CLOSING BELL

Dow 11018.66  -125.91, Nasdaq 2481.26  -34.43, S&P 1192.13  -19.54 

The extended six day winning streak for the market ended today after it became known the that SEC had filed civil fraud charges against Goldman Sachs (GS) 160.70 -23.57, -12.79% and one of its executives with regards to the sale of subprime securities by misstating and omitting key facts about a product tied to subprime mortgages. John Paulson with Paulson & Co. structured the deal and then shorted the securities sold to investors.

 

Gold was lower today closing at 1137.6 –22.70.  Gold was lower due to concerns the Paulson’s hedge fund may have to liquidate holdings.  John Paulson’s hedge fund is the latest holder of SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) 111.24 –2.41, -2.12%.

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The selling was the worst in financials today, but more than 90% of the stocks in the S&P 500 also fell today driving the markets lower as traders booked profits going into the weekend.

 Google (GOOG) 550.14 -45.15, -7.59, Bank of America (BAC) 18.41 -1.07,-5.49% and General Electric (GE) 18.97, -0.53, -2.72% all topped analysts’ earnings estimates yet all three companies got caught up in today’s selling action.. 

Economic data today was mixed.

Housing Starts rose +1.6% in March to an annual rate of 626,000. Building permits, a sign of future construction, climbed to the highest level since October 2008.

The preliminary University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey for April came in at 69.5, which missed economist estimates of 75.0 and was the worst reading since November.

Advancing Sectors: None

Declining Sectors: Financials -3.8%, Materials -1.8%, Industrials -1.6%, Energy -1.5%, Consumer Discretionary -1.4%, Tech -1.4%, Utilities -1.1%, Telecom -0.8%, Health Care -0.6%, Consumer Staples -0.3%