Senate Passes "Wall Street Reform," Stock Market Tanks

Yesterday, two events combined to produce a very unwanted result... the stock market dropped 400 points. First, the Senate approved the Wall Street "reform" bill, which actually does little to "fix" the problems that caused our recent difficulties.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703559004575256352143175906.html?mod=WSJ_hps_LEADNewsCollection

The Senate on Thursday approved the most extensive overhaul of financial-sector regulation since the 1930s, hoping to avoid a repeat of the financial crisis that hit the U.S. economy starting in 2007.

Opponents of the bill worry that the government is overreacting, and over-regulating the financial industry. They worry the measures will crimp the free flow of capital in the U.S. economy.

"It will inevitably contract credit," said Sen. Judd Gregg (R., N.H.), who says the Senate bill "is probably undermining the system…probably making for a weaker system."

Second, though "experts" expected jobless claims to fall to 440,000, numbers came in showing they ROSE to 471,000.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/20/new-weekly-jobless-claims-rise/

The number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week by the largest amount in three months. The surge is evidence of how volatile the job market remains, even as the economy grows.

Applications for unemployment benefits rose to 471,000 last week, up by 25,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the first increase in five weeks and the biggest jump since a gain of 40,000 in February.

The forecast had been for claims to fall by around 4,000 from the previous week.

And as a result, the Dow lost almost 400 points yesterday.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jmT59dgLTTziX4p9X9MRBRpWZGdQD9FR8RR00

The Dow Jones industrials tumbled 376 points Thursday. The Dow and broader indexes are now in correction territory by having dropped more than 10 percent from their 2010 highs last month. The drop has erased the gains major indexes had made in 2010.

Stock futures have been volatile. Dow futures fell 94, or 0.9 percent, to 9,962 after falling more than 100. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 10.30, or 1 percent, to 1,059.70. Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 20.25, or 1.1 percent, to 1,780.25.

And today in trading, the Dow briefly dropped below 10,000 and was down by 100 points.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped below the psychological barrier of 10,000 and is down 100 at 9,965. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 11 at 1,060, while the Nasdaq composite index is down 31 at 2,173.

At the moment I write this, the Dow is down 28.27 points from it's opening value.

Folks, the market is officially in "correction" mode, which augers a substantial slide.

Cross your fingers.