The following video is part of our "Motley Fool Conversations" series, in which consumer goods editor/analyst Austin Smith discusses topics across the investing world.
In today's edition, Austin gives a quick overview of what's moving the markets today, and a reminder about why we should buy great stocks and tune out all the market "noise." All three major indexes are down today, with the Nasdaq making the biggest plunge. The anchor around the market's feet today? Quelle surprise: It's the eurozone. Worries about Spain, Greece, and whether or not Europe will implode itself is also sending oil prices lower, resulting in energy being the worst-performing sector today. Highly cyclical Dow stocks like Alcoa and Caterpillar are taking the news particularly hard, and are among the worst Dow performers today. This contrasts to their positions as top Dow performers yesterday.
If anything, you should use this contrast as yet another reason to buy and hold great companies for the long haul and forget about the gut-wrenching gyrations the market seems to insist on daily. You can start building out your portfolio of home-run stocks with "The Motley Fool's Top Stock for 2012." We've created a special free report for investors to uncover this soon-to-be rock star. The report highlights a company that is revolutionizing commerce in Latin America, and you can get instant access to the name of this company by clicking here to download it now.
