US Stocks Slide On Obama Bank Regulations; DJIA Down 189

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--U.S. stocks fell as President Barack Obama outlined plans to impose new restrictions on banks, sending financial stocks reeling Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was recently down 189 points, or 1.8%, to 10414, after sinking as many as 219 points during Obama's speech. All of the Dow's components were in the red, with financial components J.P. Morgan and Bank of America the two worst performers, with J.P. Morgan down 5.2% and Bank of America down 5.2%.

The Standard & Poor's 500-index fell 1.8%, weighed by its materials and financials sectors. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.2%.

On track to close at their lowest levels of the year, stocks fell as Obama proposed new limits on the size and risk taken by the country's biggest banks. Obama also endorsed what he called the "Volcker Rule," after measures pushed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, which would place restrictions on the proprietary trading done by commercial banks, essentially limiting the way banks bet with their own capital.

"It's a separation of the investment bank from the traditional bank," said John O'Donoghue, head of equities at Cowen & Co. Still, O'Donoghue said many firms managed to turn a profit before Congress in 1999 repealed the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act, which essentially walled off commercial banks from investment banks.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100121-713203.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines

Poor bastards on Wall St. Lets cry for them.

The people were listening.

Or no one in Congress or Wall St. will respect him.

It's really too bad that some on the board are ignoring it.

Or it will end badly in November and 2012

The markets were reinflating into another bubble, they needed to be pricked.

but I DGAS! /Kick them in the B***s!

I hope Obama is not just throwing out a bunch of populist stuff thinking it will raise his approval numbers.

Going after fatcats is great, but it sure as hell better be stuff that is going to help make the economy better.

Come November, nothing else is really going to matter if the economy is still in the toilet.