Nasdaq Just Plummeted And Everyone's Asking The Same Question - HuffPo

[WillyT]

Nasdaq Just Plummeted And Everyone's Asking The Same Question
The Huffington Post | by Mark Gongloff
Posted: 04/10/2014 2:59 pm EDT Updated: 04/10/2014 5:59 pm EDT

<snip>

The stock market got completely kerslammered on Thursday, and the kerslammering might not be done.

The punishment started on the Nasdaq, which sank 3.1 percent, its worst day since November 2011. The selloff metastasized and took down the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell 1.6 percent, and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, which fell 2.1 percent. Here's a look at the day's trading in the Nasdaq:



There's been lots of yammering in the market for a while now about how tech stocks are in a bubble that is due for bursting, and we could be witnessing the start of that. Funny enough, tech stocks actually weren't the worst performers in the Nasdaq on Thursday. That unwelcome honor went to biotechnology stocks: The Nasdaq Biotech index was bulldozed 5.6 percent.

Still, this bloodshed comes just a month after the Nasdaq hit a 14-year high and the other major stock measures hit new records. Venture capitalists are handing out billion-dollar valuations to any brogrammer with half a dream, and the market for new stocks is hotter than it has been since the end of dot-com boom.

Thursday's rout was the resumption of one that started about a month ago, but has...

<snip>

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10/nasdaq-worst-day-2-years_n_5127991.html

[xchrom]

1. Du rec. Nt

[cthulu2016]

2. The lesson taken from the internet bubble was that

after experiencing such an epic bubble collapse, you can be sure that everyone learned their lesson and all high-beta tech stocks today are sensibly valued.

<snort>

[Eleanors38]

10. Is this is a mud-splattering hippo fart a la late 90s,

expect to see a sudden drop in real estate prices in gaseous places like Austin, Texas-at-large, and the tech regions in CA.

[JaneyVee]

3. Heartbleed?

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Well, yeah....but....

given that even the dimmest financial wonk is now admitting that the markets in no way reflect real values
or even the real world
it is most likely some hedge fund playing the shorts.

[Taitertots]

5. Can we finally have a discussion about how stocks markets are an ineffective way to invest?

Even the people with the most knowledge of it's function can neither predict or explain most of the market fluctuations.

[yeoman6987]

6. You might be right

But that is the only way to ensure that you have enough money for retirement. Plus the 401K are basically mandatory. So how else are we going to retire if we don't invest? the savings account? Yieks.

[IronLionZion]

18. Private equity, hedge funds, real estate, bonds, commodities, precious metals, and other stuff

Stocks are the most well-known and accessible. The only way to really win with them is the multi-decade, automatic purchasing every pay period that happens with retirement plans. Other investments require a lot more knowledge and can be very risky.

Private equity is something to consider if and when one could ever afford it. Their returns are much higher and tend to be more stable than the public equities. This and hedge funds are a big reason why the rich get richer.

[GeorgeGist]

7. You know its rigged.

Right?!

[Eleanors38]

8. Market's been sitting on a vast pinto bean fart for the last 3-4,000.

It finally released a flutter-blast today.

[brooklynite]

9. Apple stock is at $523...and I bought it for $4.50.

Always play the long game.

[Art_from_Ark]

15. You got lucky with Apple

Very lucky.

Back in the late '90s/early '00s, Apple stock was going down for the count. Management was awful, sales were falling. What saved Apple from the scrapheap of Pennystockdom was the return of Steve Jobs.

On the other hand, if you had invested in Sun Microsystems around the same time, when it was in the $100 range, and held that stock, your investment would be worth around 1/20 of that now. Probably not as bad as Sunbeam, which at one time was $60 but went all the way to $0. Or Woolworth, which at one time was in the Dow 30 but is now just a memory.

[adirondacker]

16. +1000. Sun made some damn nice machines too. What a shame. nt

[Art_from_Ark]

17. I was really surprised because they did make some nice machines

That just goes to show, even if one does "due diligence" and buys stock in a decent company that makes a good product, that stock can still go south in a big hurry.

[brooklynite]

11. Big deal...it hiccuped

Look at the trend line for the past year.

[Fumesucker]

12. "Brogrammer"?

I've heard the "bro" prefix a lot of places but that one is pretty apt.

[hfojvt]

13. hmmm, another day like today

and the DJIA will be below 16,000 again.

Considering that it was at 15,400 in mid January, being below 16,000 again does not seem like a big deal to me.

I kinda prefer a slow rise to up up and away. Looking over the last year, it has been up and down, but steadily rising.

Glad I sold my 100 shares today, would like a chance to buy back if it drops another 50 cents. It's still too close to its 52 week high.

[goldent]

14. The S&P 500 hit an all-time high the other day

but didn't make news. I'm in it for the long term (for a long time now) and it is not the way to get rich quick, but it is the way to grow over time.