Stocks Drop Again on Debt Worries
Wall Street dipped again on Thursday as investors continued to fight with worries of a returned market slide. The NASDAQ dropped 1.26 percent (30.66 points), followed very closely by a 1.21 percent (14.23 points) drop on the S&P 500. The Dow Jones dragged a bit further behind, dropping 1.05 percent (113.96 points).
Stocks were set for another drop at the opening bell today. The Dow plummeted nearly 100 points almost immediately, and every other composite index followed suit.
According to Bloomberg News, the concern pulling back on the markets remains over sovereign debt, and the potential harm Greece could be causing to the European currency. The threat posed by underfunded debt obligations has apparently gotten so far out of control that it is now an existential threat to the Euro Zone.
The euro was meant to be a unifying currency, modeled after the American dollar, which would allow Europe to thrive. Unfortunately, unlike the dollar, it is not traded in an area with a uniform political and tax system. Some euro nations, like Germany, are frugal while others, such as Greece, are apparently swamped in debt. This forces those nations who plan ahead to save those who do not. Without a uniform political system, which the E.U. is perhaps decades away from providing, the euro may not be able to survive this bump in the road.
In other news, according to Reuters, British Petroleum is feeling increased pressure from the Obama administration to figure out a solution to its leaking pipeline. BP has twice attempted to cap the leak with virtually no success. Now there is a worry that any real solution could be weeks away. Meanwhile, 200,000 gallons of Louisiana crude are pouring into the Gulf of Mexico every single day.
The oil problem could be even worse than imagined. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) believes that there could be untold amounts of oil stuck in the water column, having never reached the surface. So far only a fraction of the oil on the surface has been captured or burned, and the oil on the surface only represents a fraction of what is leaking at the seafloor. With this environmental disaster perhaps months, or years, from being fully understood the White House wants to make sure BP is in it for the long haul.











