February 24, 2009 (FinancialWire) (By Philip Holmes) ' US stocks broke more records on Monday, closing at their lowest levels since the late nineties. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 250.89 points to close at 7,114.78, a level not seen since May of 1997. The S&P 500 index shed 26.72 points, for a 743.33 close. That puts the broad-based index at its lowest close since April of 1997. The Nasdaq composite index ended down 53.51 points, at 1,387.72. According to BusinessWeek, "the Dow is down nearly 50% from its all-time closing high of 14,164.53 on October 9, 2007, while the S&P is off nearly 53%." Ugly. BW taps Todd Salamone of Schaeffer's Investment Research for sage advice, and is told he "believes the current market dip may be worse than the steep declines in November. Why? 'Because there is less fear in the market than there was just three months ago ... Moreover, unlike late 2008, investors have little to look forward to in terms of anticipating positive news, other than comments late last week in which the White House sought to counter rumors of bank nationalization." Quincy Krosby, chief investment strategist at the Hartford, tell the paper that the market slide would stop "if investors heard something coherent from Washington that sounds viable," she says. "At this point, investors are just left waiting. The more you wait, the more you see deterioration of the overall economy." Yes, but what would sound viable? President Obama met on Monday with advisers and adversaries to find ways of cutting the biggest costs of government, including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid obligations. Cuts in entitlement spending are crucial for the president to make good his plan to cut the U.S. budget deficit by 2013. But how will he accomplish these goals? Raising payroll taxes? Cutting benefits for the incoming wave of baby boomer retirees? (you know, that selfless, nearly silent generation who never vote). One thing's for sure: pushing everyone's retirement further in the hands of Wall Street will not be a viable option this year. It won't even sound viable on Wall Street.

The Investrend Earnings Calendar features Applied Signal Tech. (NASDAQ: APSG), expected at $0.15; Ceradyne (NASDAQ: CRDN), expected at $0.81; Foster Wheeler (NASDAQ: FWLT), expected at $0.95; Henry Schein (NASDAQ: HSIC), expected at $0.88.

The Investrend Economics Calendar lists Weekly Chain Store Sales (8:55 a.m.) , Consumer Confidence Index for February (10 a.m.), Fed Chairman Bernanke testifies before Congress (10 a.m.), Treasury auctions 2-year notes (1 p.m.).

The Investrend Events Calendar showcases AIZ, TMK, PRE, RNR at Merrill Lynch Insurance Investor Conference; ANR at BMO Capital Markets Global Metals & Mining Conference; APOL, CECO, DV, CVG at Credit Suisse Group Global Services Conference; CBG, LRY, BDN, CLI at Incisive Media RealShare Philadelphia Conference; CERN Investment Community Meeting; JNPR Networks Analyst Meeting; MSFT Strategic Update Meeting; NUVA, SMA, HRC, KNSY at Canaccord Adams Small-Cap Musculoskeletal Conference; NVDA, MPWR, SNWL at WJB Capital Group Silicon Valley Bus Tour; RTIX at American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons Conference; WTFC, RBNF, WSBC, PVTB at Super-Community Bank Conferences Midwest Conference.

The Investrend Money Index is an indicator of the depth of market direction or indirection. While not always including the same stocks, the NYSE/NASDAQ 50 Most Actives indicate the direction in which the mass of money is flowing. Last session's trading showed 14 advancers versus 36 decliners. Advancers were led by Nova Chemicals Corp (NYSE: NCX) up 288.81%, Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) up 20.39%, Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) up 9.74%, Ford Motor Co (NYSE: F) up 9.49%, Ultrashort Oil & Gas (NYSE: DUG) up 9.27%, Us Bancorp (NYSE: USB) up 7.09%, Pt Ultrshrt Sp500 Ps (NYSE: SDS) up 6.88%. Decliners followed Huntington Bancshares Incorpora (NASDAQ: HBAN) down 14.71%, Companhia Vale Ads (NYSE: RIO) down 11.76%, Financial Bull 3x (NYSE: FAS) down 10.00%, Ultra Financials Pro (NYSE: UYG) down 8.64%, Netapp, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) down 8.23%, Ultra S&P500 Proshrs (NYSE: SSO) down 6.99%, Proshares Ultra Qqq (NYSE: QLD) down 6.88%, The Charles Schwab Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHW) down 6.85%, Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM) down 6.69%, Hewlett Packard Co (NYSE: HPQ) down 6.27%.

Vote in the Investrend Poll Question of the Day at Investrend Information (http://www.investrendinformation.com).

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Quote of the Day: "The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how good I get, I'll never be as good as a wall." Mitch Hedberg

Today is: Mardi Gras.

Happy Birthday: Charles Le Brun, Matthias Braun, John Burgoyne, Wilhelm Grimm, Winslow Homer, Chester Nimitz, Abe Vigoda, James Farentino, Joseph Lieberman, Barry Bostwick, Rupert Holmes, Debra Jo Rupp, Steve Jobs, Paula Zahn, Sammy Kershaw, Billy Zane, Mitch Hedberg, Lleyton Hewitt.

Today in History: The Supreme Court of the United States, in Marbury v. Madison, established the principle of judicial review in 1803. William Otis received a patent for the steam shovel in 1839. The Hudson Motor Car Company was founded in 1909. A thermite (magnesium) bomb was used for the first time in 1925 to break up a 250,000-ton ice jam clogging the St. Lawrence River near Waddington, New York. A nylon bristle toothbrush became the first commercial product (DuPont) to be made with nylon yarn in 1938. Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981. In 1981, Jean Harris was convicted of murdering Dr. Herman Tarnower, the author of the bestselling The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet.

[FirstAlert" was created by Gayle Essary, founder of Investrend Communications, Inc., parent of Investrend Information (http://www.investrendinformation.com). The opinions expressed in FirstAlert" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Investrend.]

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