Stock Market down.

[Lady Freedom Returns]

http://money.cnn.com/data/markets/dow/?iid=C_MT_Index&page=1

CNN shows Market down 46.92 . Apparently U.S. stocks have had the worst two-day drop of 2013. I think it is due to the talks of the Sequester. If the Republicans don't straiten up, this is going to get worse. But they don't seem to see it.

[Warpy]

1. Dollar up, market down; dollar down, market up

has been the pattern of the last four years or so. When the dollar is worth more, foreign investors sell stocks and collect profit. when the dollar is worth less, they buy stocks and wait for the dollar to go up again. It's mostly institutional trading that is driving the market these days, and it doesn't take much change in the dollar versus the Euro, pound or yen to trigger either a buying spree or a selloff.

It's not all internal politics and scare tactics by the GOP driving the market these days. Much of it is driven by currency markets and international trading.

[Cali_Democrat]

2. Republicans want the sequester because they think it will reduce economic growth and job growth

They want economic growth to collapse. They want mass layoffs. They want as much pain as possible because in their sick minds they think it will help their chances in 2014 and 2016.

That's how fucked up they are. I think Americans are finally starting to get the memo.

Better late than never.

[liberal_at_heart]

3. most of the stock market is made up of short term traders anyway

People with billions of dollars in the stock market make money betting on the market going down just as much as they make betting on it going up.

[1-Old-Man]

4. Really? Where did you get that?

[liberal_at_heart]

5. why do you think they are putting computers on the stock market floor inches away from each other?

High frequency trading makes up the majority of the stock market these days. Billions of trades made each day making money for those who have money. Shorting stocks and betting on things to go bad. Then when the charts say things are going good again they will make billions of trades betting on things to go good. They make money either way. My portfolio on the other hand actually goes down and I just have to wait until it goes back up. I don't have any hedges or bets to balance my portfolio. Maybe I should, but I don't even pretend to begin to know anything about shorting stocks. I'm too afraid I would lose everything.