CLOSING BELL

Dow 10319.95  -58.88, Nasdaq 2190.27  -18.36, S&P 1083.61  -5.86 

Stocks slid for the third straight day on a worse than expected jobless report.  The Labor Department today reported that initial jobless claims came in at 484,000 to a five month high, despite the Obama administrations declaration of “the summer of recovery.”  Economists had estimated job losses of only 465,000.  

The four week average now stands at 473,500 up from 459,250. Continuing claims fell to 4.45 million from 4.57 million, but the decline was due to the expiration of unemployment benefits.  This caused traders to question the health of the U.S economy.

Gold rallied today, as some sought the safety on the medal, gold gained +1.4% to $1216.70 per ounce.

Advancing Sectors: Telecom +0.9%, Materials +0.5%, Health Care +0.4%
Declining Sectors: Tech -1.7%, Industrials -0.8%, Financials -0.6%, Energy -0.5%, Consumer Discretionary -0.4%, Utilities -0.4%, Consumer Staples -0.2%