Six straight days of losses sure have a funny way of making the stock market look at lot more dangerous, don't they, folks? The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) dropped yet again today, this time falling nearly 100 points, or 0.8%. Other major U.S. markets were also seeing red today. The tech-weighted Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both closed down to the tune of 0.4% and 0.7%, respectively.

Continued anxiety over the fallout from elections in France and Greece was the main culprit, with rumors even surfacing that eurozone governments might withhold billions of pre-arranged bailout funds from Greece. Fortunately, European lawmakers eventually agreed to release most of the financing, while still withholding 1 billion euros that will be paid in June, making the situation only slightly less dysfunctional. Investor anxiety showed as well, with the market's "fear gauge," the VIX (INDEX: ^VIX), surging 5.4% during today's trading session.

In the news
The day brought several noteworthy stories for specific stocks. On a rough day for the market as a whole, share of SiriusXM (Nasdaq: SIRI) actually rose slightly more than 1.7%. The news? Liberty Media, led by John Malone, announced yesterday that it struck a deal what would increase its ownership stake in the satellite-radio broadcaster to 45.2%. Liberty has continually battled with the FCC over its attempts to gain control of Sirius, a narrative that's likely to play out in the coming weeks and months.

On the earnings front, entertainment juggernaut Disney announced a strong quarter, sending the stock north to a crisp 1.6%. Enthusiasm over the company has grown over the past several weeks as buzz around The Avengers was expected to -- and did -- translate into a stellar performance at the box office. In similar fashion, shares of consumer-products company SodaStream (Nasdaq: SODA) surged to the tune of 26.4% after the company issued an outstanding quarterly earnings report. Dragged down along with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR) by  more than 16% over the previous five days, SodaStream asserted itself as distinctly separate from Green Mountain by growing its top line 50% and its bottom line by an astounding 67%.

What it all means
Rough patches like this can shake even the most resilient investors. That's why investors need to always maintain a long-term horizon with their savings goals, looking not days or months but years into the future. To get your nest egg where it needs to go, the Fool recently issued a research report detailing three stocks it thinks has all the makings of retirement winners. We made it absolutely free for our readers, so grab your free copy today.