The stock market's recent decline got ugly today, as a modestly lower session throughout much of the day turned into a rout in the last half-hour of trading. Bad news in the economy was probably at least partially responsible for the decline, as the Philadelphia Fed's index fell into negative territory, while the index of leading economic indicators dropped 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrials
Although the vast majority of Dow stocks fell, a few suffered particularly hard hits. JPMorgan Chase's decline was easily understandable after the revelation that the bank's bad derivative trade, which it said earlier this week had cost it at least $2 billion, now appears to have led to losses of at least $1 billion more. Given the nature of certain derivative-based positions, it can be extremely challenging to unwind a large stake, and so JPMorgan may be vulnerable to further losses if it can't take steps to hedge what was supposed to have been a hedging transaction in the first place.
But the other big losers in the Dow were more economically sensitive stocks. Home Depot
Caterpillar
Finally, Boeing
Still waiting
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