Well, it was fun while it lasted. The Dow Jones
Today, the Dow was down a scant 0.01% -- otherwise known as zilch, or nada -- while the Nasdaq fell back 0.29%. Both spent most of the day with reasonable gains but ran out of steam at the end of the day.
Greece 2: The coming big-budget disaster
Early scapegoats for the late-day fall center around Greece, the convenient whipping boy of the financial press. I can see the newsroom right now: "Dow drops 0.5% late day? Quick, get out the canned Greece story!"
In a story from last week I detailed why Greece -- a country with a GDP roughly equivalent to the state of Colorado -- is imperiling the world economy. It's not that Greece itself is so relevant, but rather the potential that it leaving portends future problems in larger eurozone economies such as Spain (and possibly even Italy). The unfortunate reality is that Greece is just the most visible of the challenged economies in Europe. This storyline will play out over several years, so buckle in.
Big banks on the rebound
More concerns around Europe weren't enough to spook banking investors. JPMorgan Chase led the Dow stocks with a 4.61% gain. Bank of America
The news buoying the sector today was a rise in existing U.S. home sales. Also encouraging was that more sold homes are owner-occupied, rather than opportunist buys scooping up distressed housing. All in all, the U.S. housing market still has a ways to go, but stability is a big step in the banking industry.
Facebook checkup!
Finally, we get a look at the busted IPO that's captured investors' attention: Facebook
Once the dust settles, the tens of millions in fees earned by these investment banks could turn into hundreds of millions in losses if Facebook keeps falling. Not a good result for an industry that's already facing a challenging May.
As far as Facebook, the damage from its IPO looks pretty well contained to the company. LinkedIn
A better idea than Facebook
If you're sitting dumbfounded watching the Facebook IPO unravel -- as I am -- make sure to check out our free report: "Forget Facebook -- Here's the Tech IPO You Should Be Buying." The free report details a company leaving Facebook in the dust. It's a brand-new report hot off the digital presses, but won't be here forever, so grab a copy today!