NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street is now worrying about the companies usually seen as safe havens.
After an early rally Wednesday, investors succumbed to concerns about disappointing earnings and the market ended the day with a loss. Falling consumer stocks weighed most heavily on the Dow Jones industrial average, which slid 122 points.
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Falling orders at Cisco Systems Inc. were adding to investors' anxiety. The world's largest maker of computer networking gear said after the end of trading that orders showed a sharp drop in January. Investors have been pumping money into tech stocks since the start of the year believing those companies would be less likely to see demand fall as businesses looked to cut costs with equipment upgrades.
Nasdaq 100 futures were down more than 1 percent after Cisco's report.
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"There's so much uncertainty right now that investors are looking for any clues that the economy may be starting to stabilize and turn around," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial Group.
"Safe havens?" "...pumping money into tech stocks?" "...looking for clues the economy may be stabilizing and starting to turn around?"
Stocks might be fairly or even a bit low-valued now on historical measures, but if people are really thinking in the terms these quotes suggest, they haven't factored in the next couple of years of the economy, or they are REALLY believers in the---admittedly existent, for a change---competence of the current administration to deal with a truly daunting situation, and its ability to lead the world in dealing with it. In the words of the Talking Heads.... this ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no foolin' around!
So, buy some at this level if you're concerned about being left behind in a turnaround... but save some for Dow 6000.... and some more for 5000 if we get there...irrational despair, and plain old illiquidity and overleverage, of which there is likely some left, leading to rational despair, should make things overshoot on the downside at least once...