Stocks were all over the place — here are the 9 big headlines you just missed
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The markets had another crazy day.
Stocks ultimately closed down, with the Dow off -1.6%, the S&P 500 off -1.2%, and the Nasdaq off -0.4%.
But that's just the final score.
Over the course of the day, a bunch of huge economic and business headlines crossed, sending stocks but sharply higher and lower.
Here are the day's top stories:
- Stocks were sharply lower on Thursday, with the Dow down as many as 408 points around 2:38 p.m.
- Markets were so chaotic that investors were jumping into three "risk-off" trades: the Japanese yen, US Treasurys, and gold. All three are often bought up aggressively by investors high-stress times as they are considered "safe."
- Crude oil also got slammed during the day, with WTI futures in New York touching a 12-year low of $26.14 per barrel. WTI crude oil ultimately closed at $27.20, or off by 0.5%.
- Major banking stocks including Citigroup and Bank of America were off by about 6%.
- But then around 2:50 p.m. stocks and oil surged after a WSJ reporter tweeted that, according to the UAE energy minister, OPEC is ready to cooperate on a production cut. This sent stocks and oil soaring, and the Dow regained 80 points in minutes.
- Fed chair Janet Yellen said that the Fed is evaluating whether negative interest rates would work in the US, although she added that a 2010 study found that they wouldn't work well.
- On a related note, PIMCO's Scott Mather argued that negative interest rates are the problem, not the solution.
- Billionaire Bill Ackman wrote an op-ed in support of Michael Bloomberg running for president because "America is burning."
- Boeing's stock plunged by as much as 12% in morning trading after a report that the SEC is investigating its accounting.
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