Thursday’s Market Collapse by the Numbers

We’ve been warning you about it for months.
Okay, a lot of analysts have. Probably because it seemed inevitable.
The long-awaited, much-forecast market correction has finally arrived … with a bang. In the 25.5 hours since Ben Bernanke took the stage yesterday, stocks have nosedived, falling 4% on Wednesday and Thursday. Stocks aren’t the only assets tanking, however.
Here’s a full breakdown of today’s market collapse – the biggest one-day pullback of 2013:

  • The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 353 points, the index’s biggest one-day decline since November 2011. All 30 Dow components fell at least 1%.
  • The S&P 500 has declined 3.8% in the last two days, erasing all of May and June’s gains in one fell swoop. Since May 22, the index has now fallen 5%, breaking a streak of more than 200 days without a 5% drop-off.
  • Commodities are in the toilet. Gold dipped below $1,300 an ounce for the first time since September 2010. Silver prices declined 7.6%. Oil tumbled 3.8%.
  • The VIX skyrocketed. The CBOE Volatility index shot up 23% today, topping 20 for the first time all year. It’s now up 64% in the last month. Investor fear has most definitely returned.
  • Small caps declined even further than the broad market. The Russell 2000 fell 2.7%.

No matter how you slice it, the numbers weren’t good. Let’s hope Friday is a better day.

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