It looked as though it was going to be a dark day for the Dow Jones Industrial Average as it sank as many as 162 points today. This drop came after the release of details about Ireland’s $85 billion bailout and concerns that Portugal might also need a bailout. These international economic concerns pushed the Dow below 11,000 for the majority of the day.
It has been reported that Black Friday sales were increased from 2009, but by a very small number. CNN.com reports that sales on Friday rose .3 percent year-over-year.
By the end of the day, the Dow had recuperated much of its losses and was once again over 11,000 points. The Dow closed down 39.51 points to 11,052.49. The Nasdaq fell 9.34 points to 2,525.22 and the S&P 500 dropped 1.64 points to 1,187.76.
Asian markets were mixed on Monday while European markets were down, likely due to escalating concerns about Portugal’s debt. Rumors that Portugal might be the next to need a bailout were waived away by government officials. It will be interesting to see how these concerns affect trading for the rest of the week.
Stocks in the news: Kraft Foods Inc (NYSE: KFT), Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ: SBUX), Wal Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT).
