Mr. Bernanke's somewhat downbeat commentary on the economy is sending stocks to their lows for the day. In particular, the most vulnerable group--financials, are again under attack. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac both down more than 20 percent, but other large financials like Citigroup and AIG are down 9 and 11 percent, respectively.
Large industrials like Cummins, Honeywell, and CSX are also weak.
The NASDAQ has also hit a new two year low.
If this continues, we are heading toward a 90 percent downside day, where 90 percent of the volume is on the downside, one of several that have occurred in the past few months.
As a result of the battering in financials, healthcare stocks this morning have passed financial stocks in terms of their weighting in the S&P 500. Here's the weighting of the four largest sectors:
Techs 16.6%
Energy 15.9%
Healthcare 12.9%
Financials 12.8%
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