Wall Street in Retreat: Dow Slides 200 on China, Ireland

Slammed by fears about Ireland's debt mess and China's inflation, the Dow slumped about 200 points and threatened to close below the 11000 level on Tuesday. Today's Markets As of 2:41 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 206.73 points, or 1.84%, to 10996.86, the Standard & Poor's 500 dropped 23.10 points, 1.93%, to 1174.94 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 46.17 points, or 1.84%, to 2467.84. The FOX slid 15.10 points, or 1.75%, to 846.35. The bearishness comes as Wall Street finds itself in the midst of a QE2 and midterm election hangover. After cheering those developments earlier this month and soaring to two-year highs, the markets have run into resistance amid a slew of global concerns, especially about the chances Asia's economy is overheating and Ireland will need a rescue from its debt mess. There's “a little fear out there. It's eerily similar to May 6” said Joe Saluzzi, a bearish trader and co-manager of trading at Themis Trading, alluding to the “Flash Crash,” which earlier this year briefly caused the Dow to drop nearly 1,000 points. “I have a gut feeling this gets a heck of a lot worse before it gets better.” Underscoring the worry on Wall Street, the VIX, or the markets' "fear gauge," soared 14% to five-week highs. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were on pace for a fourth consecutive decline after a rally on Monday fizzled due to the soaring U.S. dollar. Nearly all 30 Dow stocks lost ground, led by Alcoa AA, Travelers TRV and DuPont DD. The index's only advancers were Home Depot HD and Wal-Mart WMT. Continue reading the article.