The Motley Fool 10% Promise team sees all kinds of wild market moves every week, but every once in a while, something surprises me and teaches me something about the market. Here are a couple of things I learned this week.
The market finally got the news from the Middle East
Last week, I wondered why the market hadn't responded to unrest in the Middle East. Either I was a little early or the market was late. No matter what it was, this week we finally got a response, but it didn't come from the places I would have expected.
I figured we might see oil producers flashing 10% higher all week as oil jumped higher. But airlines and refiners were the first to hit our 10% list -- on the downside. The airline moves make sense; I don't think anyone was knocked out of their seat when US Airways
But refiners are another story. All of a sudden yesterday, investors decided to jump ship from refiners, sending Western Refining
The lesson: As unrest spreads in the Middle East, you never know who the market will push higher or lower on a day-to-day basis. Timing the market in the short term is a tough proposition, and guessing who is going to move can be even harder.
Bookstores are on their last leg
Borders has filed for bankruptcy, and this week Barnes & Noble
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More wild moves this week: