Stocks Lose Gains After Low Flying Planes Rattle Wall Street

Stocks opened the day down by about 0.90% and actually recovered into positive territory before President Obama’s 747 airplane flew through Manhattan and rattled many of Wall Street traders as the threat of another 9/11-style terrorist attack weighed on traders’ minds.

US Session Key Developments

• Low Flying Jet Rattles Stock Traders
• Health Stocks Get Boost on Swine Flu Outbreak
• Volatility Jumps 4.0%

Stocks Lose Gains After Low Flying Planes Rattle Wall Street

Stocks opened the day down by about 0.90% and actually recovered into positive territory before President Obama’s 747 airplane flew through Manhattan and rattled many of Wall Street traders as the threat of another 9/11-style terrorist attack weighed on traders’ minds. Indeed, the panicked public reacted to Obama’s reported photo-op by halting many of their daily operations. One New York Mercantile Exchange floor-trader, John Leitner, stated that when news broke that a low flying jumbo-jet was seen overhead that nearly 1,000 exchange members “went into a total panic.” he global outbreak of the “swine flu” that was seen over the weekend bolstered health stocks on speculation that they would increase sales of many necessary drugs.

Dow 30                  8025.00                 -51.29                    -0.64%

Consumer Staples and Health Care were the only two sectors to finish in positive territory. Wal Mart rose 1.34% after the world’s largest retailer unveiled a a lean supercenter model in Canada.

SPX 500                857.51                   -8.72                       -1.01%

Frightened stock traders added volatility to the S&P 500 today. The VIX index rose a staggering 4.07% to close to the highest level in 5-days. Health Care equities performed the strongest after the swine flu outbreak increased speculation that pharmaceuticals would profit from the situation.

NAS 100                1679.41                 -14.88                    -0.88%

Health Care was once again the strongest performing sector. Biotechnology rose 1.64%, with Gilead rallying nearly 4.0%. Qualcomm moved ahead 4.4% after the world’s largest producer of mobile-phone chips said revenue forecasts would be outside estimates.

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