Last Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Spain's GDP dropped even faster in the first quarter, helping send bond yields up to record highs on mounting concern over the country's ability to repay its debt. Ten-year bond yields hit 7.57%, while the euro continued to fall against the dollar. Elsewhere, Italy banned shorting stocks, rarely a policy of an optimistic government.
The rest of the world also offered little hope for optimism. The Chinese central bank cautioned that more slowdowns could be in the works, and U.S. reports found lower- and middle-class struggles at or near Great Depression highs. For the past couple of months, bullish and bearish news have played each other to a stalemate, and the market continues to await more definitive news to help eliminate some of this daily volatility.
Some strong earnings reports were beginning to push markets sustainably in the right direction, but today even that trend seemed to reverse.
Fast-food giant McDonald's
Fellow restaurant services competitor Chipotle
On the flipside, shares of NRG Energy soared more than 8% after it announced plans to buy rival GenOn Energy
Still waiting for that catalyst
To say that investors are uncertain right now would be an understatement. That makes sense, too, with days like today where the markets continue to search for a more definitive outlook. But investors can jump ahead of the game by looking at one definitive event: the presidential election. The Fool has identified four stocks primed to grow after the results this November, two for a Republican victory and two for a Democratic one. It's completely free, so get your copy before it's gone.