Banks Give Stocks the Flu

Swine flu fears, and negative reports about the banks left investors feeling ill this morning. The Dow fell 65 points, while Nasdaq fell 0.8% and the S&P 0.9%. Bank of America and Citigroup were headed south, down 7.5% and 6.2% respectively on reports that they’d need to raise capital following poor stress test showings. Airlines were also lower. Overseas, swine flu fears pushed the Nikkei down 2.7%.

That could be just the tip of the iceberg. "If concerns rose to SARS type levels," one Credit Suisse analyst wrote, "which we believe is very unlikely, then markets could fall 10% to 15%."
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