Despite the full-court press of policy makers, markets plunge again. Too late to sell? By RANDALL W. FORSYTH Barron's Online, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2008 You don't need me to tell the carnage in the likes of General Motors (ticker: GM), which got hammered by 31%, or Morgan Stanley (MS), which was smoked by 26%. What was stunning in Thursday's market was the beating taken by the bluest of blue chips in the market: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), down 7.7%; Procter & Gamble (PG), down 7.9%; Exxon Mobil (XOM), down 11.7%; Schlumberger (SLB), down 8.5%. And the iShares S&P Global 100 (IOO), an exchange-traded fund consisting of the 100 biggest companies on the planet -- also including the likes of global behemoths such as Microsoft (MSFT), BP (BP) and Total (TOT) -- fell 7.4%. This suggests a climax likely is at hand. Lows are made when investors are forced to sell their best, highest-quality holdings to meet redemption or margin calls. That doesn't mean this is the time to plunge in. But it's looking as if it's getting too late to sell.
You don't need me to tell the carnage in the likes of General Motors (ticker: GM), which got hammered by 31%, or Morgan Stanley (MS), which was smoked by 26%.
What was stunning in Thursday's market was the beating taken by the bluest of blue chips in the market: Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), down 7.7%; Procter & Gamble (PG), down 7.9%; Exxon Mobil (XOM), down 11.7%; Schlumberger (SLB), down 8.5%. And the iShares S&P Global 100 (IOO), an exchange-traded fund consisting of the 100 biggest companies on the planet -- also including the likes of global behemoths such as Microsoft (MSFT), BP (BP) and Total (TOT) -- fell 7.4%.
This suggests a climax likely is at hand. Lows are made when investors are forced to sell their best, highest-quality holdings to meet redemption or margin calls.
That doesn't mean this is the time to plunge in. But it's looking as if it's getting too late to sell.
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