After the Dow's Big Dive, A Day of Grace in New York; Erratic Market Throws a Scare, Then Closes Down 3.36
At the Tucker Anthony brokerage in the World Financial Center, traders this morning eyed their multicolored computer screens and rolled their tongues around their mouths, waiting to see if the sickening stock drop that began late Tuesday would continue.</br></br>Within minutes of the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, their screens showed the Dow Jones industrial average down nearly 40 points. Joe Prinzivalli at the government bond desk jumped in his chair. "This thing is going bananas," he said.</br></br>But half an hour earlier, the firm's leading analysts, in a conference call with Tucker Anthony brokers whose theme was echoed in pre-trading strategy sessions all over New York this morning, had predicted only a mild drop. They forecast traders would try to keep the financial world in good enough humor to digest Thursday's turkey dinners.</br></br>In the end, at least for today, it turned out they were right. By the close of business, the Dow had dropped a mere 3.36 points, to 3674.63. But it was still a day with intense interest: The New York Stock Exchange saw its heaviest trading since March, 430 million shares, the fifth heaviest day in its history.</br></br>"This market is in no hurry, but it is not done going down," said Tucker Anthony technical analyst Justin Manis, speaking to the telephone conference from his home in New Jersey.