if your reasoning is right you can stick by it confidently even if it goes in the wrong direction for a bit, which it sounds like you did.