Markets Drop Hard, GDP Disappoints, Oil Plunges

• July 31, 2008
• David Goodboy

Markets drop hard on disappointing GDP report, increasing food prices and continued financial sector concerns. The DJIA fell -205.59 to 11378.10, the Nasdaq dropped -4.17 to 2325.55 and the broad based S&P 500 collapsed -16.87 to 1267.38.

Mastercard
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Imclone Systems
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Goodyear Tire
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Exxon
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Oil fell another $2.67 to $124.10/barrel, gold climbed $11.50 to $923.80/oz and the US Dollar fell against the Euro.

Market Snapshot

Dow -205.59 11378.10 NASDAQ -4.17 2325.55 S&P 500 -16.87 1267.38

Economic News

Consumer Confidence (Jul): Consensus 50.0, Prior 50.4 ADP Employment (Jul): Consensus -60K, Prior -79K Crude Inventories (07/26): Consensus NA, Prior -1558K Chain Deflater (Q2): Consensus 2.3%, Prior 2.7% Employment Cost Index (Q2): Consensus 0.7%, Prior 0.7% GDP-Adv. (Q2): Consensus 2.3%, Prior 1.0% Initial Claims (07/26): Consensus 395K, Prior 406K Chicago PM (Q2): Consensus 49.0, Prior 49.6 Auto Sales (Jul): Consensus NA, Prior 4.9M Truck Sales (Jul): Consensus NA, Prior 5.0M Average Workweek (Jul): Consensus 33.7, Prior 33.7 Hourly Earnings (Jul): Consensus 0.3%, Prior 0.3% Nonfarm Payrolls (Jul): Consensus -75K, Prior -62K Unemployment Rate (Jul): Consensus 5.6%, Prior 5.5% Construction Spending (Jun): Consensus -0.3%, Prior -0.4% ISM Index (Jul): Consensus 49.2, Prior 50.2

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