CNBC Stock Blog

Art Cashin: It's All About the Dollar

Stocks opened lower Friday after falling below 10,000 in the previous trading day for the first time since last November. What should investors expect from the markets going forward? Art Cashin, director of floor operations at UBS Financial Services shared his insights.

“It’s all about the dollar—yesterday was basically a global margin call,” Cashin told CNBC.

The U.S. dollar soared on Thursday versus the euro as fears about the euro zone's worsening fiscal problems drove investors to abandon risky assets for traditional safe havens.

“We had gold down $50, oil off $4, so the economic data took the back seat to where the dollar was going,” said Cashin. “Maybe it’s the case we get today, although the dollar has calmed down a little bit.”

Previously, Cashin had warned investors of geopolitical events that would spark a sudden rush to the dollar on a flight to safety.

“I said you could be down 1,000 points in a day on the Dow,” he said. “We had a very mild rush to safety in the dollar yesterday—we were down 270 points yesterday, so that risk is still out there.”

More Market Intelligence:

CNBC Data Pages:

______________________________
CNBC Slideshows:

______________________________
CNBC's Companies in the News:

Toyota

  • Toyota Throttle Blamed for Fatal Crash in California

P&G

  • P&G Chief More Worried About US Than Ever

Google

  • Google's Inaction in China Standoff Could be Costly

Bank of America