After a brutal Friday that saw the Dow Jones
The Dow is down 0.44% at 2:10 p.m. EDT. The S&P 500
What's driving the markets
There wasn't a ton of news over the weekend. The big upcoming event -- the Greek elections between pro-bailout parties and those that would take actions leading to a euro exit -- is scheduled for June 17. As we saw last week, any kind of new polling that reports pro-bailout parties are making gains will lead to market gains. Any polls that show sentiment leaning toward parties that favor rejecting austerity measures -- i.e., the Syriza party -- will lead to another huge market drop.
Opinion polls are currently close enough that it's not known which faction will win popular support come election time. Whichever party wins, they'll have scant time available until Greece runs out of cash in early July.
Of course, wide-ranging problems in the eurozone have already led to slowdowns globally. The U.S. has had to revise down first-quarter GDP and just posted a second consecutive month of middling job gains. In China, the slowdown has caused policymakers to consider a stimulus. In Japan, the Nikkei fell 2% again today, dragging it down to a 28-year low! Everywhere you look, the world is holding its breath and watching Europe.
Back to U.S. markets
Energy, industrial goods, and basic materials are seeing the worst losses today. Oil has been on a wild ride, dropping below $81.50 a barrel before U.S. markets opened, but climbing throughout the day back to $83 a barrel.
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Take the long-term view
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