CLOSING BELL

Dow 10009.73  -140.92, Nasdaq 2119.97  -33.66, S&P 1048.92  -15.67 

Stocks traded lower from the get go this morning, with the losses accelerating as the day wore on.  There was a lack of leadership in the market today, as traders were unwilling to jump into the market prior to the important jobs report due out on Friday.

Merger news continued today with Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) 28.63 -0.29, -1.0% making public their $18.5 billion offer for Genzyme (GENZ) 69.91 +2.29, +3.39%.  Genzyme immediately rejected the offer.

3M (MMM) 79.65 -1.35, -1.67% announced that they will purchase Cogent (COGT) 11.09 +2.18, +24.40% for $430 million or $10.50 a share.

In economic news today Personal Income increased +0.2% in-line with estimates, while Personal Spending rose +0.4% which beat estimates.

President  Obama spoke to the press today after meeting with his economic team, but his press conference didn’t give any detailed plans on how he and his staff will address the slowing economy.

Advancing Sectors: None
Declining Sectors: Financials -2.2%, Industrials -1.6%, Consumer Discretionary -1.8%, Energy -1.6%, Utilities -1.4%, Materials -1.4%, Tech -1.2%, Telecom -1.2%, Health Care -1.1%, Consumer Staples -0.9%