REUTERS/Dominic Ebenbichler
First, the scoreboard:
- Dow: 15,914.6 (-94.1, -0.5%)
- S&P 500: 1,795.1 (-5.7, -0.3%)
- Nasdaq: 4,037.2 (-8.0, -0.2%)
And now the top stories:
- We haven't seen a whole lot of big sell-offs this year, so today's sell-off was notable. JP Morgan's Paul Quinsee noted that the biggest intra-year drop we've seen this year was 6%, which is the smallest pullback since 1995. Quinsee warns that 2014 will probably be more volatile.
- Still, the bulls will be bulls, and the most vocal of the bulls may be Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel. "I think fair market value for the stocks today is 10% to 15% higher, and that might even be on the conservative side," said Siegel in a recent interview with Advisor Perspectives. Siegel is the author of "Stocks For The Long Run," one of the most important finance books ever written.
- The big automakers announced their November auto sales stats, and they exceeded expectations. According to Wards Auto, 16.3 million vehicles were sold at an annualized rate. This was much stronger than the 15.75 million expected by analysts. "Consumers who probably balked at making such a major purchase during the October's budget showdown returned to dealer showrooms," said Citi's Peter D'Antonio ahead of today's releases.
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